d3500ram
colorado
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Joined: 07/31/2006
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bka0721 wrote: ... I am thinking of putting a potable water tank under the camper, between it and the bed...
That will also raise the gap between the top of the cab and the bottom of the cabover... might look goofy depending on the distance you move it.
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d3500ram
colorado
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btggraphix wrote:...I'm still bummed I didn't take a picture of the Lance/Arctic Fox/Northstar triple TC campsite.
Please phrase that properly... it should read: "NORTHSTAR/ Arctic fox/ lance" campsite.
(LOL)
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btggraphix
Golden, CO
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Joined: 03/08/2005
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bka0721 wrote:
Yep. This is the feedback that I am soliciting, what kind of experience others have had with a "too tall" load. I have a 48ft 5th wheel that I have been towing with a 2003 9400i International Detroit Diesel 460 and learned to enjoy the simpler things a truck camper would provide rather than towing a 5th wheel. So it does look like that there are some too tall outfits out there.
That would be nice to meet, as I will be in Golden Thursday morning if you would like to set up a time then or another. (PM message me.) There is nothing like a group get together to exchange ideas and solutions.
My reason for asking is that I am thinking of putting a potable water tank under the camper, between it and the bed. I had extra tanks on my race trailer and had good experiences from hanging additional tanks of race fuel, potable water and the like off the old International. Made the ride better and didn't affect the MPG. As for my Truck Camper thing, it would help lower the center of gravity.
So I am always looking at the "trade offs" before I try something. The big issue now is the extra height.
PM sent. That makes sense then - getting to that height in planning the bed. I have thought about that a little as well (adding water under the bottom of the camper - but as-is I only have that 4 inches. If I went to the effort of shortening the bed a bunch (which can be done) I could then use that space better....maybe I'd have more like 10" and over an 8' bed that would be a large volume. But I do so much winter camping that having an unheated water tank like that is probably not worth it to me....but might for you.
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bka0721
Republic of Colorado
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Joined: 03/19/2008
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d3500ram wrote:That will also raise the gap between the top of the cab and the bottom of the cabover... might look goofy depending on the distance you move it.
Yes, you are right about it looking funny. But then again I am not really that attractive either. I am more interested in functionality than something that looks pretty going down the road.
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Capt Eddie
usa
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Joined: 12/13/2008
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There is no reason that you most sit that high. You can lower the bed if it is on a flatbed. My F450 flatbed only sets 11 foot 4 inches. I am going to lift the truck 4 inches for more clearance. Do you have extra height over the cab? 13.4 does not seem right.
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bigjimcruising
Orange County, CA
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Joined: 02/22/2007
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Howdy all and hello Bryan! Welcome to the "CTTA" or "Camper Tree Trimmers of America"!  I'm about 13'4 to the top of my AC. I had sagged over time but with the springs rebuilt and the air bags installed I'm back to full height. Due to my flatbed I have about an 8" gap between the roof of the cab and the bottom of the camper bunk. I figure someday I'll put a storage box under there in all that dead space.
If you remove the "pucker factor" from my trips then overall I've not had any problems anywhere I've gone. You do need to get used to the fact that you're going to have some hits and scrapes but just slow down and go easy and they will just ride up over the top.
As for legal heights, first thing you would need to do is research your own states laws since you must be in compliance with your home state. Each state can set heights so they do vary from state to state. Generally from what I've found as long as you're under 14ft you're going to be ok 90% of the time.
If anything has been a problem for me it is getting fuel, seems there are a lot of stations out there with very low roofs! It's gotten to be such a problem I'm shopping around for one of those laser tape measures so when I pull into a station I can do a quick height check to make sure I'll fit. Some will post heights but most don't so you've got to keep an eagle eye for those low roofs. I often have the GF run up front to watch out for me. Same thing sometimes in camp grounds. A helper sure helps!
Something I try to do before any trip to a new area is try and find out if there will be any problems along the way and plan accordingly. Here are a couple web sites I start with:
http://www.aitaonline.com/Info/Low%20Clearances.html
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/trucks/
http://www.usroadconditions.com/
I know there are more sites but I can't seem to find them in my bookmarks right now. I'm sure some of the other "CTTA's" will help out with the other links. Hope this helps. Happy Camping! Jim.
2007 F450 4x4 Extended Cab, 6.0 PSD AT, 9ft Flatbed with 8ft boxes. Okanagan 117DBL, loaded. 13ft tall! Happy Trails!
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btggraphix
Golden, CO
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Capt Eddie wrote:There is no reason that you most sit that high. You can lower the bed if it is on a flatbed. My F450 flatbed only sets 11 foot 4 inches. I am going to lift the truck 4 inches for more clearance. Do you have extra height over the cab? 13.4 does not seem right.
Eddie, I was puzzled over that too, but if you look at one of his replies, I finally figured out he is in the planning stages, and putting together a concept bed that would include a large storage space UNDER the camper and ABOVE/IN the flatbed to place water tanks and the like. So the reason for the height is essentially self-imposed for the storage requirements.
Quote:
My reason for asking is that I am thinking of putting a potable water tank under the camper, between it and the bed. I had extra tanks on my race trailer and had good experiences from hanging additional tanks of race fuel, potable water and the like off the old International. Made the ride better and didn't affect the MPG. As for my Truck Camper thing, it would help lower the center of gravity.
So I am always looking at the "trade offs" before I try something. The big issue now is the extra height..
bigjimcruising wrote:Howdy all and hello Bryan! Welcome to the "CTTA" or "Camper Tree Trimmers of America"!
Great one!
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Butch50
NW Montana
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Joined: 06/29/2002
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Well 13'6" is the one thrown around all of the time for interstates but it won't be to tall until you hit a low overhang with it and at that time you will know it is too tall . I was making a pun but seriously that is when you are going to know you are to tall. Personally I would want to keep it as low as possible. I have a pickup bed on my F550 but have been thinking about a flatbed but as stated earlier (if I do it) I'm going to have wheel wells put in it to drop the bed down as I want to keep my camper as low as I can. Then when the bed is being built I have an idea that I'll have some upper removeable tool boxes built for it and they will be notched to fit over the wheel wells.
If you want to carry extra water why don't you have the lower portion of the bed (below the flatbed) built with tool boxes and then you could fit in water tanks into them. Set up a pump and fill your fresh water tank from them. You could even have one set up with an additional holding tank for gray water. This would allow you to keep the height down on the rig and provide a lower center of gravity overall. Here is an outfit that has water tanks for RVs They have one that is 24" by 20" by 16" height and is a 30 gallon tank. I figure that the lower boxes in front of the rear duals would handle one of these on each side. that would give you an extra 60 gallons right there and I bet there would still be some room for other things in the box also. That would be right at 500# (for 2 tanks) of weight that would be just a little above the center of your rear tires. Also another thing you have to worry about with a big long tank under the camper is the sloshing effect when the tank is not full/empty. It would almost have to be baffeled (in my thoughts) to counter act this.
This is just some ideas rattling around in my head.
Butch
2006 F550 CC 4X4 Lariat PSD/Torqshift Dark Shadow Metalic Grey
2009 Excel Limited (sold)
2009 Arctic Fox 1140
2006 Dodge 3500 Laramie 4X4 QC SB SRW/Cummins Jake exhaust brake
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cleary
Fairbanks, Alaska
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Joined: 10/02/2005
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This is our old F-350 Chassis Cab with a custom built flatbed. I don't know how high it was but it was definitely under 11 feet 11 inches as it fit under our garage door. I really miss my flat bed. All of the commercial ones I've looked into would raise the bed too high to fit under the garage door opening with our 2006 F-350 pickup.
Chuck
2006 F-350, 4X4, Crew Cab, V-10, Torqshift, Dually. 2008 Okanagan 106UDB. Both 4-wheelers and snowmobiles. KL7AY Our website
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btggraphix
Golden, CO
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Joined: 03/08/2005
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boblynch did a project similar to what Butch50 is describing...you can see pictures of it here A flatbed with wheel well openings, done to keep height to a minimum etc.
I've eyed the underside of my flatbed for space to put another fuel tank, and there is a lot of room to be had if you designed it from the ground up so to speak.
I think overall, I'd agree that keeping the height to a minimum and using as much at or below flatbed space for any tanks etc. would be the way to go. Or use the space above the bed, and under the wings of the camper...there is a ton of space there that could be used for water rather than storage if that was your build focus.
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