Thoughts on flatbed conversions -pros\cons?

[4000lbsOfGoat]

I'm looking for feedback here from current and former owners of flatbed converted pickups.

I'll give you a bit of background so you know where I'm coming from here: I've got a 3rd Gen Tacoma with an ARE cap (topper) and a set of Decked drawers. The truck is used, in conjunction with an off-road teardrop, for extended camping trips (30+ days) but we also day-trip with it at least once a week. It is also currently our only vehicle so it gets the groceries too. I've got a lot of needs to balance...

I installed the Decked drawers but the cap was on the truck when I bought it. It is not the cap that I would have chosen but I left it there because it was free and at least mostly useful (having an uncovered bed is a non-starter for me). Having spent a good bit of time actually using the rig now I'm finding myself more and more frequently annoyed by the cap - mostly it's access issues as it only has an opening window on one side. With the drawers in the bed, crawling up to the front corner of the bed is not super awesome.

So, that got me thinking about a new cap, one with operable doors on both sides at least.

Thinking about a new cap got me to thinking about the entire bed\drawer\cap setup....

While my current setup has mostly worked well and a new cap would solve a lot of my issues, I recognize that the bed\drawer\cap setup is heavy and creates a lot of wasted space. So that brought me to a flatbed conversion and bed replacement, specifically, this one: RSI SmartCap bed replacement

While I'm not necessarily looking to debate the relative merits of the RSI setup vs. competitors (Norweld, etc) I am looking for feedback from those who have gone the full conversion route. What was your specific use case? Did the conversion give you what you were looking for? Would you do it again? Anything you missed about having a traditional bed? Any adverse handling effects?

Honestly the biggest hang-up I have right now is losing the tailgate. Since our full rig is small, the tailgate kind of becomes an important extension of our "table space" when we're in camp (I'll typically setup the grill there) and it gets used as our lunch spot on many of the aforementioned day trips. I know I will gain a lot with the conversion but this one loss seems to weigh heavily for me...

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Cheers!

 

[CFMGarage]

I am interested in hearing this feedback as well. My concern on my truck is bed height. Currently I have the lift I want and the wheels/tires set and the tailgate when down is chest level so thinking about storage is a challenge. I did add a full length tailgate step that makes it easier to get in without having to jump up on the tailgate every time.

I have an ARE cap with Windoors and I can't reach anything along the floor in the front of the bed reaching in the windoor. I'm just not tall enough (I'm 6').

From pictures the Norweld seems to ride high on the frame for RAMs. I think this is dependent on the brand of truck you have though.

If I had more money than responsibilities I would get a fully kitted GCI Traytec tray and canopy for my truck from Australia. It has slide out side storage and the flat floor canopy concept solves a lot of the height problem for me. I have various trailers for carrying things so I could do a full replacement bed/canopy.

I'm hoping these canopy companies continue to branch out internationally. If GCI Traytec is reading this I'll happily volunteer my Ram to get a full tray/canopy in the US.

 

[rruff]

Honestly the biggest hang-up I have right now is losing the tailgate. Since our full rig is small, the tailgate kind of becomes an important extension of our "table space" when we're in camp (I'll typically setup the grill there) and it gets used as our lunch spot on many of the aforementioned day trips. I know I will gain a lot with the conversion but this one loss seems to weigh heavily for me...

Couldn't you have a fold down or slide out table?

Flatbeds loose some space efficiency also, since they move everything up, even parts that don't need to be. Wheelwells in traditional beds are not the real problem, rather all the space lost due to "style" (and aero). 80" width gets cut down to 50-70" with odd shaped curves to deal with. You could make a custom bed that retains the stock floor height and design in external storage, doors, etc to taste. That way you can get good head clearance inside and keep a low cg.

BTW, I originally designed my camper this way but a couple things steered me towards a flatbed:

1) If you have a cabover that you use for "bedroom activities" it's nice to have a good amount of height. Add that to the cab height and flatbed height for the floor is just about right.
2) Tundras flex quite a bit and I decided to use a pivoting apparatus rather than hard mount it. This takes up vertical space under the camper, so I couldn't make it that low anyway.

 

[4000lbsOfGoat]

Couldn't you have a fold down or slide out table?

I don't know if I could or not. Not having direct experience with a flatbed conversion I'm not sure what the options are, that's why I'm asking! ?

I suppose that a fold down or slide out table could be possible but I don't know that such an arrangement could be strong enough to serve as a seat for 2 like a tailgate can.

I'm not necessarily looking for "good head clearance" inside. I'm not planning to ever use the space for sleeping, only for storage. The key is that I want to be able to reach all of the internal storage from the outside so I never have to go inside at all.

 

[rruff]

Gotcha... I was thinking with a flatbed style you'd have plenty of room underneath for a pull out table. Fold out would work as well. Not hard to make it strong enough... you aren't that heavy are you?