Ford F550 build questions

[boogie944]

I am looking to make a Expedition camper inspired by Earthroamer without the cost of an Earthroamer and with added ability to store mountainbikes indoors (upright without wheels).

I am thinking of a new or recent F550 4x4 chassis cab with gas engine, Supercab (the one in picture is standard cab), 192" wheelbase (Cab to axle 84") and a box with a 177" floor (Rear overhang 93") and total length 19' (beds above cab).

I am planning to place the box on a dumptruck style subframe that can pivot at the end and chassis free to twist underneath. I think I can get the subframe as low as 4".

Few questions I have in design phase that someone may have an answer to:
- How low can the floor be relative to the chassis. Just so the wheels (assuming roughly 40" tires) will not touch the floor. I want to leave the total floor panel intact in that area and not raise the whole chassis too much
- I am thinking of making a passage from box to cabin of around 2' wide x 2.5' high with a rubber connection piece. Does anyone have any experience/photos they can share?
- Is there anyone who has detailed chassis drawings of various models. I have a 3D CAD model, but the model is not accurate enough to do design work. I tried asking Ford but that resulted in ending up at non cooperative body builder companies who want to build the camper instead of giving out information

Thanks in advance

 

[Victorian]

You will need wheel wells . Our camper kits can be ordered with them. We also got the doors and pass through rubber seal.
Cheers

 

[Darwin]

I think you are going to be quite a bit over 19' total length

 

[VerMonsterRV]

Check out the Everlanders on Youtube, they started with an older F550 and built a custom subframe/composite habitat. From the looks of the video that did a nice job. I have also contacted them via email about our truck build and they have responded right away, nice people.

 

[Fatboyz]

You can check out my 550 build. There's a link it my signature box. I used an old Uhaul box.

 

[boogie944]

I think you are going to be quite a bit over 19' total length

That 19' was for the box only. WIth the truck included it will be around 27'

 

[Deleted member 9101]

If you shoot for a new one, wait for 2020 so you can het the 7.3 and 10 speed.

 

[boogie944]

If you shoot for a new one, wait for 2020 so you can het the 7.3 and 10 speed.

Yes. That's the plan. Definitely going for Gas engine.

 

[VerMonsterRV]

Also, there is the "Muse Roamer" build.

 

[cph05a]

We have a 2007 F-450 with 335/80R20 MPT81s (40.5inches tall) and a 4" lift and we ended up having wheel wells but they were super easy to hide. On one side we hid them behind cabinets and the other side was behind a dinette seat. Maybe you can hide them similarly?


Here's an early construction picture showing how much the wheel wells had to come through in our rig.

This became:

The wheel well is under the cabinet just to the right of the furnace but you can't even tell it's there.

We ended up doing a 4" lift because at 3" our front tires were rubbing badly with the steering fully turned out and at 4" it cleared. In theory you could do a larger lift and limit your articulation with bump stop but you'd still need a pretty big lift if you did that. I think maybe the newer F-550s have a little more room in the wheel wells though so maybe?

 

[HAF]

I am currently building a 12 foot (floor) cab over on a 19 F550 gas. You will need wheel wells to allow for full articulation in rear. I have 35 inch tires which results in a ten foot high camper. Low is good. Building a lower 6 inch tall sub frame to house water tanks. The width of sub frame is same as truck frame rails.
Again low with low center of gravity.

 

[gtiowa]

I'm very interested in how this will progress. I'm in the planning stages of something very similar. Good luck on your project.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

We have a 2007 F-450 with 335/80R20 MPT81s (40.5inches tall) and a 4" lift and we ended up having wheel wells but they were super easy to hide. On one side we hid them behind cabinets and the other side was behind a dinette seat. Maybe you can hide them similarly?

View attachment 559456
Here's an early construction picture showing how much the wheel wells had to come through in our rig.

This became:
View attachment 559457
The wheel well is under the cabinet just to the right of the furnace but you can't even tell it's there.

We ended up doing a 4" lift because at 3" our front tires were rubbing badly with the steering fully turned out and at 4" it cleared. In theory you could do a larger lift and limit your articulation with bump stop but you'd still need a pretty big lift if you did that. I think maybe the newer F-550s have a little more room in the wheel wells though so maybe?

Most excellent! Do you have a build thread going?

 

[boogie944]

We have a 2007 F-450 with 335/80R20 MPT81s (40.5inches tall) and a 4" lift and we ended up having wheel wells but they were super easy to hide. On one side we hid them behind cabinets and the other side was behind a dinette seat. Maybe you can hide them similarly?

View attachment 559456
Here's an early construction picture showing how much the wheel wells had to come through in our rig.

This became:
View attachment 559457
The wheel well is under the cabinet just to the right of the furnace but you can't even tell it's there.

We ended up doing a 4" lift because at 3" our front tires were rubbing badly with the steering fully turned out and at 4" it cleared. In theory you could do a larger lift and limit your articulation with bump stop but you'd still need a pretty big lift if you did that. I think maybe the newer F-550s have a little more room in the wheel wells though so maybe?

That's great info. Thanks. 4" lift sounds like a lot.

 

[boogie944]

I found what I needed on https://fordbbas.com/vehicleModel/SuperDuty (see attachment for relevant pages). Suprising that the Ford dealers seem unaware that all this information is readily available for anyone.

By my calculation for 2 lift scenarios:


Wheel well depth meaning the distance the wheels will go 'into' the floor.