So. Cal.Offroad Fabricator Recommendations to Build Aluminum Flatbed for FWC Hawk

[con kso]

Greetings,

Looking for a welder/fabricator to design and construct an aluminum flatbed for a FWC Hawk that will be ordered this week.

I live in San Diego and have already checked out Highway Products and their aluminum flatbeds - they look great but they are located in Oregon.

I'm hoping that somebody might have contact information for a highly reliable, timeline capable, skilled welder/designer in the Southern California region. Heck, I'd even drive to Arizona or Nevada if the lead was good enough.

I have the unicorn of trucks: 8' bed, 4x4, Tundra SR5 extra cab - love the rig (have over 50k Baja miles on it with Callen Camper) and am looking to upgrade the camping comfort with the flat bed FWC.

I'd like to have the flatbed built with a 2' wide locking "garage" in front of the flat bed camper area (would be a welded aluminum box with locking doors port and starboard) as well as some underbody storage. The Hawk would butt up against the garage and the flat bed would be extended six or so inches over OEM bed length (8.1').

If anybody has a lead on an overland or offroad shop capable and willing of taking on a project such as this I would greatly appreciate it.

Below is what I'd like to replicate for my build - specifically the "garage".

 

[STREGA]

Adventure Trailers in Prescott Az. Built mine, you could also get your FWC thru them as well.

 

[con kso]

Thanks for the reply - I contacted Mario and had a nice chat with him today. It looks like I'm going to order the FWC through them and they will build the flatbed for it (also having him send me a quote to compare side by side with the Norweld ute tray... just in case). What did you go with on your flatbed? I've got an 8' bed and will be doing the same "garage" that Mario has on his truck. Do you have any "wish I would haves" or "didn't end up using this..." type of advice for me on my flatbed build? I'm not sure if the flatbed is aluminum or steel (the Norweld is aluminum) but do you feel there's any advantage to going with aluminum over steel?

 

[STREGA]

Thanks for the reply - I contacted Mario and had a nice chat with him today. It looks like I'm going to order the FWC through them and they will build the flatbed for it (also having him send me a quote to compare side by side with the Norweld ute tray... just in case). What did you go with on your flatbed? I've got an 8' bed and will be doing the same "garage" that Mario has on his truck. Do you have any "wish I would haves" or "didn't end up using this..." type of advice for me on my flatbed build? I'm not sure if the flatbed is aluminum or steel (the Norweld is aluminum) but do you feel there's any advantage to going with aluminum over steel?

My flatbed is 9' long, I have a cab/chassis 1 ton which is why it's that long. Didn't do anything special on the flatbed, no headache rack and added 4 underbed storage boxes later. Instead of a seperate "garage" I had a custom made popup camper built that incorporated it into the camper body which actually made for a larger interior space. AT builds their flatbeds from aluminum, Norweld's is probably going to be less $$ than AT's but for me it was much easier to have AT build mine, no shipping to deal with either. Weight is the only real advantage IMO.

 

[AZ_Nick]

I have a new aluminum bed built specifically for a Hawk Flatbed but it does have a 3" headache rack on it. Going a different direction so this one won't be used. You would still need to outfit it with boxes, located in Phoenix, AZ.

 

[con kso]

Hey Nick,

Is your flatbed exactly the length of the Hawk flatbed? I've got an 8' bed on my Tundra and wanted to use the extra foot and a half or so to mount a "garage" in front of the camper.

Thanks,

John

 

[con kso]

My flatbed is 9' long, I have a cab/chassis 1 ton which is why it's that long. Didn't do anything special on the flatbed, no headache rack and added 4 underbed storage boxes later. Instead of a seperate "garage" I had a custom made popup camper built that incorporated it into the camper body which actually made for a larger interior space. AT builds their flatbeds from aluminum, Norweld's is probably going to be less $$ than AT's but for me it was much easier to have AT build mine, no shipping to deal with either. Weight is the only real advantage IMO.

I checked out your build thread! Your camper is really cool and that "garage" is what I'm going for (but obviously it won't be as large as yours). Thanks for the info - I've been talking with Mario over at AT he said their flatbed is a few thousand less than the Norweld - price I saw online for Norweld shipped to US etc is $13,500. I'm still shopping around (contacted Precision Welding in Oroville on advice of FWC) but I do like the customer service I've gotten from AT so far - they definitely know what they're talking about. Waiting on a quote from them.

 

[AZ_Nick]

That bed is exactly the length of a Hawk, the garage would go in front of it. That's something to think about with a custom bed. Depending on how it is built you eat 3-7" of height for the runners and rails. By having the garage in front of the bed you can set it lower and actually use that space, which is how most commercial trucks do it. For a camper you might even think about using that space for your water tank to keep it forward and low. AT should be able to fix you up.

 

[con kso]

Thanks Nick - yes I'm also talking to a fabricator who mentioned the same thing - lost storage due to thickness of the tray, runners, etc. I'm waiting on an additional quote and am ordering my flatbed Hawk next week!

 

[rruff]

I've been talking with Mario over at AT he said their flatbed is a few thousand less than the Norweld - price I saw online for Norweld shipped to US etc is $13,500.

Just for the flatbed and boxes? Seems like a lot.

How are these beds mounted to the frame? Hard mount or pivoting, isolators, etc.

Also, is the garage in front something you'd prefer to having a bigger interior space?

Looks like we have the same truck

 

[tkrrox]

Skaug truck body works. They will make you anything you want. Not sure if they do aluminum though. They do a lot of custom movie studio trucks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[con kso]

Just for the flatbed and boxes? Seems like a lot.

How are these beds mounted to the frame? Hard mount or pivoting, isolators, etc.

Also, is the garage in front something you'd prefer to having a bigger interior space?

Looks like we have the same truck

You and I do have the same truck... pretty rare to see 8' bed double cabs with 4x4 and the 5.7 in it. I fricking love the truck, it's got 130k miles on it - I bought it new in 2007 and I can't part with it. Smart thing to do would be to get a new truck with deleted bed to put this new camper on... but... I've got an emotional attachment to my truck. I can't let it go.

The garage space is critical for me - I need a place to put all the stuff that would be just sitting in either the back seat of the truck or on the floor in the camper. Things like my CO2 air up (don't want a compressor - takes too long to get to 80 psi), my 50quart ARB fridge (gonna have it mounted on a slide out tray in there), an extra 30 gallon water tank hooked up to an on-demand propane water heater, Blackstone table top griddle (this thing is awesome), my tools, bottle jack and sand plate, camp chairs, wetsuits, camp table and a small ladder. I don't want there to be anything in the camper that needs to be moved out each time we make or break camp.

Hey since we have the same truck - if you're looking for a sweet Baja tested camping rig to put on that long bed, I'm going to be removing and selling my 8' Callen camper that I've put almost 50k Baja miles on. It was made for the 8' bed on pre-2007 Tundras but I've modified it to fit our trucks.

If you don't know about Callen campers they are all handmade, welded steel, insulated campers that were made here in San Diego for Baja moto racers, surfers and fishermen. They are getting hard to find in good condition - trying to find one that fits an 8' bed on a newer Tundra is almost impossible. That's why I suggest you buy mine!

Mine comes with a mounted, full length galvanized roof rack with custom welded and powdercoated ladder mounted to the side of the camper. The camper has a small cabover section that we use for storage bins and I use to accomodate surfboards up to 11' long inside the camper. Inside of the camper there is a fold up bed platform that converts into a small table for two when it's in the up position.

I have two awnings on it now, one on the passenger side that I will remove and keep and an ARB awning off the back of the camper that I will include with the camper.

I'm taking the camper for it's last Baja trip this month - I'll be back in early January and will then be advertising it for sale. I'm looking to get $2000 for it - it's in good (not perfect condition), it's warm, water tight and comfortable (I've spent many nights in it in the Baja outback) when you need to get out of the cold, wind or rain.

If you're interested email me john@paddlesurf.net here are some photos of it in action - I'll make an add for this site and post up more photos.

 

[rruff]

The garage space is critical for me - I need a place to put all the stuff that would be just sitting in either the back seat of the truck or on the floor in the camper.

Looks like a nice camper, but I'm in the process of building one. I'm removing the bed and attaching the camper to the frame. I'm also going to remove the rear seat and fix that area up for storage.

Just thinking with a flatbed, you can have a lot of external storage down low and inside space as well.

Do you know the answers to the other questions I asked above? "$13.5k just for the flatbed and boxes? Seems like a lot. How are these beds mounted to the frame? Hard mount or pivoting, isolators, etc."

 

[Main Line Overland]

Looks like a nice camper, but I'm in the process of building one. I'm removing the bed and attaching the camper to the frame. I'm also going to remove the rear seat and fix that area up for storage.

Just thinking with a flatbed, you can have a lot of external storage down low and inside space as well.

Do you know the answers to the other questions I asked above? "$13.5k just for the flatbed and boxes? Seems like a lot. How are these beds mounted to the frame? Hard mount or pivoting, isolators, etc."

We are the importers of the Norweld Trays to the states, they are distributed through our dealer network.

Here is how we break out the Full Size truck trays:

Norweld Deluxe Tray - Short-Bed Full-Size Trucks
Tray, Fenders, Mud Guards, Bed Sides, Tailgate, LED lighting, Mesh Headboard,
2 x Forward-of-Wheel Boxes, 1 x Behind-The-Wheel Box, 1x Behind-The-Wheel Water
Tank, 43L Under-Tray Water Tank, Under-Tray Rear Storage Drawer
Price, Including Install: $13,099.00

Norweld Deluxe Tray - Full-Size Trucks
Tray, Fenders, Mud Guards, Bed Sides, Tailgate, LED lighting, Mesh Headboard,
2 x Forward-of-Wheel Boxes, 1 x Behind-The-Wheel Box, 1x Behind-The-Wheel Water
Tank, 43L Under-Tray Water Tank, Under-Tray Rear Storage Drawer
Price, Including Install: $13,499.00


So you get a large rear pull out drawer, perfect for camper jacks and recovery gear. You also get a forward mounted fresh water tank and drivers side rear gray water tank (perfect for plumbing the camper into, so no more exterior drain hoses). You also are getting a full set of bed sides & tailgate. Install is also included in this price.

The beds are hard mounted to the frame using adjustable/universal brackets so you can set the cab over gap and tire clearance appropriately for your particular truck/application.

These trays are designed/sized perfectly for the Four Wheel Campers Flat bed models.


Happy to answer any other questions on the Norwelds!

 

[AZ_Nick]

What is the height of the Norweld tray from bottom runner to deck?