Eventually I want to buy a slide in truck camper. I might be buying a 02 F350 ext cab, long bed with a flat bed dually. Ive never owned a truck camper and I would put one on this truck. Is there any special things to do to mount a camper to a flat bed compared to mounting it on a reg bed? Do the bed rails of a normal truck bed help support the camper or is it all supported on the bottom of the camper in the bottom of the bed?

 

the side boards do not provide any support. on a flat bed you will need to fabricate something to limit lateral movement. That comes from the fender wells on pick up beds although not intentionally. so you will need to place something immovable along the bottom to keep it in place. fore-aft is done with the use of the tiedowns.

 

Yea figured youd have to fill that space with somethin. Ive seen lots where people put extra storage boxes or somethin. Do you have a truck camper?

 

did on my old 250, bought an 04 and the side boards are too high! Just gave it away to a friend who has a 90 something f250 and it fit just fine. Also the new tailgates are narrower so I could not get it all the way in.

 

Actually you don't. There is a fellow in my neighborhood that has a slide in mounted on a flat bed trailer. The way he has it anchored requires nothing at the sides. He just added 4 extra turnbuckles, 2 on each side going outward to the trailer sides, and 4 going fore and aft. He has towed most of the summer just like it sits with never a problem with the camper shifting around and room on the back for his ATVs. Now that camping season is over he is building a bunch of storage in the overhanging space. I have teased him about it being a redneck toy hauler.

 

The Torklift tie down system is used with many flatbed trucks, so I wanted to look into your options for function and safety.
From my experience the camper on my F350 is a few inches from and never touches the wheel wells. It is on a rubber mat and that helps limit any side to side movement along with the frame mounted tie downs.
and, you'll want to have 4 spring loaded turnbuckles to reduce stress on the camper anchor points to prevent camper anchor failure or camper frame damage. Some people use an anti-shift plan like loading guides. (or 2"x4", 1"x6" boards mounted parallel to the camper, however that can complicate loading the camper).

 

x2 on the rubber mat,hauled slide in campers for 24 years,how heavy of a camper are you planning on,my old 11 1/2 ft weighed about 3000lb,my 2013 Artic Fox811s weighs 4500lb loaded for camping & it made my01 f-350psd suspension struggle with out some suspension mods.

 

Well I do alot of mountain trails in colorado so Im thinkin of a pop up slide in camper. So it wont be as heavy as a hard side truck camper. I want to keep the center of gravity down.

 

I agree you wont need much, if any suspension upgrades.

 

You can add tool boxes for storage to the sides of the bed. But you can haul it without anything there. Just get a set of Torklift tie down's, and your set. Mine did not move on my normal bed one inch. The turnbuckles don't let me move much if any.
Had this one on my Chevy. It was over 4000 lbs and 9ft long in the floor with a 8ft sideout.

Not sure if the tie downs off my 2004 2500 will fit your flatbed. But I will be selling them towards spring. Being I sold the truck camper and now use this.

 

Wow that is a bad *** Ford there! That have the cummins in it? I like the sleeper on it and that 5th wheel. Thats quite the upgrade from that truck camper haha. Im probably gonna try to get this truck first then get a camper. Seems like everyone uses torklift so I will probably go with them. Id probably do airbags no matter what truck I get.

 

No it has the Ford 7.8 I-6 some people think its a Cummins but the turbo is on the Drivers side, Fuel pump is on the Pass side. Runs like a new motor But then again I was told the Reman motor only has 10,000 miles or so on it. I also love how the sleeper makes it look. Along with the bed build on it.
Only gotten to pull the camper with it one time. Trying to replace all the hoses and stuff on the old truck.

I put air bags on my 2500HD when I picked up the truck camper and would not have one without them. Levels out the truck and helps with the ride. Good luck in your search and enjoy. I know we sure enjoy our new camper. But then again I loved the Truck camper, but with age my body did not like climbing into and out of the bed. Along with 6ft 1 and 250 lbs did not fit well in the wet bath on it also.

 

The biggest issue with a slide-in camper on a flat bed is the vertical increase in the center-of-gravity. The floor of the camper is a lot higher off the ground compared to a standard bed, so the truck handles the load differently. Neither Ford nor the camper mfg. designed their respective products for a flat bed, so raising the CG by a foot or more can have unintended results.

 

Have you given any thought to mounting the Truck camper on a Goose neck trailer? Lots of people are going that route these days. Gives them a Camper and also a toy hauler.
Just a heads up the bed floor on my F800 is only 4" higher then my 3500HD bed.
Pete