F350 Regular Cab with Hawk Flatbed on XPCamper Truck Tray

[con kso]

Had an '07 4x4 Tundra with a Callen Camper that served me well for 11 years worth of deep Baja rambling. That truck never let me down but after camping next to a guy with a Four Wheel Camper over Thanksgiving Week I saw what the next chapter was going to be for me.

So I donated my truck to my Pops (he's selling the Callen camper in the classifieds section if you're interested) and went out and tracked down the truck I've always wanted: 2017 F350 4x4 Regular Cab with gas engine, XL package with no carpet, cloth seats, aluminum wheels, upfitter switches, power windows, locking rear diff. and shift on the fly. All my life I've dug regular cab trucks - this one's got a bench seat so just enough room for my rib, my dog, my handgun and me.

Just kidding about the handgun but it sounded kinda ************ so I just went with it.

I ordered a FWC Hawk flatbed from the guys at AT in Prescott and have an install date of March 19th. I got pretty much everything except for the solar install. I noticed that this year FWC is offering an MPPT controller option - dang, I would've spent the money for that if would've been available when I ordered mine. Probably going to work out ok for me though since I want to mount my panels off to one side of the camper so that my surfboards won't be obscuring the panels while they're racked up.

My flatbed is being built right now by Marc over at XPCamper. I ordered it with an aft trundle drawer that looks like it's six feet long, an extra 30 gallon water tank added behind the cab of the truck in a "backpack box", an ARB dual cylinder compressor with tank and quick connect ports (I had used a Powertank for about 8 years but I kept having problems with o-rings and seals with that system so I'm moving on from the CO2) I'm also putting an ARB slide back there and will put my 50qt ARB fridge on the starboard side of the box - don't want any sandy kooks going into my camper to grab a beer.

It's going to be rad.

I'll post up pics once I figure out how it's done here.

 

[con kso]

Here's the truck we're building the flatbed on:



This thing rides like a brick. I'm adding Ride-Rite airbags to it as well as Day Star cups. I had the same airbags on my Tundra with the Callen camper and I liked them. I probably put 10-12k Baja miles on those airbags and they held up pretty well, no tears, and just a slow leak on the port side bag. The sticker in the door says I can carry around 3800lbs in the bed of the truck which I'm sure will get eaten up really quickly once I start filling that thing with my junk - so I figured the airbags were a good call.



Aft trundle drawer that will be set up to carry my fly rods.



Some robot arm cutting out the aluminum pieces for my flatbed.



That cart looks like it's got the panels for the behind the back wheel boxes.



The origami metal machine - lot's of clamps, dials and rad stuff.

 

[JCatt]

That will be a very nice setup. The backpack box and trundle drawer will be awesome. With the camper and flatbed the ride will settle down a bit. When I had a 1 ton even with 4k in the bed the airbags required only minimal air. Congrats, you can't go wrong with a FWC on a Ford :sombrero:

 

[con kso]

Thanks for the info! Yes - the thing is pretty stiff unloaded. I know that's the payoff for having the extra cargo capacity so I'm okay with it. The only other Ford I had was a diesel 4x4 (2003 7.3L engine) - I remember the front end steering being kinda loosey-goosey after a couple of Baja trips - any idea of this will be the same with the 2017?

 

[con kso]

We're getting closer to completion on the flatbed. Marc at XPCamper decided to prolong my agony by sending me some photos of the progress so far.



This is the forward box that will be between the cab of the truck and the rear wheel. Nice and large, I'm already making lists of the things that I don't want to carry on the floor of the camper or behind the front seat of the truck - all of it will find a home in these boxes.



The aft boxes have these nice angled rear sections - it's all about departure angles.



Marc puts an extra layer of aluminum over the bottom section of the rear boxes. Sacrificial aluminum armor. YES.



And here's the aft end of the flattop, upside down. Digging those LED lights. You can see the box of the trundle drawer, ah the trundle drawer - possibly my favorite part of the whole flatbed build.

There's a possible pick up date being thrown around... maybe this Saturday????

 

[Regcabguy]

Thanks for the info! Yes - the thing is pretty stiff unloaded. I know that's the payoff for having the extra cargo capacity so I'm okay with it. The only other Ford I had was a diesel 4x4 (2003 7.3L engine) - I remember the front end steering being kinda loosey-goosey after a couple of Baja trips - any idea of this will be the same with the 2017?

Carli Suspension works wonders on the new Fords.
I've got a regcab Ram that I love the configuration.
Marc and XPCamper's are excelling.

 

[STREGA]

Super nice build! We have similar builds just different brands. Keep the pics coming.

 

[con kso]

Thanks! Jealous of the size of your... garage. That thing is awesome.

 

[con kso]

Oh man - the torture continues. Look what Marc just sent to me:



The guys over at XPCamper have been really great, I must have see-sawed back and forth on details with Marc a billion times - the dude's been unnaturally patient with me. One small detail, but it meant a lot to me was how high the FWC bed would sit above the cab. I didn't want the huge gap I'd seen in other trucks - Marc set the flatbed so that the FWC cab over portion will be 3 3/4" above the truck cab. Not too high, not too tight. You know I love the rear drawer - here's some close ups of it. I like how the rear drawer is hidden so well off the back:



And a close up - you've really got to see this thing in person to appreciate how nicely it's built. The machined corners are super tight to the bed - it's just a really, really nicely designed and built flatbed.

 

[adam88]

Those flatbeds are amazing. You get what you pay for, for sure. I think last I checked these were well over $10k. But in the grand scheme of things that is not too bad for the quality.

Is the flatbed going to be mounted with a flexible mount?

 

[con kso]

Thanks - yeah, I'm really excited for it. I've been camping in Baja for almost forty years - I'm ready for a little more comfort. The flatbed is expensive. No denying that but in the end I've got exactly what I want to serve the exactly the purposes that I want. I've been thinking about this set up for a long time - so excited for it.

 

[JCatt]

The more I look at the flatbed and FWC, the more it looks like the ideal setup. To start over again thats probably that I'd do.

 

[STREGA]

I'am suffering from flatbed envy, that is a work of art!

 

[con kso]

HUGE PROGRESS! Check out where we're at:



That truck tray is making my tires look tiny... uh, oh time to hide the wallet.



It's a trundle drawer, it's a fly tying table, it's a bbq stand, it's an autopsy table...



There's a lot going on here - check the hidden storage in the bumper, Customs and Border Patrol are gonna love me.



The backpack box is going to be my garage - we'll be stashing camp chairs in there, our Blackstone iron griddle, probably some bodysurfing fins and it's also being set up on the passenger side with a slide for an ARB fridge (don't wanna have to go into the camper for a cold beer) and a 30 gallon water tank.



The tank will be secured inside the backpack box and will have an aluminum shelf built over it to stop it from flying around in there.



I dig the hinges on the top of the boxes - Marc said it's a work in progress so waiting to see what's gonna happen in there.



Here's a cool little feature - vents on the box.

Looking forward to more updates - we're getting closer everyday!

 

[Littlehouse]

Getting close! Love those flatbeds. Random question. Can you put on the jacks, unload the camper at the campsite, and take the truck out? I don’t think ive seen a camper that could be walked in without the truck. Would be nice to move around without packing up the basecamp.