Utility Bed Install with Popup Camper

[topofpalomar]

Hello, All,

I've been learning so much from this forum that I thought I should finally make a contribution.

For years I have thought a utility bed or a flat bed would be a great idea for a camper mount. After I found Expedition Portal I realized that quite a few individuals are doing just that. Finally, after reading about ToolBox Guy's utility bed with Skamper on his Dodge that finally pushed me over the edge. I took the plunge. My goal is to help someone who wants to tackle such a project see what I went thru and what I was able to achieve. I'm not done by any means. There is still some details to finish but so far so good. I'm pleased, and the better half seems to be on board with it.

My idea was to take my current truck, a 2006 Chevy regular cab long bed, 2500 HD 4x4 diesel and find a used utility bed to mount my older 1999 Apache popup to. I bought the truck new and it only has 51,000 miles on it. The old Apache (made by Sun Lite) we acquired used back in 2005. We have been using slide-in popup campers since 1983; this is our fourth one we've owned and we're not afraid to use it. It's getting a bit long in the tooth so if I screw it up it's no big deal really. We plan on getting a new one in a few years after retirement.

Here's what it looks like before the utility bed. Photo is from Rockhouse Canyon in the Anza Borrego Desert last Spring.

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After reading about the ones already completed here on Expedition Portal and studying what I would need I realized a low profile long bed was the one that would work. I located what I was looking for at Four Seasons Truck in Colton. Dave the owner has quite a few used and new units in stock, along with take-off beds from previous build-ups. He and I worked out a deal for a used C-Tec low profile that has what is referred to as a horizontal configuration on the driver's side and a vertical configuration on the passenger side. The unit has the flip top compartments at the top which is not usable with a slide in camper on it but I could deal with that. I got the unit prepped and freshly painted, with new locks and compartment seals, a new dock bumper with new tail and running lights for less than half the cost of a new unit.

I knew that there would be some issues installing this "off the shelf" popup camper on an "off the shelf" utility bed. The jacks have to go - can't get the jacks to clear the sides. Also, the tie down bolts (being removed here) are hanging down too far to clear the top of the flip top on the utility bed, and the biggest issue will be the gas line mounted externally on the driver's side (just visible on the right along with the bonding wire). I removed the mounting eye bolts, reroute the bond wire and plan on dealing with the gas line later. I'm not going to replumb the gas - I plan on moving the camper over slightly to the right to clear it. At least that's the plan. Fingers crossed.

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Here's the bed ready to go. Notice the longer, horizontal compartment on the driver's side and the short horizontal compartment on the passenger side. I've got plans for those guys!:wings:

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The old bed sits in the foreground while the utility bed is installed.

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Finally, the completed job, no tailgate needed. Weight is approximately 450 to 500 lbs more than the standard bed.

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Next, drive back to Palomar Mountain and entice the boys to come up and help the old man get the camper installed. More to come....

 

[rxinhed]

Most guys that out campers on top of a service body use a flat top, rather than a flip top box. Do you have plans to raise the camper elevation and leave the function of the flip top for other uses?

I've also seen RTT on service bodies with the flip tops. Is this one of your possible considerations?

 

[bob91yj]

Have I told you that you SUCK yet this week!

Congrats, looks great!:wings: Can't wait to see it with the camper on it.

What is the width of the bed? With my camper being designed for a mini truck I can't imagine I'll have a width problem. Never occurred to me how I was going to get the camper into the box. Whats your plan for that? You need some manpower to help get it in, I'm your huckleberry. I'm a hell of a supervisor!:sombrero: Seriously, I wouldn't mind helping just for the learning experience.

Edit: I started getting a twitch drooling over your truck and taking another look at Tool Box Guys, e-mailed your buddies to see what they could do for me!

 

[bob91yj]

So I e-mailed Four Seasons Truck at 7:58PM, I've got a reply from Dave at 8:05PM. He said he was working late and gave me a heads up on some service bodies he's got in recon right now. I don't know that I can pull the trigger just yet, but when the time does come, those guys are going to get my business! I'm in the car business (service advisor), I've got a pretty good rep for customer service, I appreciate good service when I get it.

 

[fnjeep314]

You have my attention. Go on..........

 

[topofpalomar]

Rxinhed - I knew coming into this that I would not be able to use the flip-top and I didn't want to raise the camper too high for center-of-gravity issues to facilitate lifting the lids. Finding a used, decent, low-profile longbed with the compartment configuration I wanted was lucky for me. Finding one that was a non-flip top would have been harder still. The flip top actually adds about 1 1/2 inches to the overall height from the bed to the top where the camper fits over. I know Bill Swales first Earthroamer used a custom made utility bed years ago for his 4-wheel camper and had pull out drawers that slid out from the rear in place of the flip top lids. Very cool idea.

bob91yj - HaHa. No you missed telling me I suck last week, too, my friend. Haven't heard it from you since the Fiesta Island M&G. You're slipping!

Bob, the inside width of the utility bed is 49 inches. My camper, which is full size, is just over 47". So I had just under 1 1/2 inches clearance. It turned out that I needed every bit of that 1/1/2 inches to clear that stupid gas line plumbing.
And thanks for the offer to assist - but it's in and bolted down. I'm grateful that the boys came up to lend a hand. I could not have done this without 'em.

This utility bed was originally built for a Dodge, so Four Seasons had to do some cutting underneath to fit the Chevy frame. Caesar, the installer, made the whole installation thing look easy. It only took him about three and a half hours to remove the old pickup bed and install the utility bed, including bumper and lights. He did it all by himself.

I headed back to Palomar Mountain and waited for the guys to come up to help install the camper.

First we had to support the driver's side front to remove the first jack and jack bracket. I used my Kubota tractor to support it, then off came the first jack so we could begin to back the truck under the utility bed. I tried to use a high lift jack but it was too short and the tractor was handy anyways.

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It was very apparent, as we started to back the truck under the front of the camper that the pesky gas line on the driver's side was going to be in the way, preventing us from centering the camper exactly in the middle of the bed. We needed to orient it over to the right (passenger side) more to clear it. This means that the camper would end up being off center in the bed approximately 3/4".

We continued to back the truck under the camper until the single jack on the passenger side needed to be removed.

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Finally we had enough of the camper inside the bed that we could pull off the third and last jack and jack bracket from the driver's side. We then used the tractor to shove the camper into the bed, using a sheet of plywood across the back of the camper to prevent damage.

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The old spring loaded tie downs won't work anymore and I have no intentions of removing the camper so I had decided to bolt the camper to the floor of the utility bed to prevent it from sliding out. I also didn't want it to rock back and forth between the inside of the utility bed and damage the floor of the camper by ripping out the bolts. I made an executive decision to utilize two cut pieces of 3/4 inch pressure treated plywood between the outside left wall of the camper and the inside wall of the utility bed to wedge the camper in place. A small strip of metal to cover the gap at the rear still needs to be done to give it a finished look. Although the camper is actually off center by just under 3/4 inch it's not readily apparent.

I've driven it about 70 miles so far, including the infamous South Grade Road here on Palomar Mountain and it handles great. No issues with the gas line, or the existing bolts sticking down from the jack brackets hitting the top of the flip top lids. There's no back and forth movement of the camper in the bed, the camper is wedged in good. I won't be running the Rubicon in it but we do go on some pretty rough roads and trails on occasion so hopefully the camper and bed can work together as a unit with no issues or undo stress.

I'm running about 40 lbs of air in the air bags. I'm sure once I get the water and other gear on board it will call for more air but so far so good. I'm planning to take it out once before our northern Nevada/Utah trip in September for a shake down run.

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The next installment I'll sum up a couple of things that you should watch for when buying a used utility bed and adapting it to a production made camper. I'll also show what I've done in the compartments, including battery installation, camping gear placement and all the room I have for extra water jugs. Thanks for reading.

 

[topofpalomar]

Okay, so why are my periods at the end of sentences pound sign marks? Grrrr.

 

[bob91yj]

Truck looks awesome, congrats!

 

[Revco]

I love your truck, and the bed/camper is really cool too.

It's a shame that you can't use the flip-top sides with the camper in place. Maybe some modifications to them would prevent them from going unused. Modify them with some sort of drawer slides, allowing them to slide out the side, then maybe flip down out of the way so you have access to the compartments. Or even slide out towards the back of the truck. I dunno. Anyway, keep truckin.

 

[topofpalomar]

Thanks, Guys. Bob, let me know if you follow thru on getting a utility bed. As I mentioned I'll have one more post on some thoughts on getting a bed like this that I hope can be of use to anyone doing a project like this.

Sub Urban - It may seem like having a flip-top that can't be utilized is a waste but other than a place to store my five foot folding ladder for strapping down the canoe I really have no use for them. Had I found a non-flip top utility bed I'd be without them anyways so no loss, IMO.

I'll do some more photos for the next post that shows more clearly how everything turned out.

 

[ExpoMike]

Great looking rig. Nice change over to the utility bed. Lack of external storage has been my biggest complaint. I picked up an aluminum flat bed last year (used) and have been looking to add that, then add side boxes. I decided to not go with the utility bed as I didn't want to add the extra weight. As I stand, loaded up, I'm 300 lbs. under GVW. I am hoping the aluminum flat bed and aluminum boxes will not add weight over the stock bed. Guess we'll see, if I go that route.

Thanks for posting up!!!

 

[topofpalomar]

Thanks. I considered very seriously going with a flat bed. But for some reason I sprang for the utility. Maybe it's because I've had several utility beds over the years when I had my pool business and felt comfortable with them. Stand by for some final thoughts on this whole thing.

 

[chilliwak]

Really cool:Wow1: idea Cliff. Take it wheeling and let us know what you think..:ylsmoke:

 

[ToolBox Guy]

Looks awesome!
Your camper fits that bed so much nicer than mine.

I wil try to get some pics posted of how I mount mine, basic turnbuckle mounting, but if you're not removing the camper then the bolt in method is probably good. I just hope that it gives it a little movement and does not transfer any stress into the campers structure.
It seems that the utility beds themselves do not flex like a stock bed, therefore you get less movement of the camper.
Your next problem now is going to be packing too much crap in the bed compartments. Haha!
Can't wait to see what you do for storage, i need more ideas.

 

[topofpalomar]

Thanks to all for the feedback. ToolBox Guy - I'm telling my wife it's your fault that I sprang for the new bed. Your's looked so good I finally had to take the leap.

So here's a quick update: (Sorry for the lack of quality in the photos - I used a little pocket camera since the Nikon battery was dead).

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I bought a used utility bed, installed it on a 6 year old truck and put a 13 year old popup camper on it. With a total cost for the utility bed, installed, with the cost of bolts, nuts and a piece of pressure treated plywood for around $2,800.00 I have to say I'm pretty pleased with the results.

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I've increased my storage a bunch, but at a weight cost of about 500 lbs over the standard bed. Of course with the Duramax/Allison combo the truck doesn't even know anything's been added and just hums happily down the road. I'm resisting the temptation of packing it full of more junk. So far I've only put in the compartments what we tend to take on an extended trip, throwing it inside the camper on the floor or jam between the camper and standard bed outside by the wheelwells.

Fooling with Fuel Lines:

This particular bed was originally on a Dodge. As I mentioned before, cutting was required to get it to fit on the Chevy. When we were crawling under the truck to bolt the camper down to the utility bed we noticed that the extended fuel line that was necessary to adapt the utility bed fuel filler location was rubbing up against a sharp corner as it wrapped around the front, driver's side compartment. I disconnected the fuel and vent line and using a hammer I bent the sharp edge back, giving the hose a less abrasive edge to rest against. It was a 5 minute easy fix but something to watch for if you ever do a project like this. Here's a shot of the hose and vent coming around the compartment by the left rear wheel. You can see where I hammered the edge down and back to give the hoses less of a sharp edge to wrap around.

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The Gap:

This is my forth utility bed I've owned over the years. The other three were real work trucks in my pool business. It didn't bother me that there was a fairly large gap between the front of the utility bed and the back of the cab. Heck, they were work trucks for crying out loud. But when you put a camper in the back it does exagerate the "gap".

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On my original bed I secured a folding ladder from Camping World on the bed rail between the camper and the back of the cab. I will probably do that here, too. And now I have more room to mount it with less chance of nicking the paint when I put it back there. The ladder is needed for loading/off-loading our canoe.

I've got small bolts still hanging down from the jack bracket mounts - two sets of four on the driver's side, and one set on the passenger side. I think I'll see if I can cut those off to prevent them from contacting the top of the utility bed when driving off-road.

I have a slight overhang of the camper over the sides of the utility bed but it was a pretty good fit. Of course if one was to custom build a utility bed/camper combo you could have it made just right. But this was an el cheapo trial thing for me. I want to add an aluminum Buckstop bumper and upgrade the front suspension in the near future so I'm watching my costs (that bumper is fairly light-weight - heavy cost thing).

If I can talk Susie into heading out for an over-nighter to do a trial run I'll see how it does and let you know. I also want to finish loading the compartments and arranging them the way I think we want. I'll post up something later on how we packed our gear.