Raising floor of truck bed

[AZHawk]

Hi, I'm brand new here. Have had a Hawk for 8 years but did not know about this forum. I'm seeing all sort of interesting info. I had the Hawk on a 2002 Tundra and used it mainly on back roads with great success. Love the camper, and the truck was faithful. Now I have a 2010 Tundra, which I also love, but I'm trying to find the best (lightest) way of raising the bed of the truck so the camper clears the rails. I've tried searching the topic and looked through 30 pages of old posts but can't find the answer. Any help would be appreciated. A related question is how much of the camper floor really needs to be supported?

 

[CJ8Rockcrawler]

Several people have built platforms for under the campers to use older model campers on newer trucks. I think the main model that this is seen with is the Ford Super Duty trucks. I believe the whole floor needs to be supported. Something I always thought would be nice is to put a drawer system into the platform for extra storage of flat items... tarps, camp chairs, etc.

 

[EdoHart]

How far do you need to raise the camper to clear the bed rails?

 

[AZHawk]

How far do you need to raise the camper to clear the bed rails?



2.5 inches, thanks.

 

[Hittheroad]

2.5 inches, thanks.

Thinking ahead to the Mahindra I hope to see someday, I have assumed that sheets of building foam insulation would do the trick.

 

[Silvertip47]

I did the same on my 88 Northstar to fit the new F150. I need 3-4" so I built a box underneath the camper using 2x4's on edge and closing in the bottom with 5/8" plywood. One 2x4 running the perimeter of the camper with 2 two 2x4's running down the center. I ran 2x4's across the rear on hinges for doors and now have a 3 1/2" deep "basement".

It works great for my ladder, poker, shovel, etc.

If you want the lightest option then the 4x8 sheets of HD foam insulation would work the best. Available at Home Depot or Lowe's.

Your camper floor has to be flat (no runners) or they will just dig into the foam and lose weight. If your fresh water drain is through the floor you will have to make modifications for that. Also sometimes the foam boards will start breaking down on the edges so you will have to build a wooden frame around it.

Good Luck.

 

[EdoHart]

Silvertip47's idea is very close to my own of building 2 or 3 pallets out of 2x2s with 1/2" slats on the top and bottom. Or, it you can weld, then platforms made out of steel 2X3 square tube would work. 2 or 3 seperate platforms would be easier to handle when you want to take the camper off. As for how much of the floor needs to be supported, the second page of this thread: http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/index.php?/topic/3103/page__fromsearch__1 shows what FWC uses at trade shows.

 

[AZHawk]

Thanks for the replies. It never made sense to me that the "entire" floor needs to be supported. That would imply some fragile construction if true. However, if using foam insulation with little weight, I would just get a sheet under the whole thing, figuring less chance of compression of the material. any different thoughts?

 

[rich]

Ok, I too have this dilemma. I replaced my 96 T-100 with an '07 Tundra. The T-100 has a 17" bed depth and I had to have a 3/4" sheet of plywood underneath the camper to give it the height it needed. The camper is an '89 Fleet. Now I have a bed depth of a little over 23" so I need to raise the camper up 6 - 7"! That is a bit of a tall order (pun intended).

I have been going over options in my head to do this and I think something that is built right onto the camper floor itself makes the most sense so I don't have to lift the basement in and out somehow every time I use the truck. My current plan is to build a 6-7" basement onto the bottom of the camper with doors at the ends to load it from the exterior and cut and hinge a door in the floor to access the basement from the interior like the ski storage hatch in a boat floor.

I'm trying to figure the lightest configuration and longest intervals between stringers supporting the floor that I can get away with.

Also because of the greater bed depth the tailgate is longer and when loaded with the tailgate down I will have 8 inches of tailgate sticking out my back door which could lead to a slipping and taking a tumble and could lead to dinging the heck out of the tailgate with shoes, dog claws etc... If I take the taigate off there will be 18" of camper at the back unsupported. I was wondering what you guys think about using the new basement to support that section and not having tailgate under it.

Finally for any new Tundra owners, have you taken your tailgates off? Mine has a no slam feature which I love but I don't know if whatever mechanism slows the tailgate to a stop coming down complicates the tailgate removal?

Thanks for any ideas and info you guys have.

Rich