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n0arp
FT
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Joined: 08/20/2016
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BigToe wrote:n0arp wrote:I ended up selling the rig and changing things up again.
Wait. What?
You sold the 5500 after only a few months?
Yeah. We had a fifth wheel, truck camper, and Jeep, and after a lot of debating, decided to consolidate to a class A and Jeep. I’ll follow up with some details and pictures tomorrow if I get a chance. We also had the equity to pay cash and not have payments, so that was nice.
2000 Country Coach Magna with tons of upgrades at this point, including 4380W of solar.
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n0arp
FT
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n0arp wrote:BigToe wrote:n0arp wrote:I ended up selling the rig and changing things up again.
Wait. What?
You sold the 5500 after only a few months?
Yeah. We had a fifth wheel, truck camper, and Jeep, and after a lot of debating, decided to consolidate to a class A and Jeep. I’ll follow up with some details and pictures tomorrow if I get a chance. We also had the equity to pay cash and not have payments, so that was nice.
2000 Country Coach Magna with tons of upgrades at this point, including 4380W of solar.
Started a new thread for it
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sbhfs
Virginia Beach
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Joined: 03/29/2022
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Similar to Padres_Chris I am looking at 84" chassis cab with the 8'X11'4" aluminum bed with camper COG over the rear axle, front space and down the sides top and bottom with boxes. Full time use and need the space for all the gear for biking, backpacking, ski and surf/foil...you get the picture.
Will anyone talk me down to a 60" with better turn radius and off road? Is there such a thing as too much storage on a truck camper?
Design questions: What is the gap this group would recommend between the boxes and the side of the camper? The tighter the harder to load, the bigger your are losing valuable storage space.
Considering a Northern Lite 10.2...any advice on fast guns/ tie downs through or with the side boxes?
With an standard 8' bed, rub rails and the width of the front legs you are getting very wide...any advice on tucking in the legs? I have seen pictures of a Douglas custom and looks like they customize a space for the legs but on a stock bed would require notching I suppose??
Any advice is appreciated.
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n0arp
FT
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sbhfs wrote:Similar to Padres_Chris I am looking at 84" chassis cab with the 8'X11'4" aluminum bed with camper COG over the rear axle, front space and down the sides top and bottom with boxes. Full time use and need the space for all the gear for biking, backpacking, ski and surf/foil...you get the picture.
Will anyone talk me down to a 60" with better turn radius and off road? Is there such a thing as too much storage on a truck camper?
Design questions: What is the gap this group would recommend between the boxes and the side of the camper? The tighter the harder to load, the bigger your are losing valuable storage space.
Considering a Northern Lite 10.2...any advice on fast guns/ tie downs through or with the side boxes?
With an standard 8' bed, rub rails and the width of the front legs you are getting very wide...any advice on tucking in the legs? I have seen pictures of a Douglas custom and looks like they customize a space for the legs but on a stock bed would require notching I suppose??
Any advice is appreciated.
Take all the support you can get under the camper. If you truly use it off road, and it's a longer camper with a lot of overhang, you will break the frame otherwise. I had to reinforce/repair mine due to excessive flexing in the overhang. Between that and storage, the 84CA is a no-brainer. You can overcome the poorer breakover angles with larger tires, careful driving, and stacking rocks when those fail you.
I had a 1" gap on either side of the camper. I wouldn't run tie-downs through the boxes because I store things that need to be out of the weather in them. Check my photos for the arrangement.
The legs fold in so they're not any wider than the awning or other things sticking off the side of the camper. That width is a non-issue.
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Padres_Chris
NW Montana
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Joined: 04/05/2009
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sbhfs wrote:Similar to Padres_Chris I am looking at 84" chassis cab with the 8'X11'4" aluminum bed with camper COG over the rear axle, front space and down the sides top and bottom with boxes. Full time use and need the space for all the gear for biking, backpacking, ski and surf/foil...you get the picture.
Will anyone talk me down to a 60" with better turn radius and off road? Is there such a thing as too much storage on a truck camper?
Design questions: What is the gap this group would recommend between the boxes and the side of the camper? The tighter the harder to load, the bigger your are losing valuable storage space.
Considering a Northern Lite 10.2...any advice on fast guns/ tie downs through or with the side boxes?
With an standard 8' bed, rub rails and the width of the front legs you are getting very wide...any advice on tucking in the legs? I have seen pictures of a Douglas custom and looks like they customize a space for the legs but on a stock bed would require notching I suppose??
Any advice is appreciated.
According to my paper napkin sketches, my current 60" cab to axle with the big ass bike rack hanging off the back is longer than what my 84" cab to axle with the bikes in the storage bin and no bike rack....
-Chris
Truck:2006 Dodge Ram 2500 King Shocks, Firestone Bags, Thuren Coils, Carli Trackbar, 08.5 Steering Upgrade, Carli Lowmount Stabilizer, Hellwig fatty rear anti-sway bar, Kore Bumpstops, Torklift Stableloads, Toyo M608z 260/70r19.5
Camper 2013 Arctic Fox 990
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sbhfs
Virginia Beach
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Thanks for the details and help. From my own pencil and ruler drawing the design contact patch for a camper on a long bed camper is around 96". Half inch gap to camper bumper and 2" of camper bumper from a bed length of 98.4". To get the center of gravity over the rear axle on the flat bed requires a 101" contact patch. A NL 10.2 has about 102" before you hit some low point drains...so if by magic it seems to work out with a stock 11'4"X8' bed. Should be able to get 3 inches of the widest part of the camper on the bed and be 1" in front of the rear axle. Now if all this actually works in the real world
The 1" gap around the camper seems tight to to get this loaded up especially if you have to do it solo. Will use it as a minimum gap starting point. Other opinions?
How about mounting the spare on a rig like this? Most place it in your storage area or mounted to the front but wondering about finding a way to get it under the rear area of the truck.
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n0arp
FT
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sbhfs wrote:Thanks for the details and help. From my own pencil and ruler drawing the design contact patch for a camper on a long bed camper is around 96". Half inch gap to camper bumper and 2" of camper bumper from a bed length of 98.4". To get the center of gravity over the rear axle on the flat bed requires a 101" contact patch. A NL 10.2 has about 102" before you hit some low point drains...so if by magic it seems to work out with a stock 11'4"X8' bed. Should be able to get 3 inches of the widest part of the camper on the bed and be 1" in front of the rear axle. Now if all this actually works in the real world
The 1" gap around the camper seems tight to to get this loaded up especially if you have to do it solo. Will use it as a minimum gap starting point. Other opinions?
How about mounting the spare on a rig like this? Most place it in your storage area or mounted to the front but wondering about finding a way to get it under the rear area of the truck.
If it's a C&C, there is no room under there unless it's hanging really low. I've seen people fab up rear carriers that kill your departure angle, or you could sacrifice a lower toolbox and put a spare in its place. I personally put mine on the headache rack.
1" is fine, you just have to be careful. I usually loaded and unloaded solo. Remember with an inch on each side, you have 2" of play.
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Grit dog
Black Diamond, WA
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Joined: 05/06/2013
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sbhfs wrote:Thanks for the details and help. From my own pencil and ruler drawing the design contact patch for a camper on a long bed camper is around 96". Half inch gap to camper bumper and 2" of camper bumper from a bed length of 98.4". To get the center of gravity over the rear axle on the flat bed requires a 101" contact patch. A NL 10.2 has about 102" before you hit some low point drains...so if by magic it seems to work out with a stock 11'4"X8' bed. Should be able to get 3 inches of the widest part of the camper on the bed and be 1" in front of the rear axle. Now if all this actually works in the real world
The 1" gap around the camper seems tight to to get this loaded up especially if you have to do it solo. Will use it as a minimum gap starting point. Other opinions?
How about mounting the spare on a rig like this? Most place it in your storage area or mounted to the front but wondering about finding a way to get it under the rear area of the truck.
Don't worry about having CoG of camper at or in front of the rear axle centerline. Obviously a huge difference like 1'-2' behind the rear axle will remove a much larger amount of weight from the front, but if you do a simple moment diagram, you'll see that having the CoG a few inches behind the rear axle will remove negligible weight from the front. Or think about it this way. If it was a gasser (presume you're going diesel) there would already be about 800lbs less on the FA.
So even if you're taking 1000lbs off the FA, you're still good.
I'd shoot for 2" total clearance from side boxes to camper. 1" each side is reasonable and very doable for easy loading.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5” turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold
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Padres_Chris
NW Montana
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sbhfs wrote:
How about mounting the spare on a rig like this? Most place it in your storage area or mounted to the front but wondering about finding a way to get it under the rear area of the truck.
That's one of many questions I have about ours that I haven't answered yet. I'm leaning toward using one of the toolboxes or putting it off the front with a front receiver built rack but no firm decisioin yet.
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