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Fishfins's avatar
Fishfins
Explorer
Aug 19, 2013

Standard heigth of truck campers above the truck bed?

I am still trying to add enough material (plywood/foam/planks) to get my Lance camper a safe 3" above the cab lights on my 2013 Ford F350. A 3/8" rubber mat and a 2" thick sheet of pink insulation foam is STILL leaving the front of my camper a mere 1" from my over-cab lights. Doesn't the height of any bed platform that the camper rests on eventually get to an unsafe height? I'm looking at a 4"+ platform before I clear the cab-lights by 3".
Do all truck camper brands build on a standard "height" from the bottom to where they hang over the sides of the truck bed? It would be nice to see truck campers built higher to adapt to the cab heights on some of the newer trucks....like mine.

5 Replies

  • See duplicate Thread; Safe adaptaton to over-cab lights.

    Wayne
    Moderator
  • This thread gives me a good idea, to start a new thread and make it a sticky in the reference section for prospective camper buyers!

    I will get started on it tomorrow.
  • I have a 2012 F350 and a 1999 Adventurer camper. I have a 3" riser made with foam and 2x4's on the edges and it could probably be a bit higher to give more clearance. No issues so far.
  • Fishfins wrote:

    Do all truck camper brands build on a standard "height" from the bottom to where they hang over the sides of the truck bed? It would be nice to see truck campers built higher to adapt to the cab heights on some of the newer trucks....like mine.


    There was a day where the truck manufacturers stuck to a general rule and had the cab height very close to the bed height across all three truck manufacturers. Then Ford threw a wrench in the works (no offense intended) and made the cab a lot taller, so it was much higher than the floor of the truck bed, then the camper manufacturers had to adapt.

    Older campers may not fit all the newer trucks, as you have encountered.

    GM did the same thing back in 1988 when the made the back of the truck bed opening narrower than in the past (narrower tail gate opening). Also, The width between the bed rails was narrower at the rear than it was at the front.
  • I take it you have an older Lance. The newer campers are built taller since the trucks continue to be made taller.
    I don't think a 4" spacer would be too tall.