Tow Vehicle - bed

Look at trucktrader.com & autotrader.com
there are dealers that order & setup the hualer beds.Also a company in FtWorth,Tx called Western Hualer has some realy nice conversions.

jffnkrn wrote:
While thinking about a tow vehicle change, who has a short bed, custom I guess with low sides and boxes for fifth wheel towing. They are not the typical pick up bed. Where do we search, are they all custom beds, etc? Thanks

"Golden_HVAC" (in CA) had some good points in re a "utility body" for a short bed pickup.

Would guess IL is more "liberal" than CA in re licensing requirements, as "Golden_HVAC" omitted a major stumbling block ("PITA") to a stake bed or utility body in CA !! -

In CA, CA licensed vehicles ("pickups") with stake or utility bodies *must* stop at scales, regardless of GVWR.

Although you apparently are looking for a short bed *pickup*, a much better link for Escapees (MDT, HDT forums) would be....

(All) Escapees Discussion *Forums*

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Utility Bodywerks Hauler Bodies in Elkhart Indiana.

bigdon68

We did find a couple of short box hauler beds. We are in Washington state. I know they exist, but can't remember the companies. The were expensive enough that we ended up just doing a short box and buying a storage box. Be careful of clearance for the hitch. I think ours is 22" deep and fits under the rails. I can get specifics if you decide not to do the hauler bed.

I doubt you will find a stock hauler bed to fit a short bed chassis. So a 100 % custom build would be needed.

My solution was a modified utility bed designed for a short bed truck (40 inch cab-to-axle). Cost over a stock bed was a $200 engineering charge for the lower height bed. Mine is 12 yrs old and now on the second truck.

I picked up the same Chariot bed as R12RTee. It was used several states aweigh from my home. Chariot is out of business now. Classy Chassis and Utility Bodywerks make them currently. In my opinion there is nothing that compares with the quality and looks of these beds. 1/4 all aluminum construction with steel frame. I am refitting bed on a 2013 Chevy 3500. If anyone is interested I can post pictures of my progress on this project. They are $15,000 to $20,000 installed from above suppliers.

B&W also makes several styles of truck beds. If they're of the same quality as their hitches, they'll be an excellent product.

Lyle

Search Google using "rv hauler beds" to get info. If your profile means Peoria, IL then there are at least three hauler bed mfgs. in Elkhart, IN that I know of. I bought my bed through Chariot Vans in Elkhart. Most of these beds are not short beds but 8 feet long. If you put a light bar headache rack on it shortens the turning of the trailer.

This is what my truck looks like:

Royal Truck bodies is one place that makes such custom bodies for pickup chassis.

El Tec is another brand. Both are located in a suburb of LA, CA.

You might want to check with your insurance agent. Sometimes a pickup is considered 'normal' and they can write an insurance policy for it. However a custom body to them looks like a 'commercial vehicle' - even though your intention is only personal RV use.

You might want to check with the Escapees.com Club who is made up of many full time RV'ers. They have links to insurance agents that specialize in coverage for class 6 and 7 trucks used in RV use, for a reasonable price.

Good luck on your search. There are many members of Rv.Net who have special body beds on the pickup or class 6/7 truck frames. Some of them might chime in with where they bought their truck bodies.

Fred.

Look in the yellow pages in any large phone book for upfitters or truck body builders. There are several large up fitters in TX that offer custom haulers for RV rodeo, and farm/ranchers.