Flatbed height (ballpark)

[ripperj]

Because I am a gluten for punishment I beleive i am going to scrap the lower section of my Alaskan camper. I will rebuilt the lower section as a flatbed camper. This will gain me lots of interior space.
As I don't yet have the Aluminum flatbed( have not figured out what brand to go with, there are also a few custom guys around) I was hoping someone could measure their flat bed and get me the the height off the frame rails.

Anyone have a recommendation in New England for a simple flatbed with a low profile headache rack?

I realize that getting the bed first would be ideal, but I will lose way too much time, this winter is my only build time.My main concern is having too much room between the cabover and the truck roof, I can shim the base of the camper if I mis calculate a bit in the wrong direction.

Thanks for any help
Keith

 

[Seabass]

Around my neck of the woods flatbeds are very popular. I've had a few myself. Companies like C&M, Bradford Built, TG Mountaineer, Cadet, & Gooseneck dominate. A lot of their heavier beds use 4"channel that runs along top of the frame and then 4" channel again for joists running cross-ways to hold the floor. I haven't measured every manufacturer- but I know that gooseneck and C&M are made a lot alike. That means 8" thick from bottom runner to top of the deck. That being said Cadet made a light weight bed that used 3" metals. I'd say find a manufacturer who's bed you like and then call their recommended dealer and ask em' how tall they are. It would sure suck to modify that camper and realize you couldn't use a bed you liked.

 

[ripperj]

Wow, 8" is pretty high. Thanks for the input. Happy holidays!

 

[Seabass]

I was thinking- I've seen beds that were low profile. In fact some seem so low you wonder how the rear suspension can work without the tires rubbing the deck. These beds usually have the gooseneck ball fully exposed- just like with a regular pickup bed. You might want to consider one of these with out the ball. I'm really curious to see what you do. I currently have an OBS F-350 that I use as a dd/work truck. It's eat up with miles and not worth much. I'm thinkin about a flat bed and camper for it. It's really sound and would make a great "weekend at the river" truck. Good luck to you- keep us posted.

 

[coastal616]

I needed about 8" above the frame to clear 335/80r20 MPT81's with no bumps for wheel wells. Swaybars still attached, so there is room for more articulation.

 

[ripperj]

Coastal- thanks, I knew flatbeds were higher than a standard bed, but I didn't realize how much, your pic helps. I am going to rethink the flatbed , I would like the floor of the camper lower. Basically the bottom of the camper would be 9" higher than it is now( the height of the wheel well)

 

[coastal616]

I just measured, the deck height is 47", with the 40" tires and about a 4" lift if that helps.

 

[rayra]

seems like the top of the deck is usually ~8-9" over the top of the tire. Gotta figure they're as high as the top of the wheel well tub in a pickup bed.

 

[surlydiesel]

I used to drive past these guys every day on my way to work. Not many places in New England that I know of for truck bodies.

http://iroquoismfg.com/

-jorge

 

[wirenut]

The aluminum flatbed on my '05 Chevy was made by TG Mountaineer in WV. It used 3" aluminum rail and 3" crossmembers so the deck is 6" above the from. This put the bottom of my camper's overhang about 8" above the cab. The top of the bed is about 36" off the ground.
It's been a few years but I think I remember having them make the rails a little lower than usual. They were very willing to custom build the bed any way I wanted.
However, I'm very disappointed with the quality of the construction. The welds aren't very smooth, the storage compartment doors leak very badly, and the "flat bed" isn't actually flat. The bed has held up fine with nearly 4 years of constant use.

 

[ripperj]

Appreciate all the input. I am thinking that the simplest thing is to just keep my stock bed, a new lower section sized to fit properly will still gain me almost 4" as the original lower half was sitting on huge shims to clear the bed rails.

 

[ripperj]

Thanks to all that responded, I decided to keep my stock bed. I spent the weekend making a kit for the new lower section. I got all the wood cut, just need to glue and screw it all together.

 

[1daway]

me too

I had a ATC Bobcat pop up on my '96 T-100. Nice camper but too much wasted space in the truck bed so I built my own popup. Turned out very well. I'll include pics. As usual, I am still not satisfied so am planning to build another. Have been debating a flatbed, I agree, too high. Now I think I might just build off the bed and use every inch of the interior space as this will be a permanent expedition vehicle, no removal of the camper. I will cut out sections of the bed side to incorporate outside storage compartments both above and below the bed floor.. Seems like a much cheaper way to go than having a flatbed with storage boxes built The lack of storage is my biggest complaint with my current set up, the same can be said of all the light weight slide-ins mounted in a conventional truck bed I think. Need to get started with my build soon so it is ready for summer 2015 travel. Once finished my current camper will be for sale, not going to let it go till I know I have a replacement ready. Good luck to you and happy travels.