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I have two 4x6 horse stall mats that I cut to fit my F350's bed and then put a standard bed mat on top of the horse stall mats. It works great. Initially, I just had the standard bed mat and on 2 occasions going down the highway I hit bumps and the bottom of my camper overhang slapped the top of my truck roof. Since adding the horse stall mats, I have not had that happen since. If I remember right, I believe I have about 2 inches of clearance between my roof and bottom of camper overhang. My camper is a 2017 Northern Lite 8.11 SE.
The ply/foam sandwich is sort what I have in mind but cutting the base to shape of the bed so it's locked in. Then just make a glued sandwich of 1/4" ply and the foam to the required thickness. Make it two piece, fore and aft. Don't think it'll need a 2x frame. And with lumber being priced like gold right now......
Thinner bed mat on that. Grip tape on one or both sides of the ply/foam riser if needed to stop any sliding. Gonna try to avoid the 3/4" stall mat as it's a pig to wrestle!
The ply/foam sandwich is sort what I have in mind but cutting the base to shape of the bed so it's locked in. Then just make a glued sandwich of 1/4" ply and the foam to the required thickness. Make it two piece, fore and aft. Don't think it'll need a 2x frame. And with lumber being priced like gold right now......
Thinner bed mat on that. Grip tape on one or both sides of the ply/foam riser if needed to stop any sliding. Gonna try to avoid the 3/4" stall mat as it's a pig to wrestle!
Those horse stall mats are heavy but once it is in, you never have to take it out again. Also, I did not want anything that over time after getting wet will mold, rot etc.. A 4x6 3/4 inch horse stall mat where I live it $43 dollars. A 4x8 3/4 inch piece of plywood is $52 dollars. Lumber is crazy expensive these days.
Those horse stall mats are heavy but once it is in, you never have to take it out again. Also, I did not want anything that over time after getting wet will mold, rot etc.. A 4x6 3/4 inch horse stall mat where I live it $43 dollars. A 4x8 3/4 inch piece of plywood is $52 dollars. Lumber is crazy expensive these days.
I did keep my mat in my current 2500 truck for that reason. And it was fine for my Okanagan as it had a 4x8 bottom footprint and the height gave good clearance.
I have to wait and see with the new '21 F350 and NL 10.2. I think the bottom foot print of the TC may be different and I'll need to see how the cabover to roof clearance is. Al up in the air till then.
If the TC only needs 3/4" of riser in the bed, I may just get a second stall mat (about $60 cdn), turn them side ways and cut them out so the two halves fit around and into the side gaps front and rear of the wheel wells in the bed. ( I have this niggling feeling that the NL bottom footprint extends, at least in the rear, into the extra space rearward of the wheel wells, and needs to have support, but again, not sure on that so waiting to see)
Then a thin truck bed mat like a Dee-Zee on top of that. NL doesn't like their units on stall mats and for warranty reasons, I'm not gonna push the issue of why.
I did keep my mat in my current 2500 truck for that reason. And it was fine for my Okanagan as it had a 4x8 bottom footprint and the height gave good clearance.
I have to wait and see with the new '21 F350 and NL 10.2. I think the bottom foot print of the TC may be different and I'll need to see how the cabover to roof clearance is. Al up in the air till then.
If the TC only needs 3/4" of riser in the bed, I may just get a second stall mat (about $60 cdn), turn them side ways and cut them out so the two halves fit around and into the side gaps front and rear of the wheel wells in the bed. ( I have this niggling feeling that the NL bottom footprint extends, at least in the rear, into the extra space rearward of the wheel wells, and needs to have support, but again, not sure on that so waiting to see)
Then a thin truck bed mat like a Dee-Zee on top of that. NL doesn't like their units on stall mats and for warranty reasons, I'm not gonna push the issue of why.
What you are talking about is exactly what I did, see the photos I added in my previous post above this one. It works great with the two horse stall mats cut to fit the bed and then the standard rubber bed mat on top of them. At least for the newer Ford Super Duty's, that will give you enough clearance between the top of your cab and the bottom of your camper overhang.
When I did mine, I just laid the two horse stall mats on my garage floor sideways and then put my rubber bed mat on top of them to act like a template. I then cut the horse stall mats using a razor knife.
Last edited by WyoBull; Apr 13, 2021 at 09:26 AM.
Reason: added photo
What you are talking about is exactly what I did, see the photos I added in my previous post above this one. It works great with the two horse stall mats cut to fit the bed and then the standard rubber bed mat on top of them. At least for the newer Ford Super Duty's, that will give you enough clearance between the top of your cab and the bottom of your camper overhang.
When I did mine, I just laid the two horse stall mats on my garage floor sideways and then put my rubber bed mat on top of them to act like a template. I then cut the horse stall mats using a razor knife.
Thanks again Scott. That's exactly what I shall do. Though, I may cheat and use my jigsaw instead of a utility knife....
Can't recall if you mentioned your clearance or if you have the antenna and/or marker lights on your truck roof.
Spiffy shop floor by the way! I love the look of those. I have a friend that is a professional stone/concrete finisher. When I built my shop he came in and ground my floors super level and smooth. Then added his top secret concrete densifier and burnished them. So nice for when I do full size chalk drawings of clients wall spaces, when I'm doing a custom wall hanger piece for them. And a breeze to sweep.
