Cab clearance

[J_Dubya]

Hi everyone. I have a 2000 bigfoot 25c10.6 that I used to haul on my 95 standard cab f350 , it would haul it but it was over taxing the truck . I recently bought a newer f450 to haul this beast .... Well when I began to load it on the truck I noticed the cab lights were far to close to the bunk and would not last if I used the camper without adding some plywood to raise the height a bit.... Fast forward , I had to add about 4" to get enough clearance . My plan is to use blue board sandwiched between ply as well rubber mat on the top and bottom .
If anyone has had the same clearance issues please let me know and post pictures of what you did to correct it. Thanks JW

[JohnJM]

I used that foam board insulation. its minimal weight wise and did just fine. I carried that camper for thosands of miles with no problem.

[J_Dubya]

Thanks for the info , I leaning on building a couple custom two piece spacer that will be easier to load and unload . Also the build will incorporate a centering rail that should help center the camper when loading .
My f450 has cab lights so I have to be careful to be sure I have plenty of room to move .
I'd like to trade it in on a newer one but I just can't justify the added cost for the amount of use. With any luck in a few years I'll hit the road of retirement then it'll get used a lot . JW

[nomadictxn]

J Dubya, I have a 11 Chevy with no cab lights, just the onstar antenna. I have 94 lance and it is common to have to raise camper to fit newer trucks. Fords are notorious because the Super duty body cabs are taller than GM and Ram. I was just suggesting that you look at a permanent frame up on your camper base instead of an assembly every time you load. I only need to put the two 2 x 8 blue boards in and go. I am not familiar with the base materials on a bigfoot and it may be that you wouldn't want to attach anything to that fiberglass shell. I test fit a lance 1030 at a dealer that had a 2x4 base built on the perimeter and it was finished with a layer of plywood. It cleared my cab by a long shot. Probably was used on a Superduty before. Loved Camper but too much $$ for me.

[sundowners]

Hi
we travelled from Houston Tx to North OK to pick up a big Lance----it was used on a 99? dodge 3500 dually---our truck was an 06 Ram 3500 dually, so we thought it would be a simple change over, but as you found, the over-cab sits on the cab roof AND the camper sides sat on the truck's bed sides. We just had time to buy a couple of sheets of 3/4 ply--which just fit the bed as 8x4, we travelled many thousands of miles in US/Canada like that---but on a couple of frost-heaves (spaced just right for max. effect) in Alaska (taken tooo fast) we pulled out a tie-down and hit the cab roof---we travelled the rest of our trip to England --via Galveston with a ratchet strap on one corner.
Since returning to UK we replaced one sheet of ply with a sheet of 2" polystyrene-------I put a 2x3 across the front of the bed (and cut 3" off the poly.)---------this has worked very well and has given us an extra 1 1/4" clearance.----And is easy to remove.
Nigel & Pamala

[J_Dubya]

nomadictxn wrote:
I do the blue board with rubber mat but only needed about 2 in. If you need 4 ins. you would be better off attaching frame to bottom of camper and leaving rubber mat in bed. Avoid having to assemble materials or load frame separately every time you load.

So what type of truck do you have? Reason I ask is I may be able to get by with less than 4" but I'm not sure . I've only put the camper on the truck once and haven't roaded it yet so I don't know how much frame twist I have . I do know that with out any additional spacers there's no way the camper will clear the cab when in motion. I do like the idea of attaching to the camper but I may upgrade soon and don't want to attach anything to it . I think my best option is to make a frame for the bed that will stay with the truck when the campers not on it . I have two other trucks so if I need to have a open bed I can use on of the others.
Can you post some pictures of your set ups ? Thanks JW

[tonymull]

I use a couple of 4'X4' pallet looking things I built. I put a mat under and a mat on top. Works great and there is space to store poles, a portable table, etc. underneath. It's also light weight when taking them in and out of the truck. Pretty much what Bedlam described above.

[nomadictxn]

I do the blue board with rubber mat but only needed about 2 in. If you need 4 ins. you would be better off attaching frame to bottom of camper and leaving rubber mat in bed. Avoid having to assemble materials or load frame separately every time you load.

[HMS_Beagle]

Ford raised the cab height with the first Superduty in 1999. I discovered this the same way, bought the (1998 Bigfoot 9.6) camper originally for a Dodge 2500HD but had to raise it 2" in the new 1999 F350 that replaced it. The Bigfoot design concentrates the weight around the perimeter and over just a couple of crossing bulkheads. You can usually see where they are by the location of the access panels and the scuffing on the bottom. I would put some harder members there, and fill the rest with foam. I made a full sized platform from 2x2 fir and ply both sides - worked fine but was very heavy to install and remove. If you are going to take the camper off much you want the platform in pieces you can carry. An alternative I though of too late to implement (don't have that camper anymore) is to attach the platform to the camper, it comes out with the camper.

A year or so after the Superduty came out, Bigfoot changed the molds to add a few more inches under the cabover. My 2008 Bigfoot fits fine without any spacer.

[BMW442]

We have an old Palomino on a newer Ford & had the same issue, needed to raise it a few inches to clear the cab. First I built a platform out of some old pallets & plywood, thinking I would store stuff in there, but it ended up being too tall & very heavy. Now use a horse stall mat, a few sheets of the pink foam insulating sheets, and one sheet of ply on top. It works great, is much lighter/easier to take on & off, and theoretically helps insulate the floor too.

[J_Dubya]

I was thinking of 4x4 rails with ply top and bottom , this with the rubber would do the trick . I do like the blue board idea also for the insulating factor if nothing else.

Any one have the clearance issue with an older bigfoot on a newer truck?

[Bedlam]

With you needing 4" of lift, I would think about framing out a platform than might give you some storage for poles or hoses underneath. The weight of the camper is on the outside edges of the base, so this where you would concentrate your frame. The platform would have a rubber mat on both sides to prevent slipping on the truck bed or the camper slipping on the platform.