The more I look at it the more I think I'm just going to attach 2x4s at the perimeter of the camper and at the basement walls. I'll use a few screws on each 2x4 to secure it to the "joists" so I can easily remove them if I need to get at the access panels. I'll need to bridge the three supports at the back of the back of the truck bed with a 2x4 since there isn't a single "wall" there. Keeping them attached to the camper will make loading and unloading easier.
Please don’t. There are multiple solutions that are better than what you’re suggesting. Not that it won’t work, it’s just a poor solution to your issue.
Also not advisable for resale. If you were to sell it to anyone who saw and understood that, it would either make them walk away or at least really wonder what other weird jethro engineering was hiding in the camper.
Yikes.
I was thinking of permanently attaching my lift to the bottom of my camper also, but building it so I could put foam inside for added insulation. I don't have any access hols in the bottom of my camper so it would be one piece 4x10 made from true 2x6 x 10 with cross bracing, foam in-between the cross bracing, and sandwiched between two sheets of 3/4" ply. the setup I have now is rather hard for me to lift in and out of the truck so I thought it might as well go in and out with the camper. any anyone with a newer truck will need it to make the camper fit anyways, if you have a truck from the early 90's then you can just unscrew it and take it off.
would this scare you off?
This is the way manufacturer's with perimeter frame construction do (did?) it when you ordered it with a riser from the factory. I've been using a rubber mat with my camper and when I removed the access panels to look around I noticed one of the cross pieces for the access panels had been pushed up. I suspect this is due to the rubber compressing around the loading points causing an upward pressure in areas that weren't designed to take loading.
There are a multitude of screws that secure the access panels to the bottom of the camper. I'm just be putting some additional screws between the existing screws to secure the 2x4s to the camper. If I remove the 2x4s I can just put some more screws in the holes to have some more screws securing the access panels. I also used some L brackets connected to the 2x4s to locate a 2x6 underneath the fresh water tank so any loads that make it through the insulation will be transferred to the truck bed.
