I just bought a really nice 1963 8-foot Alaskan Camper. It's in very good shape, and has working stove/oven a refer, water tank etc. Anyway, I want to mount it on a 1990 F-250 HD 4x4, and since I've not mounted a camper before, I was wondering about some basics:

Can the plywood camper bottom simply rest on the metal of the bed or is there some kind of liner that people use?

Looks like there are three locations in the camper floor with bolt holes. Does one just poke the drill through the holes and then drill through the bed and bolt the camper down?

Where the heck can I mount a propane bottle for the stove and refer?

Thanks guys, I know this is real simple stuff-

Steve

 

I can't help you myself because I don't have the experience, but may I ask what you paid for the camper and how you came across it?

 

BareBones-

I found it in a classified paper. The nephew of his dead uncle had been paying storage fees for it and decided he would never use it. He asked $400, and based on the really fine condition of the interior wood, and the overall condition of the thing I thought that was very fair. The seals between the outer shell and the inner part could be better, but I think it's ready for a road trip. Just need some basic coaching is all.....

 

Usally there are brakets that go in the 4 stake pockets and then use a turn buckel to tighten it down to those. Some of the newer ones use a bar that is fasten to the frame in the front of the bed and use long turn buckels to fasten to. Then they use 2 more on the back that hook onto the rear bumper. There should be holes in the out riggers brackets that these hook to.

As for the bottom the plywood can rest on the bed and just depends on how high it needs to be to clear the side rails. We had to use 4x4's to get camper high enought.

Propane usally has a compartment for itself that is vented but have seen them on the rear of the camper.

 

I think a lot depends on the weight of the camper and the truck you're putting it into. Setting the camper right into the bed shouldn't be a problem, as long as the bed rails clear.

As far as tying it down, a lot of the newer truck beds simply aren't as sturdy as they used to be. And those old campers can be pretty heavy. I'd look at a good quality set of camper anchors that are designed for your truck. Happijac and Torklift are the two that come to mind. Depending on the truck, they are not usually cheap, since they usually anchor to the frame in some way.

As to the propane tank, most new campers have a compartment with side tanks. Some of the older ones didn't. There must be a propane bottle hookup there somewhere though, and the simplest might be to make a bottle stand wherever the hookup is.

 

According to the manual that the poor dead uncle kept in the drawer all those years, the camper weighs 1050 lbs, so I'd estimate with water and gear, the total may approach 1,500. I am assuming the F-250 HD can carry this easily enough, but I guess I need to research a way to anchor to the frame? I don't know, I would think the plywood bottom would rip out before the sheet metal in the bed though....

 

U in alaska?

 

Nope. California.

 

u gonna put that on and drive to alaska with it? that would be a fun trip!

Ray

 

try http://www.rv.net/forum/ They have a whole section on truck campers and a lot of very knowledgable people.

 

I have a 1964 f100 with heavy duty package aka (7 leaf springs and dana 60 rear axle. I also have a 1964 8ft alaskan camper. This camper rides nice with no hold downs since you lower it for travel. My bed has a spray on bed liner so the camper does not slide. My f100 handles this camper just fine. I did put lt235r75-15 tires on it to handle the load better

 

I would not drill holes in the bed to mount it. On my 96 F250 with the towing camper package, it has special brackets attached to the front of the box that stick out near the cab doors, and a small bracket of sorts on the rear step bumper, that are for the tie downs. And it has to be tied down no matter what. If it isn't it is an unsecured load and you will get a hefty ticket. Or become unlucky and have a huge head wind gust blow it off or a major hump in the road.

 

killer ,what prevents the camper from tearing the cab off if you have to make a panic stop.

 

the other issue is clearance between the truck roof and the camper overhang, my camper needed about 3" blocks front to back. 3 of them left right and middle, i used planks about 5" wide. myself i would want to use some sort of camper holddowns, even a topper doesn't just sit on a truck needs to be held down