Our custom true flatbed truck camper build thread

[Jfet]

Ok, I am going to collect random thoughts and progress pictures and put them here in a thread.

Goal: Construct a true flatbed camper with cabover, no slideouts but full 8 foot floor width inside. This will mount on a 2006 Isuzu NRR truck with a GVWR of 19,500 pounds and a current dry weight of 8700 pounds. The truck has a 20 foot flatbed that is 8 feet wide. The camper will take up 11 feet of the flatbed and the remaining area will be home to a future garage for our toys. We will install a hitch so we can pull our 17 foot Montgomery sailboat (trailer + boat is about 2200 pounds). The camper and garage will be removeable so the flatbed can be used for other purposes, or in case the truck needs extensive shop repairs down the road. Or if we are in Alaska and want to go pick up 3 cords of firewood or something 🙂

Here is a picture of the truck with some important dimensions:

[Jfet]

Bedlam wrote:
Consider laying down e-track rails between your tie down points. I ran three lengths of it in my 20' enclosed trailer and liked it so much that I added four strips vertically on each side wall to tie items down.

I carry so many combinations of different toys, that being restricted to fixed mounting points would have been too much of a compromise.

That is good advice. I don't think we would want any e-track rails on the floor since we will be using the garage also as a workshop and might trip on it, but e-track on the walls we have considered and may add.

[Bedlam]

Consider laying down e-track rails between your tie down points. I ran three lengths of it in my 20' enclosed trailer and liked it so much that I added four strips vertically on each side wall to tie items down.

I carry so many combinations of different toys, that being restricted to fixed mounting points would have been too much of a compromise.

[Jfet]

A little update. No good snow in the Northwest so we have worked a bit on the garage pod instead of going snowmobiling 😞

We skinned the garage pod ramp door with the same 1/16" aluminum as the sides, drilled out all of the holes for the various hardware, then installed 1/8" aluminum diamond plate trim around the edges. This also acts as a flange for a gasket. I think it is starting to look halfway decent.

We also cut out the teardrop trailer size side door opening and test fit that part. Not going to be elegant going in and out that way but it is nice to be able to quickly get into the pod without pulling down the ramp. I think it was a reasonable addition (a full size door would have hindered our built in shelf system). We installed two of the floor panels and most of the 2 inch polyiso floor insulation. The floor will have 6 flush mount tie downs for various toys.

Getting close to the painting/truck bed liner step but we need consistent temps of 55 degrees.

[Jfet]

Fargo: Interesting.

We were thinking about spring loading the ramp door and still may do something along that line but I think it will be a later addition as I don't want to get bogged down with that.

We are making aluminum receivers for the top of the ramp door which will function as both a standoff and a attachment point for our plug in jack system. As a standoff, it will raise the edge of the door about 6 inches off the ground, decreasing the ramp angle somewhat. We may add a little flip ramp to bridge this distance. When two of the camper jacks are inserted into the standoffs, it will allow the ramp door to be leveled and used as a porch or stable work area.

It should be a little bit more stable than a wire or chain holding the ramp door level and also you don't have the wire or chain in your way.

[noteven]

Hi Jfet - following your great build with interest

our cargo style bike trailer uses a spring assy above the door and drawbridge cables to assist the door. Advantange - assy is out of the road salt and adjustable. Disadvantage - cables down to the ramp door when it is open. Pulleys and cables what not. Our toyhauler uses torsion springs incorporated in the hinges. Advantage: Out of the way. Light to open and close. Disadvantage - don't appear to be adjustable. Our door flies a bit so we have to weigh it down.
You could incorporate a vertical lift gate in your design to do away with those annoying ramps all together 🙂 Fancy...Maxon column lift Not sure if one would double as a rear stand to off load the pod from the truck...

[Jfet]

bka, I don't know the answer to your question but I suppose we will find out. We looked at a few cargo trailers (I think a featherlite, wells cargo, and some other) and they either had full length piano hinges or several hinges (more than 2) for the ramp doors. I don't know that we looked at any meant for hauling cars....more along the lines of snowmobiles or motorcycles.

Our door may be a little bit stronger than your average. We built everything strong. That being said, it would be easy enough to drop 2 hinges and go with 3 or even 2 but I am inclined to stick with the five right now.

[bka0721]

I am always waiting for your latest posts. Of course I would never be satisfied unless I was actually standing in your shop watching and helping. Thanks always for bringing us along with your build.

While my thought is just that, my own, you have been willing to field comments from me and others. Much different than many that will post here on their own projects.

With racing for 20+ years, one issue that developed with ramp doors and moving equipment and heavy race cars in and out of our "Pods" is the racking of the door due to the camber differences of the ground. One of the solutions I was shown by the various Trailer Sponsors we raced with, Pace, Haulmark, Featherlight, was the attachment to the Pod' and ramp door. They minimize the number of hinges on the attachment end to reduce binding and racking of the ramp as it is lowered and raised. Over time, the memory of these uneven surfaces is reflected in changes of the door. It was their comments of minimizing the "pick up points" that minimizes the binding of the ramp.

So my question to you is; Should you have as many hinges as you have, or just go with 3 or less?


b

[Mello_Mike]

Impressive work on the camper and pod. It would be great to see your rig in person someday. Perhaps one day on the road.

[BoonHauler]

Jfet wrote:
We are going to try the G-Floor parking pad garage floor cover. It is about 1/16 inch thick (plus 1/16" ribs) and comes in a 9 foot wide by 20 foot long roll. Pretty heavy at about 105 pounds for this roll. I think they make it a bit thicker but this size was available quite cheap from walmart.com with free shipping.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Parking-Pad/19416222

We will see how it works. I like that it is continuous with no seams.

Wow, that's exactly what I was looking for, thanks for the link Jfet!

[Jfet]

We are going to try the G-Floor parking pad garage floor cover. It is about 1/16 inch thick (plus 1/16" ribs) and comes in a 9 foot wide by 20 foot long roll. Pretty heavy at about 105 pounds for this roll. I think they make it a bit thicker but this size was available quite cheap from walmart.com with free shipping.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Parking-Pad/19416222

We will see how it works. I like that it is continuous with no seams.

[BoonHauler]

Jfet:

You mentioned rubber flooring, I've been looking for a good flooring material for my garage as well but I've been unable to find any appropriate material that 8 feet wide and (in my case) 14 feet long.

I've been thinking about using outdoor carpeting. Is the material you're going to use in a sheet?.....how wide and long?

BTW, looking good....it's a lot of work isn't it.

[Jfet]

This weekend we test fit the ramp door into the garage pod. Perfect fit of course 😉

First time building a door of this type (hey, everything is a first time on this project) but I think we have a workable solution. It swings smoothly on the five hinges and secures on each side with standard trailer door swing arm latches. We need to Sikaflex bond the aluminum skin to the door and then install the 3/4" marine ply on the inset steel supports you can see around the edges. This method will keep the door the same thickness as the 2x1 steel tube framing (having the plywood inlaid).

Need to finish up the garage pod floor, wire up the lights, paint everything, install the floor covering (a rubber garage floor type material) then test fit it on the back of our flatbed. Probably mid March.

[Jfet]

Reading lights are made by OSRAM. They are white LED with a 18 inch gooseneck. Model Copilot L. I don't recall where we bought them but I can dig it up. We actually have four of them but the two above the sofa are not installed yet (you can see the wires coming from the wall in the picture).

The switches and bezels are from Blue Sea Systems. Marine type stuff for boats. They are modular so you can snap together end parts and middle parts to make a multi-gang switch plate. For example a middle part is called Contura with a part number 8266 and mates to a Contura end part number 8267. We bought these from Defender IIRC.

[BoonHauler]

Jfet, were did you get that reading light? ..... and your switches and bezels?

I'd be very interested to find out.

Cee

[btggraphix]

Beautiful stuff Jfet. 2 YEARS? I hasn't even realized how long we've been following it. BTW, this is the first true flatbed TC I can remember anyone building and therefor the first one I can actually think "gee, when he gets bored of this rig and builds an amphibious vehicle and decides to get rid of this one........I know a flatbed it would look really good on". Guess I need to go back and look at that cab height measurement again ;). The toy box would probably fit on my flatbed trailer too....

Thanks for the update!