F 450 flatbed camper build

[Carlyle]

You might look at the Buckstop bumpers out of Oregon. I think they are really nice looking, hold multiple lights, hold my 16.5 Warn winch and probably the best bang for the buck in after market bumpers. I hit a deer at highway speed and all it did was leave a big smear.

www.buckstop.biz

Any luck on pictures yet?

 

[Capt Eddie]

Post # 46 has the best picture thanks to haven.

 

[Capt Eddie]

I was able to install my compressor in one of the 18 x 18 x24 inch boxes. It is a 4.5 gal stacked tank with a 2HP motor.9.8CFM at 90. I found others that were smaller but I know I have large 19.5 tires to air up. The biggest problem is that I need both EU2000 together to run the compressor. I should be able to run an impact wrench to change the tires. I still have the RV wrench and breaker bar in the tire box.

 

[Capt Eddie]

I have decided to sale the small camper I have on the flatbed and get one that will sit all the way to the back of the bed. I am getting a LAnce 1040 Euro Design with the side door. It is set up just like the Earthroamer inside. Minus $230,000.00. I will still be able to use all the receivers for towing, bikes, storage rack,etc. I will have to move the generator to a side box instead of sitting on the back deck. We found out in the snow trip to CO that the present camper did not have enough room inside for storage. Mainly shoes and wet boots, Six pair of boots took up the whole floor. With the side entry we can stand on the steps, take off the boots and put them in the side box to the right of the door. This seems like the prefect set up. I will have the cut off the angle side skirt to square up the camper to fit around the back boxes. We go Tues to pick it up. I will try to post pics later. Anyone need a new Lace 835? Perfect for the rest of the world just not me with four kids, It sleeps 6 without problems.

 

[Capt Eddie]

We went to Fort Worth and missed the great Ice storm. The truck was iced over when I pulled it into the bay to load the camper. It is unbelievable how much room you have with this floor plan. When people can see one of these, No other floor plan will do. We have plenty of room to sleep 6 adults. Four of us were walking around in the camper and not having to sqeeze past each other. I can not believe all the storage inside also. Eight drawers, plus the pantry rack. Now I have to trim off the skirts and maybe cut the back skirt up 4 inches. When I get it on there it will look great. I am losing the back deck but gain the inside space. I can still put a rack on the back to carry dogs and decoy bags.

 

[haven]

Here's a link to the Lance Camper 1040 web page
http://www.lancecamper.com/2009models/1040.html

And here's the floorplan

Like Capt Eddie says, the layout is quite similar to the Earthroamer XV-LT.
Dry weight is listed as 2420 lbs, which is pretty light for such a large camper.

This thread reminds me of a photo I saw on the Turtle Expedition pages back in 2003
http://www.turtleexpedition.com/images/8_Bigfoot.htm

Chip Haven

 

[Capt Eddie]

The floor space is 39 inches wide x 10'6'' long. Most single wide are only 27'' at the most. When you make the dinette into a bed it is 16'' wide. I finished cutting the skirt today. I will have the camper ready to go Thursday to go to south louisiana.

 

[boblynch]

Did you ever decide on a lift? If so which system did you select?

 

[Capt Eddie]

Misc. detailed pics of camper build

 

[Capt Eddie]

This removeable winch is giving me headaches. I have finished the double receiverd for the front. It will be hidden inside thr factury bumper with just the two receivers sticking out about 3 inches. The winch mounts on a 3/8 plate with two 2 x 2 x 1/4 tubes that slide in the recievers at both the front and back of the truck. I have another receiver mounted under the winch plate for the bike rack. I was really hard to make all four receivers receive together, and still come apart. I hope all the work will be worth it. I guess the first time I have to take the winch off the front and pull myself backwards instead of waiting for a tow. I made a big score today at my ex daughterinlaws house. She gave me 250 feet of 1 1/4 inch nylon ship anchor her new husband got from his offshore rig. I am going to put all I can in one of the boxes then cut and whip it. I should be able to put at least 150 ft. I may make a 50 ft snatch out of one piece.

 

[Capt Eddie]

I finished the front winch receiver. Not the best thing to look at but it will get the job done. I can now swap the winch from front to back as needed. I will be looking for some lights for the front also.

 

[dzzz]

Doug's mentions about the current draw and size of wire are spot on. Costs a fortune to correctly cable up a rear winch.

12v is getting absurd for these power requirements. A 24v subsystem would make sense if more US devices supported the higher voltage. For some larger rigs 2 12v battery pacs could be used.

Some people probably do the back winch off the house batteries. That can cut the distance in half.

Does anyone make a 120v AC winch?

 

[Capt Eddie]

I have two batteries in the boxes that are back up for the camper or can be used for the winch. The two box batteries can be separated from the truck system. As well as the camper batteries being separate from the truck. This way I can charge and use all batteries independent of each other. Al the batteries can be charged off the truck, generator or the camper 110 system.

 

[Capt Eddie]

During our trip to Missouri last week I had a chance to put the truck and camper on a scale. Loaded with spare water, spare propane, bikes for two adults and two kids. And all the goodies, The total was 16990lb. I do have four group31 batteries, as well as the 12k winch, twin tanks contractors compressor. 2 EU2000 generators. And every air tool you would need to rebuild the motor. With all the gear loaded , we only used half the bed boxes and half the inside storage. After this little eye opener. I think I will have another 1000 LB springs installed. I believe that when I add four grown men, guns, cases of shotgun shells, dog boxes on the back and all their gear I will have 2000 lb more. Bringing me closes to 19000 lb. The only good thing about al this is that I have 9000 miles on the truck and the milage PG has went from 7 to 8 MPG to 10 to 11 MPG.

 

[dzzz]

wow. I followed your build and I didn't expect the weight to be that high. You may need to find some very small friends.
The F550 with the 19.5 GVWR doesn't seem so huge anymore.