Safe adaptaton to over-cab lights.

[Fishfins]

I just bought a 2013 Ford F350 supercab. I tried loading my Lance 195 extended camper on it but before it bottomed out in the bed the over-cab lights on the truck hit the bottom of the nose of the camper.
I am thinking about laying (4) 2"x4" 48" long across the truck bed for the camper to sit on and that would raise the nose of the camper a safe distance above the over-cab lights. Is this a safe thing to do? Is there any other way to get additional height for my camper above the over-cab lights? Thanks for any help.

[mkirsch]

NMace wrote:
The question I have is why have clearance lights in the first place? They haven't been needed in 70 years, and never if not pulling a trailer.

Clearance lights are COOL!

[Fishfins]

To the guy who asked about over-cab lights....I had to look far and wide to find an F350 supercab 4x4 diesel with an 8' bed. The one I had brought down from Ohio was everything I was looking for BUT....had over-cab lights. I hunt coyotes and driving into fields before daylight with 6 big orange lights on can spook what I'm after.
I never thought about their interfering with the TC, but they sure do. I even considerd removing the orange covers to get more clearance but the bulbs stick straight up. I am hopeful I can find one fuse to disable them so at least I won't spook coyotes. :B

[2Gordons]

Fishfins wrote:
Thanks a million for taking the time to post the photos. As I understand it, the rubber mat is UNDER the wood frame and on the truck bed? Your camper rests right on the long 2x6s? Your total lift(3"+) comes from TWO 2 x 6 on top of each other + the thickness of the rubber map? 3"+ lift is about what I need for my camper.
Since I already bought the foam, rubber mat, and plywood I'll use what I have for now, but I'll copy and print off your pics and explanation for future reference. Again...thank you very much.

Yep, the rubber mat sits in the Line-X'd bed, the cradle assembly sits on top of the mat. The three inches comes from the valley of the cradles (1.5") and the longways 2x6 stringers (also 1.5" thick). You could add more stringers, I guess... but why? If the TC bottom frame is supported on the left and right and middle, I suspect that's enough.

Since we use our truck a lot without the camper (fiberglass cap in the winter, and our "other" camping rig is a gooseneck LQ horse-trailer) we need to be able to off-load and remove the cradle with minimum fuss. If we full-timed with a TC, we'd come up with a fancier, more permanent solution.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Don

[Fishfins]

Thanks a million for taking the time to post the photos. As I understand it, the rubber mat is UNDER the wood frame and on the truck bed? Your camper rests right on the long 2x6s? Your total lift(3"+) comes from TWO 2 x 6 on top of each other + the thickness of the rubber map? 3"+ lift is about what I need for my camper.
Since I already bought the foam, rubber mat, and plywood I'll use what I have for now, but I'll copy and print off your pics and explanation for future reference. Again...thank you very much.

[2Gordons]

Fishfins wrote:
Darn, I sure would have liked to see your cradle set-up. At the rate I'm going I'll have have about $170.00 in materials to get my camper a safe distance above my over-cab lights.

Here's my setup. It's three parts. A front cradle, a middle frame, and a back cradle. Then, I screw (3) 2x6's down on it. It raises my camper up 3", which is perfect. All held together by simple galvanized brackets and screws from the Home Depot. Material list:
(2) 2x6x84"
(2) 2x4x48"
(3) 2x6x96"

You might need another 2x6 if you build the little tail on the back cradle I felt I needed for additional support on the back of my long-ish camper.

Here's the front cradle. The cut-out part is 1.5" tall. No special angle used on the sides... just designed to scoot the camper towards the middle, and rounded on the ends to fit into the truck-bed grooves.:



Here's the middle section. Screwed to the front-cradle with angle brackets and wood screws. Whole thing is 49" wide, by 74" long. Actual length of the (3) horizontal cross-members is 42".



Here's the back cradle with a couple of small sctions of 2x6 added...



Here's the 3 rails added. Screwed into the bottom frames with wood screws. Nothing really wants to move much with 3,000# of camper sitting on it.



Underneath this is a rubber mat (standard bed-liner type mat) that's maybe 3/16" thick? Bought it at Sportsman's Warehouse years ago. The bed of the truck is Line-X'd, too. This setup is not as fancy as some, but it works well for us at minimal cost. It's easy to remove with a small screw gun, since we don't leave the camper on all the time. It is much more solid-feeling than the foam and rubber mat solution was, but admittedly, some of that is due to the Fastguns vs. the Happijac tiedowns.

The black "guiding" material is nothing more than scraps of heavy-duty plastic paver edging from a lanscaping project... The angles on the cradles were getting a little chewed up, so I threw some of that on there for more resistance to the metal edging on the bottom of the camper. Waste not, etc...

Hope this helps...

Don

[2Gordons]

NMace wrote:
The question I have is why have clearance lights in the first place?

Because they look ultra-cool when you're warming up your big rig on a foggy morning? 'Cause that's what I like... 😉

[AnEv942]

Um Just FYI
The 5 cab lights are required by law for vehicles 80" & over in overall width. They have meaning but nothing to do with pulling a trailer? The extra lights requirement applies to both trailers and vehicles over 80".

The front (or rear) 3 center indentification lights (ID) indicate the presence of a wide vehicle (80" or more in overall width).
The front or rear 2 outer clearance lights are required on vehicles 80" or more to show its width.

NHTSA.gov (DOT) 571.108 lighting chart Chart showing location of required lights. If you scroll to bottom of page click on the lights it will take to the appropriate section at top of page.
Or you can read the full text 571.108 it and look at the tables at
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2009/octqtr/pdf/49cfr571.108.pdf
I havnt read the full spec-it may be worded in the construction and or viewing angle of the lenses the precludes being flush-but I know some volvo truck/tractors have flush mounted cab lights?

To the OP if you found a design you like and cant or dont want to build possibly hire it out to a compentant handy man?

[NMace]

The question I have is why have clearance lights in the first place? They haven't been needed in 70 years, and never if not pulling a trailer.

[2Gordons]

Fishfins wrote:
Darn, I sure would have liked to see your cradle set-up. At the rate I'm going I'll have have about $170.00 in materials to get my camper a safe distance above my over-cab lights. I don't have the tools to custom-make a cradle like I saw one guy made out of 4x6 treated planks so it looks like my Lance will be resting on a giant sandwich of foam, plywood, and rubber. 😞

Mine is all 2x4 and 2x6. No way I have more than $60 invested. I'll yank it all out in the driveway tomorrow and take a few pics. It's "wood-butcher" carpentry. It all runs together with a dozen wood screws. I did use some hard-plastic paver-block edging on the angled sections that help guide the camper into position.

You'll see in the pics tomorrow, but the front and rear "cross-members" slides into the indents in the truck bed. In between them are 2x4's laid flat. Over this is the 3 2x6's that the camper sits on.

So- approximately 5 2x6's, and 4 2x4's plus some misc. hardware, and you're done with the cradle.

[Grit_dog]

Fishfins wrote:
I see how the plank you used is outside of the plywood. I assume they are screwed together? I bought a 4' x 8' sheet of pink foam insulation. When I put it in my truck bed I had a full inch of space on each side at the wheel wells. Apparently my wheel wells are 50" wide. I don't want to just set the camper down with a full inch on each side to shift on. I don't think I want to tackle the(2) 4"x6" timber job like I saw another poster had made. They look great and probably function perfectly, but I am hoping one of you experienced guys can suggest an alternative way to deal with the 2" gap I have to fill between the foam and the wheel wells. Thanks.

Slide a rip of 3/4" plywood in along each side of the foam, or if you want it tight, double up some 1/2 " plywood.
Probably help guide it in too.
You can ge tthe foam in different densities. Some 40psi stuff with thin plywood top and bottom (so it doesnt compress into the truck bed ribs or destroy its self under the camper floor.

[Art_Schlangen]

Mine is like spott, I had to rise in 2 1/2" works great.

[mkirsch]

Nothing wrong with that. Just make sure you support the ENTIRE floor equally. Putting cribbing under the front only is a good way to break the camper's back.

[Fishfins]

2Gordons wrote:
The cab heights on Ford trucks were changed somewhere between my 1995 Lance and my 2003 truck. We built a cradle to guide the camper into position, and added three 2" x 6" x 8' boards running the length of the truck bed to support the weight of the camper. Under that is the rubber mat that is always in the bed of the truck... it rests on the spray-in bed liner.

We tried the foam insulation, and felt it flexed and moved a bit... especially with the Happijacs we had. As it flexed it would squeak, too. Occasionally, it would slide around a bit. The setup didn't give us a lot of confidence.

We built the cradle and switched over to Fastguns. Much more stable... camper is locked into position by the cradle, well supported by the 2x6's, and held more securely by the Fastguns. Mo' betta.

I just took it all apart tonight, or I'd post pictures. Do a search in TCU for info on cradles and you'll get some good ideas. I think I have 2.5" of clearance between the cab roof and cabover.

Darn, I sure would have liked to see your cradle set-up. At the rate I'm going I'll have have about $170.00 in materials to get my camper a safe distance above my over-cab lights. I don't have the tools to custom-make a cradle like I saw one guy made out of 4x6 treated planks so it looks like my Lance will be resting on a giant sandwich of foam, plywood, and rubber. 😞

[AnEv942]

Probably dont want to mess with on a new truck but swapping to Dodge clearance lights would give you another 1/2" or so. Dont understand myself why they havnt started flush mounting the lights on pickups.