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Aluminum framing for flatbed truck camper


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#11 WillTheThri11

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Posted 08 January 2021 - 09:24 PM

My 90s Ranger II is made primarily of .040-.050 1" square tubing.  The cabover part is thicker I believe but probably not.125"  I did a repair using 1/16" 6061-T6 and I can tell you that it's way stiffer and more stout than the original framing.  I wasn't able to locate "original-style" rounded corner tubing at all actually and that .040" thick stuff is a real pain to weld if you're not a pro.  I think if you used 1/16" thick tubing you'd have a very strong camper.   


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#12 Kolockum

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Posted 09 January 2021 - 01:22 AM

I went out and measured the tubing in my camper and it is .050. Not sure where I got the .125. 


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#13 zuber

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Posted 03 April 2021 - 12:54 AM

+1 on the use of steel.  Strength is not usually the design issue, it is deflection.  Steel is rigid, aluminum is like a spring.  Steel is very easy to weld, alum not as easy.  Aluminum is also much more prone to crack.  Steel is significantly cheaper to buy also.


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#14 Avg.Joe

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Posted 30 May 2021 - 06:05 PM

It's been a few months since the op started this. Still considering the project? If so I can share info on our all wood camper (built last year) and a boat builders perspective on the project.
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#15 ntsqd

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Posted 30 May 2021 - 11:35 PM

If no one else is, I'm interested in your all wood camper. I seem to recall that you have a build thread here. I'll have to find it.


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#16 Avg.Joe

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Posted 02 June 2021 - 02:17 PM

If no one else is, I'm interested in your all wood camper. I seem to recall that you have a build thread here. I'll have to find it.

Diy home build is what I called the thread...or something close to that.

A good friend who's been building boats and planes for years gave me the courage I needed to do the project. With no experience, I used a lot of wood. Probably way more than is needed. The pop up has four 90# struts and still takes effort.

I keep saying next time I'll do this and that different but I really should be hoping to use this one for a good long time. I'm curious how the move to electric vehicles is going to affect us truck camper users and so I think about ways to build the bed and camper lighter to eventually fit an electric platform. I don't know, maybe the next one will be a pop top van.

Along the lines of this thread though, I've seen folks do a real nice job with thin gauge steel for truck beds. For me, that would be easier to fab and likely less expensive. My factory built aluminum bed is heavy as heck but built to haul a huge amount. With a truck camper like the ones we're talking about here, the beds don't need to be so dang heavy.

Edited by Avg.Joe, 02 June 2021 - 02:23 PM.

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