Pop up trailer on truck bed question.

[stevie.derbs]

So, I was thinking about a way to use my current truck and frankenstein it to be a camping specific truck. I have a crew cab 5.5 ft bed f150 and the reason I would not just buy a new truck is because its not worth enough to sell, and I like what Ive done so far. So here is the question has anyone taken a small pop up camper trailer, wheels off and mounted it to a flat bed side ways on a truck. This would put the door where the tail gate once was and the fold outs to driver and passenger sides. similar to the photo below with out the truck bed Thanks in advance

 

[mudraider]

I've seen that done on trailers. Especially goose necks. Basically made a platform to mount the pop up, with the gooseneck attachment under the platform. Couple I saw were carrying a lot of 4 wheelers. Same principle would work on a flatbed on a pickup.

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[TexomaPowerboater]

+1 on the trailer, seems to work well. The popup is going to be too heavy for a F150 and too wide for a 5.5ft bed as most are the width of the truck.....about 8ft wide +/-. Weight is going to be around 1,500-2,000lbs for a smaller one. I assume your wanting to offroad......most pop ups are built on the cheap and just not made for the lateral jostling that happens offroading. If your looking for something on the bed of the truck on the cheap then I'd recommend a good hard topper or softopper with tent extension like they sell on softopper website. You can also run a roof top tent on top of the topper if you want to sleep more people.

I wouldn't tear up a good pop up camper trying to fix it to your truck and I wouldn't spend the money to put a flat bed on an F150. It just doesn't have the payload capacity IMO to justify the cost. The flatbed is probably going to decrease your payload by quite a bit. Cheapest option is a softopper with tent extension. The hard toppers can fail/crack with a lot of offroad use as well.....a pop up back there wouldn't have a prayer. I'm just concerned you'd be left with a worthless pop up and F150 with flat bed and no payload capacity that nobody will want to buy; financially that does not make sense. You'd be better off with a pop up trailer than to throw it on back of truck cause value of both will be preserved.

 

[Buddha.]

There was a member on here who put a pop up on the back of a HEAVILY modified Dodge Dakota.


https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/my-dodge-dakota-the-comvee.29182/page-12

http://www.fourwheeler.com/features/1603-a-crawling-and-camping-2001-dodge-dakota/

 

[stevie.derbs]

Thanks for the replies. I have a truck bed tent right now which I love. I was just looking to convert my current truck when I buy a new one because the trade in value at the time wont be enough to justify getting rid of it. My only issue with using the truck bed tent with air mattress that has the wheel well cut outs is taking everything out of the truck to set up the tent. I am looking for a solution to keep the sleeping area simple but be able to cook/eat inside if it is raining. I do not mind part of the shell of top being made from tent I actually prefer it, part of camping is being outside so why have a totally insulated camper I might as well stay in my apartment. I have looked at the pop up style truck campers but cannot justify the money because I am not crazy about the interior set up. So my next idea is to build my own camper. I am not sure over all it would be cheaper than a professional build but I love building and I would like to design it myself. I would take the bed off and start with a 7'x7' steel frame and build a box out of composite boards. That is as far as I have gotten though

 

[TexomaPowerboater]

A capri camper might be a good option for you as they are available in a bare bones option or optioned out. Used they are pretty cheap too. Couple of used ones floating around on dallas craigslist

 

[TexomaPowerboater]

That dodge is sweet. A livinlite "jeep" pop up would probably be easier to use and certainly better built.

A softtopper would be better than your truck bed tent. You can make a bed platform that sits up level with the wheel wells with storage drawers underneath or maybe do a bed platform on one side, with storage underneath and room on the other side for a shelf or cabinet (with storage) to cook with. Then you could sit on the side of the bed and cook. Can add a bed rack or roof rack for more cargo if you need it, trailer hitch carriers work well front or back or both, etc.

 

[CanucksRedRocket]

you need one of the old coleman truck tents. its basically a tent trailer for a truck.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0273/4347/files/1981_coleman_flyer.pdf?15843413715999056796

goodluck finding one though, i think they are really cool.

 

[stevie.derbs]

That coleman tent set up would be perfect. I like the idea of the bed coming out the side. The idea I had was to put the bed on tracks so it can slide in on top of everything for travel and then when its time to set up camp slide it out and attach some legs for support. The coleman would be a great place to start to design off of

 

[stevie.derbs]

That dodge is sweet. A livinlite "jeep" pop up would probably be easier to use and certainly better built.

A softtopper would be better than your truck bed tent. You can make a bed platform that sits up level with the wheel wells with storage drawers underneath or maybe do a bed platform on one side, with storage underneath and room on the other side for a shelf or cabinet (with storage) to cook with. Then you could sit on the side of the bed and cook. Can add a bed rack or roof rack for more cargo if you need it, trailer hitch carriers work well front or back or both, etc.

The only issue with building the platform is I have really gotten used to the air mattress, the thing is almost nicer than my bed at home. One thing I forgot to add is my girlfriend travels with me so comfort is big in her book.