awphillips93
New member
Very cool! Looking forward to seeing the finished product.
Alex
Alex
Custom camper friendly truck bed..
- Thread starter pawleyk
- Start date
pawleyk
Running from Monday..
Thank you, it's definitely been a labor of love..
pawleyk
Running from Monday..
So, I finally got this thing finished up and we've been on the road about two months now..
So far so good. We're really enjoying the extra storage space. It's nice to have all our recovery gear, tools, and camp stuff stored and organized outside of the camper. It also feels good to have it all contained as close to the center of the truck and as low as possible.
We've had the truck pretty twisted up several times (front wheel off the ground) and it's been over thousands of miles of crappy dirt road between Oregon and Baja California Sur. Even though it's designed to, I still get a little nervous when I see how much the thing twists and flexes between the front boxes and fenders. I've had the camper off the bed three times since we started the trip and I've given the bed a really thorough inspection each time. I'm sure it will eventually crack as the alloy fatigues, but at this point it seems to be holding up really well.
So far so good. We're really enjoying the extra storage space. It's nice to have all our recovery gear, tools, and camp stuff stored and organized outside of the camper. It also feels good to have it all contained as close to the center of the truck and as low as possible.
We've had the truck pretty twisted up several times (front wheel off the ground) and it's been over thousands of miles of crappy dirt road between Oregon and Baja California Sur. Even though it's designed to, I still get a little nervous when I see how much the thing twists and flexes between the front boxes and fenders. I've had the camper off the bed three times since we started the trip and I've given the bed a really thorough inspection each time. I'm sure it will eventually crack as the alloy fatigues, but at this point it seems to be holding up really well.
1stDeuce
Explorer
Thanks for the update! Been following you on FB too, but haven't been to your website lately... The box looks great, and I'm glad it's working out for you!!
Enjoy Baja Sur!! We're looking forward to returning to Mulege next spring... If you pass by Ganzaga Bay, I recommend the fish tacos and a margarita at Alfonzino's! Oh, nevermind, you're already past that point!!
Enjoy Baja Sur!! We're looking forward to returning to Mulege next spring... If you pass by Ganzaga Bay, I recommend the fish tacos and a margarita at Alfonzino's! Oh, nevermind, you're already past that point!!
pawleyk
Running from Monday..
Thanks for the update! Been following you on FB too, but haven't been to your website lately... The box looks great, and I'm glad it's working out for you!!
Enjoy Baja Sur!! We're looking forward to returning to Mulege next spring... If you pass by Ganzaga Bay, I recommend the fish tacos and a margarita at Alfonzino's! Oh, nevermind, you're already past that point!!
We just passed through Mulege and really enjoyed it. We boondocked down on the beach a bit North of the lighthouse for a couple days. We loved all the twisty little streets, the old prison, and the good cell service..
We actually did stop by Alphonsinas, but we had breakfast. Not tacos, but pretty damn good!
Comanche Scott
Expedition Leader
Great build, and adventure! :victory:
While you had me at "aluminum", My favorite part is the fold down bed sides. Just something about the utilitarian idea of this put a huge smile on my face.
Looking forward to following along with your trip reports. :beer:
While you had me at "aluminum", My favorite part is the fold down bed sides. Just something about the utilitarian idea of this put a huge smile on my face.
Looking forward to following along with your trip reports. :beer:
pawleyk
Running from Monday..
Thanks! The aluminum was fun to work with, I see some more alloy fab in my future. Maybe a way down the road, but I've got a few more things in mind.
I really like the folding sides too.. I'm pretty short, so when there's no camper on board they offer a nice way to access the bed of the truck without any climbing..
pawleyk
Running from Monday..
So far so good. After over a year on the road and all the crappy roads from Oregon to Colombia, I had the camper off again the other day and did a thorough inspection. Everything's still holding together. The only damage I have is on the left side, rear box where the bolt for the rear shackle rubbed a giant hole through the aluminum from all the flexing. I thought the 3/4" of clearance or so would be enough, looks like it wasn't.
I did add a locking system to the fold-down panels, but so far that's it. We really love the thing and it's working out even better than I'd hoped. The build was a huge stretch for my fab skills, so I feel like I got really lucky.
The latch system for the folding sides isn't really very user friendly and I'd like them to be a little more stable in "table" mode, but other than that most stuff works just as intended. Despite that, I'm already thinking of "truck bed 2.0". I'd like to build an internal frame from aluminum, then maybe buy fiberglass or aluminum bedsides and integrate them so that they fold up on gas struts so the thing would look almost entirely stock.. you know. Someday.
I did add a locking system to the fold-down panels, but so far that's it. We really love the thing and it's working out even better than I'd hoped. The build was a huge stretch for my fab skills, so I feel like I got really lucky.
The latch system for the folding sides isn't really very user friendly and I'd like them to be a little more stable in "table" mode, but other than that most stuff works just as intended. Despite that, I'm already thinking of "truck bed 2.0". I'd like to build an internal frame from aluminum, then maybe buy fiberglass or aluminum bedsides and integrate them so that they fold up on gas struts so the thing would look almost entirely stock.. you know. Someday.