Lance without the truck bed

[oneeyedjackass]

Anybody out there have any experience with mounting a camper without the truck bed? I never use the truck bed and like the idea of extra storage possibilities.
Specifically I'm trying to determine where on the camper I would need to attach to truck. The four stock corner mounts would be inconvenient.
Also, does the camper structurally required to sit on the truck bed rails?
Thx,mark

[Capt Eddie]

Check out the "Other custom campers" F450 flatbed build. I put a Lance 1040 on a flatbed. I have all the storage I think I will ever need.

[Pest]

The way I understand it is that he wants to mount the camper directly to the frame rails without a regular bed or flatbed.

And I have no idea, sorry!

[herm]

the camper does not sit on the bed rails, it sits on the floor of the bed. you do need something to support the bottom of the camper. the usuall choice is a flat bed but you could build something to match the bottom dimensions of the camper. that would leave you with more room for your side boxes.

[805gregg]

Get service body for your truck that will fit the camper, you get all the outside storage and still get to use your camper.

[oneeyedjackass]

The way I understand it is that he wants to mount the camper directly to the frame rails without a regular bed or flatbed.

yep, I'd rather stay away from a commercial flatbed. Just would like to build up off frame rails keeping the whole thing as low as possible. Service body is a good idea. Might be a bit heavy.
I'm just not sure if the lance is structurally capable of just sitting on a flat surface only (with no added support of the truck bed rails). Hope that makes sense

[herm]

there is no support for a pick up truck camper from the actual bed rails, only from the floor of the bed. the camper is built not to touch the bed rails. the bed rails really are not built to support much weight without structure into the stake pockets.

[pods8]

I'd think you'll probably want to build a "mini-bed" platform over your frame rails to support the bottom portion of the camper that normally sits in the truck bed. It would only need to be ~4' wide.

[oneeyedjackass]

there is no support for a pick up truck camper from the actual bed rails, only from the floor of the bed. the camper is built not to touch the bed rails. the bed rails really are not built to support much weight without structure into the stake pockets.

Thanks for the info!
The original plan was to build from scratch. Now it's looking way easier to remodel/add-on.

[oneeyedjackass]

I'd think you'll probably want to build a "mini-bed" platform over your frame rails to support the bottom portion of the camper that normally sits in the truck bed. It would only need to be ~4' wide.

Maybe some spacers on the frame rails to make a level platform and some thru bolts to hold the beast down. Might not be enough for when the camper starts swaying. Guess i need to put some thought into it.