Foam Board or Rubber Mat For Under Camper?
I have ordered a new Northern Lite camper for delivery next spring. I see on Northern Lite's website they recommend putting a 3/8" soft rubber mat in your truck bed under the camper. The dealer t...
Forum Discussion
I put plywood where ever the camper could touch the bed. Not sure on the NL, but on a Bigfoot they typically get wider aft of the wheel wells, so I put plywood there too. I also extended it about 6 inches over the bed edge, as I have seen fiberglass campers get a bit stressed (cracked gel coat) at this "stress riser". The plywood spreads this stress out a bit. While I was at it, I added blocks or cleats to the ply to keep the camper centered.
At the front, I like the idea of a board at least 1" thick for the camper to bump against. If it has the usual rubber bumpers up there, on heavy braking those two small pads are putting a lot of point pressure on the thin sheet metal of the bulkhead. Again, a board will spread this out a bit.
In the picture you can see the black dots imprinted from the DeeZee mat. Note that there is significant load outside of the wheel wells aft. The plywood is in three pieces (bulkhead to mid wheel well, left and right halves to the back) to make them easy to remove. They fit fairly tightly to the sides to keep from shifting.
At the front, I like the idea of a board at least 1" thick for the camper to bump against. If it has the usual rubber bumpers up there, on heavy braking those two small pads are putting a lot of point pressure on the thin sheet metal of the bulkhead. Again, a board will spread this out a bit.
In the picture you can see the black dots imprinted from the DeeZee mat. Note that there is significant load outside of the wheel wells aft. The plywood is in three pieces (bulkhead to mid wheel well, left and right halves to the back) to make them easy to remove. They fit fairly tightly to the sides to keep from shifting.
