Fleet flat bed vs Fleet reg bed

[PhilipE]

Hey, thanks Philip!

Not a problem. This Dodge makes flatbed #6 I have had over the decades. :coffeedrink:

 

[IdaSHO]

I know Ill never have another fleetside.

No-way, no-how.

Flatbed is so much more versatile

Not to mention that they just seem to look better!

They just look business, all the time. :ylsmoke:

 

[PhilipE]

I know Ill never have another fleetside.

I have a couple of friends that say that now after I converted them. :wings:

 

[adam88]

The COG seems to always crop up in these types of threads.

While it is true, that a standard bed floor is a bit lower than a traditional flatbed floor, Ill argue that the COG of a flatbed model could be just as or even lower than that of fleetside.

You simply have more options for placing things down low.

With a traditional bed, your options are seriously limited.

Quite often heavy things like the LP tank, and appliances like the water heater and fridge, as well as outside stowage compartments are mounted well above the bed rails, or behind the rear axle in the back wall due to lack of space.


With a flatbed, you can place them ALL down low if needed, and have much more control over front-rear and side-side weight distribution.

You assumed I was comparing a regular flatbed to a normal truck bed, wrong assumption unfortunately . I never mentioned a normal truck bed in my post. I can understand why you would think that though, because FWC doesn't make a flatbed camper with wheel wells, but it wasn't my intention. No, of course putting heavy batteries over the rails of a truck cab is not going to be better. I am looking to build a flatbed WITH wheel wells, which is the ultimate low COG truck and beats out a normal flatbed. I currently HAVE a flatbed on my truck and am not overly satisfied with it.

An example of the type of engineering I am talking about can be seen on the Uro-Camper.

 

[IdaSHO]

Now your basically talking cab-chassis or "tray" type setup.

Certainly not what this thread is about, per the thread title or even the discussion. :sombrero:


Yes, a cab-chassis type setup is the ultimate setup, but it pretty well kills the "utility" of a flat bed or fleetside.
A tray like that is pretty useless for anything beyond hauling a camper built for it.

So, why even go with a tray? Engineer and build it as an actual cab-chassis unit, and gain ALL the benefits. :ylsmoke:

 

[adam88]

Now your basically talking cab-chassis or "tray" type setup.

Certainly not what this thread is about, per the thread title or even the discussion. :sombrero:


Yes, a cab-chassis type setup is the ultimate setup, but it pretty well kills the "utility" of a flat bed or fleetside.
A tray like that is pretty useless for anything beyond hauling a camper built for it.

So, why even go with a tray? Engineer and build it as an actual cab-chassis unit, and gain ALL the benefits. :ylsmoke:

Many reasons. No it doesn't kill the hauling ability of it... you can still haul anything you could haul in a normal truck and more including a full sized pallet.

Plus, some people live in very snowy or very cold climates where it gets nasty during winter and not everyone has a huge 12 foot high custom garage. This allows the camper and truck to be safety stored inside a heated garage during winters or downtime.

And many other reasons.

 

[boxcar1]

I can think of more than a few reasons why a tray mounting system could and would have an advantage over a standard flatbed.
There would also be a few issues one would have to overcome.
#1 would be fueling the truck.
A problem for some flat beds. Especially those with dual or rear tanks.
To flat of an angle on your filler neck and the tank will burp back while filling. This isn't a huge problem to overcome , but it is something you want to take into account while your still in the design phase.
Still I think the standard flat bed wins out in over all utility and usability. The extra 3-4" of height is easily compensated for with suspension upgrades .

 

[IdaSHO]

Agreed.



I still think you are loosing more than what you may be gaining going from a flatbed to a tray.


Fuel fills are a big one. As mentioned, if you have a rear tank, it can be painful. And with a low slung tray, may be impossible.

Front fills are an easy workaround. Simply rework the filler to be integrated into the headache rack.

Even mine are a bit rough to fill, being built into the bed rails. You have to fill pretty slow to avoid getting boots full of diesel :sombrero:


Biggest I see is that there is no standard for trays. Flatbeds, are... well FLAT. Besides being a bit different in width and length, anything with a flat belly can sit on it (like a camper)

Pushing to a tray, there is no standard. Anything built to be hauled on it will be completely custom, and will only fit that setup. Again, loss of utility.


When designing my camper that was a big deal, as I didnt want this camper to be so custom, that it was married to the truck or even the bed.

Pretty much any flatbed pickup can haul it.

 

[PhilipE]

Many reasons. No it doesn't kill the hauling ability of it... you can still haul anything you could haul in a normal truck and more including a full sized pallet.

Anything you could haul in a pickup bed!!!!! There is the problem. A peeeuuu or tray bed limits the usage. If your hauling stick lumber or 4X8 items fine.

Lets talk in what I have done with mine. Throw two #750 round bales of hay on a peeeuuuu or tray bed. It will be fun getting the front bale out of the P/U bed. Throw 4ea loaded skids on a peeeuuu or tray bed. Throw 4ea 3x3x6 square bales on the either bed. Load 100ea small square bales on a peeuuu or tray bed. How about this load on either one.



Of the 6 flatbeds I have had one had wheel wells. That bed for working was almost as bad as a peeuuu bed.
I have not had fueling problems with any of my flatbeds. Design the filler to work. You need around 4" to 6" drop to work good.
BTW that cab is on my truck now. I hauled it out of Larmie WY.

 

[IdaSHO]

Fine, Ill post some more photos :sombrero:

Yes, it truly is hard to beat a legit flatbed.

And being flat, with stake sides, side racks are super useful as well.


Hauling 2.5 yards of compost? No problem...

How about 6k of sod? About 3000 lbs on the truck

A cord and a half of locust? Again, about 5000 on the truck (some of that being hitch weight)

 

[parkkitchings]

I've got a FWC Fleet in a Toyota Tacoma Ext Cab and love it. I've been in the flatbed model and there is certainly more interior room but at a financial cost. Not sure if it would be worth the additional cost to me. Seems like the more storage I have the more unnecessary crap I tend to bring along.

 

[IdaSHO]

Biggest benefit IMO with regards to campers and flatbeds is the available floor space, not so much about gear stowage.

It allows for a very open floor plan, as well as a side entrance which is very beneficial. :ylsmoke:

 

[adam88]

Still I think the standard flat bed wins out in over all utility and usability. The extra 3-4" of height is easily compensated for with suspension upgrades .

3-4 inches of height is being very generous. The large majority of flatbeds are higher. Also, 3-4 inches does not retain the stock wheel travel between the top of the tire and the top of the fender. Also, if you have oversized tires at all that can play a role too because suspension lift does not always make up the difference required for tires (e.g., 1 inch of lift for every 2 inches of additional tire diameter). If using cutout fenders you could fit 4 inch larger diameter tires with no lift, so that is 2 extra inches of tire height added without any lift at all, so even if the 3-4 inches was possible it would become 5-6 inches under this scenario.

Also another poster pointed out hauling goods... a wheel well flatbed can haul nearly as much firewood or anything else as a flatbed if it is build with stakes (can build stakes for a wheel well flatbed). Could then fill it with 3000# firewood or anything else. So hauling is not an issue.

The pros of a flatbed that I concede to are:

1) Universal layout (makes building a camper easier). It's flat... easy peasy.
2) Can put a 3 point pivot in if you desire to do that (although 3 point pivots seem less used today)
3) Easier to add a side entry

But one pro not mentioned about the wheel well design is that the wheel wells will actually lock the camper in place and prevent it from sliding around. Preventing a camper from sliding around on a flatbed actually can require some thought if you want the camper to be able to flex. You can't just use normal tie downs, you need to prevent the camper from moving side to side etc. If you have a 3 point pivot then this is fine, you can bolt it solidly to the camper. But a lot of flatbeds do not do this. With a wheel well flatbed, you can just use normal tie downs like any camper and don't need to worry about the camper flying off anywhere.

One more thing, regarding the fuel filling... huge concern indeed, but with wheel wells not so much because you can put the fuel filler inside the wheel well, which is another problem solved.

Good discussion

 

[jackattack]

What about ease of loading/unloading? It seems to me that for the most part that's a con of the flatbed camper design.

 

[calicamper]

If an urbanite type does a flatbed camper, 9 times out of 10 its a dedicated camper rig. And floor plan space being a big plus. Former rancher types living big city like me typically have a small trailer stashed some place to haul crap. ;-)