camper resting on tailgate down.... ok or not ok???

[Jonnyo]

i purchased a old spacekap to build a tiny camper. It s the perfect kind of shell as they are very easy to make water tight....they are very aerodynamic and easy to put on and off and secure.

i have a F150 5.5 bed so my idea in purchasing this 8 foot spacekap was to cut perhaps 12-24 inches of it to make it a custom size to fit my truck.

I had to drive 4h away to purchase it. i was very apprehensive of loading it to my 5.5 box. But to my suprise, once loaded and the forklift let go..the truck took it very well and had minimal to no squatting. I drove back the 4h from vancouver to penticton through mountain twisty road and the truck was handling very nicely and i could have never feel the lenght of it.... and bonus i averaged 19.5mpg


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now this make me question if i should even bother with the extensive fiberglass job of cutting 1-2 feet off?? can the tailgate take the load while driving? what about bumpy road. i dont do any extreme 4x4 put dirt road slowly for sure...



Total weight of the current spacekap is around 620lbs. i expect around 800-900lbs loaded.



was playing with editor to see what a shorten version would look like. it s all a matter of losing space inside. the current 8 foot interior is roomy for such little camper.... i can fit 2 kids in the cabover (40X72 and 28 inch high) and 2 adult in the main section plus a small kitchen countertop!


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[The Artisan]

Gotta pay to play, PB strikes again.
Kevin

 

[UHAULER]

Can't see the pics, but I would just use it as is. Tailgates can take quite a bit of weight.

 

[Jonnyo]

Updating pictures.... never had that issue before! Time to leave photo buckets!

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

Leave it as is. Just load the heavier items toward the front and down low. I don't see any reason that this wouldn't work out fine. Maybe E rated tires, a rear anti sway bar, and a helper spring on the rear axle. I'm not a fan of air bags. Get there one step at a time and as needed.
jefe

 

[Jonnyo]

Leave it as is. Just load the heavier items toward the front and down low. I don't see any reason that this wouldn't work out fine. Maybe E rated tires, a rear anti sway bar, and a helper spring on the rear axle. I'm not a fan of air bags. Get there one step at a time and as needed.
jefe

sounds good, i already have E rated tires and the Firestone rep that is a friend is giving me a new set of airbag for F150. i think i will give this a shot and see how it goes. in term of weight, my payload of 1918lbs on the door stickers so the current 620lbs is definitly light weight i m guessing.


sway bar would be so nice...the f150 as a soft suspension to start and as definitly some body roll!

 

[deserteagle56]

You might want to check out something like the tailgate supports made by DG Mfg. and others. Just a bit of added insurance in case you have doubts about the cables.

 

[downhill]

The camper is a rigid structure, so the camper doesn't even technically need the tailgate. The tailgate just adds a little stability. As Mundo said, keep the loading forward and low.

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

downhill, I thought the same thing about the tailgate until I looked at the pic of the unit in place. The pic shows a very high percentage of the TC aft of the tailgate opening, giving me pause about the center of gravity and some sort of support. The same 'overhang' on an 8 foot pickup bed would be no big deal, percentage wise. But on a 5-1/2 foot bed, mmm, not so good. Our rig has a 6 foot, 8 inch short bed and an 8-1/2 foot camper footprint. I use a 20 inch stinger to put the permanent steps into. The Lance also has a very forward center of gravity with the appliances and extended front overhang and has never been a problem, at least in the 15 years we've owned it, and we've done some very ugly uphills,(locked up/low range/rocky surface/low pressure) enough to worry about the whole thing sliding out the back.
The TC seems to be very light and might not need any, or minimal suspension upgrading. Again, get there by degrees.
jefe

 

[downhill]

I agree jefe. I wasn't advocating removing the tailgate. The OP was concerned about whether the tailgate could handle the load while driving, but there is very little load. My comment was based on the fiberglass construction of the camper, and load distribution. I don't think the tailgate really needs to support the weight, other than to provide stability in the circumstances you described. If the camper were a more traditional construction, having full length support would be more critical. That's my take on it anyway.

 

[battleborn]

nissan titan says leave it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[Pax2525]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Ive seen tons of heavy load riding on a tailgate and plenty of campers. FWC will instal longbed campers on shorter beds as long as youre aware of loading and center of gravity. Ive run my 8ft FWC on my 6.5 plenty of times. Have fun and enjoy the extra space!

 

[Kelly6773]

Never had an issue with mine. Hauled it on a frontier and Toyota pick up both 6 foot beds. Sat 2" past tail gate

 

[Jonnyo]

thank you everyone!

i m starting adding window in the unit in a couple weeks...should have it ready for September and definitely making consensus effort to keep center of gravity very much forward. Loading all water tank/cassette toilet in the first foot of the unit. But overall, it will remind very light so should be a non issue!

 

[LivinDaDream]

Another data point...

Hard to tell from your photo, but it looks like you might need to add a little bit of spacer under the camper to give some additional clearance above the side walls of the bed. Doing so would take some or all the weight off your tailgate. I always leave mine attached and have had no problems, though don't have quite as much overhang as you do.



My 2008 Lance 815 and my 2013 Silverado were not exactly compatible due to the height of the side walls. I needed to add about 1.5" of spacer under the camper floor to clear the side walls. I originally used a couple of 2x12's cut to 80" length and put one on each side of the bed for the camper to sit on, but keep weight down, I now use a piece of 2" hard foam insulation that I picked up at Home Depot. Cut a 4'x8' sheet down to 80" length to fit just the bed and not overhang onto the tailgate when it's down. Works great...weighs next to nothing and also provides great insulation for the floor.

The hard foam insulation has a compression strength of 15psi and given about 3000 pounds of weight (2200 for camper and maybe another 800 in down force from tiedowns) spread over 48"x80"=3840sqin, the compressive load on the foam board is less than 1psi. After many uses, it's not showing any signs of degradation, but only $36 to replace it, if ever necessary.

Cheers,