Nothern Lite on a flatbed?

[J_Duncan]

I have just recently purchased a 2011 Northern Lite 10'2 special edition and am now shopping for the truck to put it on. I believe we have found it but I was thinking about putting it on a flat bed and then adding boxes under the flat bed and also in the dead space of the flat bed and camper on the top side. Anyone ever done this before? Am I not trying to spend $30,000 on a sherptec flat bed. I was wondering if anyone had on on a standard CM or other commercially flat bed and what their experiences may have been. Do you need to get special or custom jack extensions, did you? Thanks in advance for your time.

[portscanner]

J.Duncan wrote:


My dude, so many questions. Does the camper require an 8’ bed? How long is your flat bed? Do you have center of gravity issues? Is there a large space between your camper and your headache rack? Literally exactly what I want to do just Ford and Northern Lite.

Those were several issues I had to address.

The camper I have requires (at least) an 8 foot bed. Note I got a cab and chassis truck - which has a 9 foot bed. The rear axle is moved a foot further back away from the cab (than on a truck with an 8 foot bed.) Moving the axle back means the center of gravity of the TC will remain in front of the rear axle - where it belongs.

If I am correct, the Northern Lite 10'2 is designed for an 8' bed so it should work on any truck with a 8 foot or longer bed that can handle the weight. Make sure the weight of the truck + the weight of the TC + the weight of your new flat bed + weight of all your "stuff" (i.e. fishing gear, dogs, food, beer, etc) does not exceed the GVWR of the truck. Please do your homework first before buying your truck. I recently acquired a Ford 2011 F-450 that had only a 13,300 GVWR and was 1000 lbs over the GVWR with the Lance loaded (but that is a story for a different time)

Check and confirm how much room is under the cabover of the Northern Lite. I have heard that newer Ford cabs are taller than other trucks - but I dont have any written documentation to support that - just rumor.

If you get a cab and chassis model like I did, you will have 12" between the front of the bed / headache bar and the front of your camper. I temporarily put some 2x4's in there to keep the camper from walking forward on the bed, but I am looking at building a frame from aluminum that will keep the camper from walking forward along with providing space for another fresh water tank.

A note on tiedowns - the flatbed has a rail along the side. I used that in conjunction with Torklift "Original FastGun Turnbuckle .45- Polished S9527"

Before you load the camper on the truck, verify the truck will fit between the front jacks. You might need front jack extensions.

Thats about all I can think of at the moment. Let me know if you need any other information!

[J_Duncan]

portscanner wrote:
See my new build ***Link Removed***.

The Hillsboro bed was $6500 plus tax.

I am looking at some ***Link Removed*** that we are planning on getting.

My dude, so many questions. Does the camper require an 8’ bed? How long is your flat bed? Do you have center of gravity issues? Is there a large space between your camper and your headache rack? Literally exactly what I want to do just Ford and Northern Lite.

[Lwiddis]

Measure carefully. Imagine how the tool boxes would look over time. Secure to truck cautiously.

[portscanner]

See my new build here.

The Hillsboro bed was $6500 plus tax.

I am looking at some tool boxes from Amazon that we are planning on getting.

[K_Charles]

Search Google for redneck toyhauler.

[J_Duncan]

KD4UPL wrote:
I did that exact thing on an aluminum flatbed made by TG Mountaineer. I had boxes under the bed in front and behind the rear wheels. I had longer boxes on top of the flatbed between the camper tie down points. I had flip-up rings in the flatbed deck at each corner that I attached the happi jack turnbuckles too.
My truck was a dually so the bed was 8' wide which did require dually swing-out brackets on the front jacks. This still only left me with about 3/4" of clearance between the jacks. My fresh water supply hose connection was on the underside of the camper wing facing down. The toolbox blocked it. I made up a 90 degree fitting with some parts from the plumbing department of Lowes.
My flatbed was semi custom built. I really wasn't happy with the overall quality of the bed but they were one of very few vendors willing to customize it for me. I think the bed and boxes cost me about $6,000 in 2011.

I have seen that. Higher prices for more customization, which I’m ok with but I’m not looking to go to crazy. I’m more looking to take a standard CM bed and work it from there over time. What kind of truck do you have?

[KD4UPL]

I did that exact thing on an aluminum flatbed made by TG Mountaineer. I had boxes under the bed in front and behind the rear wheels. I had longer boxes on top of the flatbed between the camper tie down points. I had flip-up rings in the flatbed deck at each corner that I attached the happi jack turnbuckles too.
My truck was a dually so the bed was 8' wide which did require dually swing-out brackets on the front jacks. This still only left me with about 3/4" of clearance between the jacks. My fresh water supply hose connection was on the underside of the camper wing facing down. The toolbox blocked it. I made up a 90 degree fitting with some parts from the plumbing department of Lowes.
My flatbed was semi custom built. I really wasn't happy with the overall quality of the bed but they were one of very few vendors willing to customize it for me. I think the bed and boxes cost me about $6,000 in 2011.

[Lwiddis]

They are around...practical but ugliest RVs on the road. Secure carefully.