Lance without the truck bed

[oneeyedjackass]

Anybody out there have any experience with mounting a camper without the truck bed? I never use the truck bed and like the idea of extra storage possibilities.
Specifically I'm trying to determine where on the camper I would need to attach to truck. The four stock corner mounts would be inconvenient.
Also, does the camper structurally required to sit on the truck bed rails?
Thx,mark

 

[Capt Eddie]

Check out the "Other custom campers" F450 flatbed build. I put a Lance 1040 on a flatbed. I have all the storage I think I will ever need.

 

[Pest]

The way I understand it is that he wants to mount the camper directly to the frame rails without a regular bed or flatbed.

And I have no idea, sorry!

 

[herm]

the camper does not sit on the bed rails, it sits on the floor of the bed. you do need something to support the bottom of the camper. the usuall choice is a flat bed but you could build something to match the bottom dimensions of the camper. that would leave you with more room for your side boxes.

 

[805gregg]

Get service body for your truck that will fit the camper, you get all the outside storage and still get to use your camper.

 

[oneeyedjackass]

The way I understand it is that he wants to mount the camper directly to the frame rails without a regular bed or flatbed.

yep, I'd rather stay away from a commercial flatbed. Just would like to build up off frame rails keeping the whole thing as low as possible. Service body is a good idea. Might be a bit heavy.
I'm just not sure if the lance is structurally capable of just sitting on a flat surface only (with no added support of the truck bed rails). Hope that makes sense

 

[herm]

there is no support for a pick up truck camper from the actual bed rails, only from the floor of the bed. the camper is built not to touch the bed rails. the bed rails really are not built to support much weight without structure into the stake pockets.

 

[pods8]

I'd think you'll probably want to build a "mini-bed" platform over your frame rails to support the bottom portion of the camper that normally sits in the truck bed. It would only need to be ~4' wide.

 

[oneeyedjackass]

there is no support for a pick up truck camper from the actual bed rails, only from the floor of the bed. the camper is built not to touch the bed rails. the bed rails really are not built to support much weight without structure into the stake pockets.

Thanks for the info!
The original plan was to build from scratch. Now it's looking way easier to remodel/add-on.

 

[oneeyedjackass]

I'd think you'll probably want to build a "mini-bed" platform over your frame rails to support the bottom portion of the camper that normally sits in the truck bed. It would only need to be ~4' wide.

Maybe some spacers on the frame rails to make a level platform and some thru bolts to hold the beast down. Might not be enough for when the camper starts swaying. Guess i need to put some thought into it.

 

[pods8]

Maybe some spacers on the frame rails to make a level platform and some thru bolts to hold the beast down. Might not be enough for when the camper starts swaying. Guess i need to put some thought into it.

Yeah you'll definitely need to shim accordingly to how your frame is laid out. As for the camper size and swaying you might need some turn buckles to brackets further out if needed, not sure if the manufacturer has designed for it to be mounted with just through bolts or not. Those are pretty big campers, no?

 

[Stouttrout]

Not just that, you will also need to keep in mind that the cab over section will need to be at least a few inches over the cab. This will probably require some extra height to your platform to make it fit right.

 

[Judoka]

I was thinking of making a pan that basically molds to the botom of the camper from thr floor all the way up the the sides that are over the frame rails. Then fasten it into the camper surface with screws. If it is made out of aluminum it should not weigh too much. Then I would think that anchoring bolts to the frame rails would be sufficient because the tub would be the structural support for the entire camper. If that makes any sense. I am no engineer, but it seems to me that if the tub is strong enough and the bolts are srtong enough, then a couple of crossmembers welded between the frame rails should provide enough structural integrity to hold the camper in place even if it sways from side to side.

 

[FishPOET]

Not just that, you will also need to keep in mind that the cab over section will need to be at least a few inches over the cab. This will probably require some extra height to your platform to make it fit right.

Absolutely correct.

I already have to lift my Lance 3 inches up off the bed of the truck for cabover clearance.

 

[boblynch]

Flatbed options

We went through many of the same issues on our F550 build (see thread link below). Having chopped up a Lance camper and seen the internals, I would not advise mounting it to your truck anywhere other than the existing corner mounts. The frame rails flex too much for the camper, so we added a scratch built flatbed and boxes. To improve the storage in our front boxes we flipped the turnbuckles so they mount forward, but we still use the stock attachment point on the original camper. The end result was a ton of storage and a small distance between the cabover bed and truck cab. Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.