truck bed reinforcement?

[Frank_Mehaffey]

After reading the post about tie downs, it got me wondering if anyone with a short or long bed has ever had the cross joists under the bed bend, crack, or loosen up, especially if you have had occasion to be off road, or in bumpy road conditions? I have a 2500 lb. 10' aluminum frame TC, which will probably not be a problem in the foreseeable future. But I have seen the steel frame under the bed, and while it looks ok, I might be persuaded to reinforce the center of the bed from underneath if I had one of the heavier products out there....just wondering.

[mellow]

My crossmembers are about shot on my F250 from rust, hoping to get another season out of it. I have been on the hunt for a take off bed that is not rusty and they don't want mega $$$ for it for the past year.

In the meantime I am buying new crossmembers and will beef them up.

https://www.amazon.com/Super-Truck-Support-Crossmembers-Supports/dp/B01G4IR144

[silversand]

....aren't truck (pickup truck) rear frame rails (and anything connected to them, like truck bed) designed to twist torsionally?

I've seen pick-up truck beds (including 1 ton designs) torsionally twist so much, that some rear tail gates get damaged. So, torsional twisting of truck beds are part of the truck's design. Given this, imagine how much flex stress can be put (transferred) on/to the cinched-down truck camper tub LOL

In my mind (and I'm gettin' old LOL), anyone wanting to arrest this built in behavior has to 1) redesign their entire rear truck frame (and leave the truck bed alone) as a torsionally-resilient structure (and keep the truck bed as is); or 2) mount a flatbed to the factory rear frame on something called a 3-point pivot system...

...but anyhow, I'm not a structural engineer. There is someone who is quite qualified to address this issue on this Forum, handle: Travelnutz.

[jefe_4x4]

I did a little surfing and found Royal Truck bodies is still in business. They have in their catalog the self same 8 foot 'low profile' truck body as above. After inspecting my plumber's rig I can report that it is a quality product. An 8 foot or longer camper would slide right in the 49 inch belly of the beast and provide a LOT of weatherproof storage. That leaves my 8 foot 6 inch Lance out in the cold as it has the storage wings. I"m taken by the sleek way they make it conform to the original truck's lines. With all those doors, where do you put the tie downs?
So now the question: do any of you have one of these under your camper?

jefe

[jefe_4x4]

Frank,
I'm in the same boat as Alex. Our '01 Dodge 2500 factory bed has taken it in the shorts over time. Remember the bed is held on by four, 3/8's inch bolts that do spread the shear factor over a rather wide area. At least they're grade 8, but I can't say much about the thin metal tabs that they bolt onto.
That being said, the R-pass side bolt has pulled through it's flimsy little mooring a couple times allowing the TC and bed to rock and twist. That could be scary in a very high wind or axle twisting event, kind of like this;

It's the twisting of the frame over time that caused this. Fords by design have the most flexy frames, at least until the last few years, which I think has been a woe for Alex with his '07.
Currently I'm looking around for an aftermarket pickup bed specifically made for truck campers. Here is the closeset I've been able to find, but looks heavy:
This is on my plumber's 2000 Ford F-350 4WD 7.3 diesel.





I don't even know if they're still in business:

[Grit_dog]

^Wow, def not the norm, but I've broken the proverbial anvil before too!

[c_traveler2]

Frank Mehaffey wrote:
After reading the post about tie downs, it got me wondering if anyone with a short or long bed has ever had the cross joists under the bed bend, crack, or loosen up, especially if you have had occasion to be off road, or in bumpy road conditions? I have a 2500 lb. 10' aluminum frame TC, which will probably not be a problem in the foreseeable future. But I have seen the steel frame under the bed, and while it looks ok, I might be persuaded to reinforce the center of the bed from underneath if I had one of the heavier products out there....just wondering.

Dealing with that problem right now, after years of hauling the camper off road it has taken a toll on the first cross member(nearest the cab). Also the spot welds that ties the bed and the bed wall together have ripped apart, that will also be repaired.

I'm having thicker steel install on the cross member and the bed wall seem reinforced, none of the other cross member have shown any signs of crushing under the camper weight.


Jeff you are correct, twisting of the frame is the major problem.

[tattoobob]

In my case I did, The bed rails rotted and the bed collapsed so I replaced them with a larger gauge so it would last longer than when Ford made the bed

[Grit_dog]

For sure. Not an issue.

[Frank_Mehaffey]

Thanks. That sounds like something I will not worry or think about. Steel or aluminum bed?

[sbryan]

We carry about 3,500 pounds and have been over some horrible roads in Alaska and the Yukon, roads that would make you lose your fillings, and have had no issues whatsoever. Remember the weight of the camper is spread out over the bed so I suspect there is plenty of margin left in the bed and frame supports.