Would you buy a flatbed for your TC?
Curious to see thoughts about a flatbed for a truck camper. Seems like pros are more storage with side lockers, cons are potentially less stability and need for solid tie-downs. My situation is th...
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I'm really not very happy with the stock Dodge 6'6" short bed. It gets a terrible beating where we go, and looks like a dog's dinner after throwing hundreds of pieces of firewood into it over the stake sides (and sometimes missing), and hauling 5000 pounds of crushed rock on many occasions. I use both the rubber bed mat and the plastic bed liner when hauling bulk items around. The passenger side front tie down bolt sheared off and was replaced with a thick fender washer and a grade 8 bolt. Only 4 bolts hold the whole thing on. The factory bed is flimsy and will contort following the twisting frame and if the tie downs for the camper are too tight, eventually pull your camper apart.
Which brings me to this post. If I were to start over (not likely), I would aim for a flat bed. But not the ones listed above. It would be a 3-point triangle, or 4-point diamond shaped pivoting flat bed. Why? The bed stays flat and will not contort to the frame's command. Selecting a camper to go on your flatbed is another roadblock. There are precious few, maybe none right now that are specifically made for flat. That leaves your regular camper with those large holes in the sides. What to do? A friend with an UniMog plus Alaskan uses the folding side gates on the Mog:
Good storage behind the fold-up sides.
XP camper has a great system using a flat bed and the camper part is built for a flat bed. Just some ideas.
jefe
Which brings me to this post. If I were to start over (not likely), I would aim for a flat bed. But not the ones listed above. It would be a 3-point triangle, or 4-point diamond shaped pivoting flat bed. Why? The bed stays flat and will not contort to the frame's command. Selecting a camper to go on your flatbed is another roadblock. There are precious few, maybe none right now that are specifically made for flat. That leaves your regular camper with those large holes in the sides. What to do? A friend with an UniMog plus Alaskan uses the folding side gates on the Mog:
Good storage behind the fold-up sides.
XP camper has a great system using a flat bed and the camper part is built for a flat bed. Just some ideas.
jefe
