AdvancedQs
Tampa
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Having some major problems with my truck bed. The problems never end. I have probably put 150,000 miles on with this truck camper in the bed. But, I don’t know that this should be happening. The bed is crushing. The bumps are just too much for it.
could anyone describe to me the best way to shore up this truck bed so that it will work? It’s held up by flimsy sheet-metal. The flimsy sheet metal is crushing.
all of the problems are on the passenger side. These problems make the truck camper lean to the Passenger side.
Looking for pointers on how to fix this. Story below with pictures.
Background: Dodge Cummins 2500. Very tricked out for the weight. Special rims, special tires, airbags, extra leaf springs, performance tuning computer, Exhaust brake. Manual transmission. You name it. It has everything.
Problem: The passenger side of the bed is collapsing. It has been for a very long time. I have shored up here and there and gone tens of thousands of miles, and then had to do some more work, and tens of thousands of miles more.
Question: what kind of beefy solution can I do that will transfer this weight to the frame? Obviously, a new bed will not work because it will just crush the same way this one did. I need heavy duty reinforcements to transfer the load to the frame. How would you go about this?
Story:
Here you can see the drivers side of the bed. It looks normal. Everything is good over there. Slight indentation in the bed, but not a big deal. Everything is still supported properly.
![[image]](https://www.advrider.com/f/attachments/2304510d-ee20-4897-8662-e67a4c721877-jpeg.3593443/)
next, here is the passenger side of the bed. Not looking quite as good. A huge sag. The bed is bending. And you can see the area the truck camper touches. It is significantly lower than the proper level of the bed. This causes the truck camper to lean to this side.
![[image]](https://www.advrider.com/f/attachments/570f58ad-0907-4956-8871-b785c9ef8f0f-jpeg.3593445/)
Here we are looking again at the driver’s side. Underneath, I have lost both things that they call a Tower. The tower is the thing that holds the bed up in the front. It attaches the bed to the frame and takes the load of whatever you have in the bed. I have replaced the tower with some blocking and some metal straps. I did this on both passenger and the driver side. Note that in this picture, there is a good portion of the tower left. The 2 x 4 block is what I put in. I also put some straps that go around the tower and up to the bed along with the rubber spacers. And all new hardware because the bolts sheared before.. This will look a little bit more clear on the next picture which is the passenger side.
![[image]](https://www.advrider.com/f/attachments/c6b3765a-8414-4207-9c3f-3b55cda98b67-jpeg.3593451/)
This is the same tower area on the passenger side. Noticed there is no more tower at all. This one completely collapsed and fell apart. I attempted to hold it up with the metal straps. And the 2 x 4. But it looks like the metal straps have given away. The 2 x 4 seems to be holding at least. Notice how badly the cheap sheet metal beam is crushing.
![[image]](https://www.advrider.com/f/attachments/5aff397d-7f3c-4c8f-86de-f8aa55f0ac42-jpeg.3593455/)
This picture is the sheet metal beam toward the aft end of the truck. By the rear bumper. This is also supposed to hold the weight. Notice it is crushing and bending.
![[image]](https://www.advrider.com/f/attachments/600a6ea1-529d-45a5-9421-a7f659e22569-jpeg.3593459/)
Next up, are some pictures of the bed itself and what is happening to the sheet metal because of all of the deformation underneath.
![[image]](https://www.advrider.com/f/attachments/48e32f5d-1bb4-48ed-bf75-765b145f63c7-jpeg.3593465/)
![[image]](https://www.advrider.com/f/attachments/3833d8b9-3e69-4f96-9f68-fe58ffcf08ce-jpeg.3593467/)
So what do I do to fix this?
Looking for constructive help. Not “buy a new truck.”
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jimh406
Western MT
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I'd still look for a replacement bed. There are lots of shops that switch regular beds to flatbeds. Check with them, ebay or craigslist. If you don't want a regular bed, switch to a flatbed.
Just wondering what kind of TC are you carrying if you think it's the cause of the damage.
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C.B.
APPLETON WI USA
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AdvancedQs wrote:.
Obviously, a new bed will not work because it will just crush the same way this one did.
”
From what your pictures show to me (in my opinion) your current box is not worth repairing.
Here's my .02c
Option (1) Replace box with a flat bed with side tool boxes.
Option (2) Find a southern take off box in good shape and reinforce where you know reinforcement is needed before installing.
Good luck
C.B.
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AdvancedQs
Tampa
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jimh406 wrote:I'd still look for a replacement bed. There are lots of shops that switch regular beds to flatbeds. Check with them, ebay or craigslist. If you don't want a regular bed, switch to a flatbed.
Just wondering what kind of TC are you carrying if you think it's the cause of the damage.
Good advice. But I love how this Forum always suspects something else besides what is actually happening. Lol
You can clearly see where the truck camper touches the bed and that’s what’s crushing it. Look at the pictures a little more closely. Otherwise, there’s nothing in the truck bed. The truck camper is in there all the time and I travel all around the country. If it happens to be out for a few minutes for some reason, there’s nothing in the bed.
It’s an arctic fox.
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AdvancedQs
Tampa
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C.B. wrote:AdvancedQs wrote:.
Obviously, a new bed will not work because it will just crush the same way this one did.
”
From what your pictures show to me (in my opinion) your current box is not worth repairing.
Here's my .02c
Option (1) Replace box with a flat bed with side tool boxes.
Option (2) Find a southern take off box in good shape and reinforce where you know reinforcement is needed before installing.
Good luck
C.B.
Funny you should mention that. I was just starting to Google some of the flatbeds out there. Cobbling together another one of these standard beds seems like it’s going to be a lot of work just to end up probably back where I am now.
Looking at the failure, it’s those cheap beams that go across. I would have to install new, high-quality beams across the new bed. At that point, along with switching a bed, might as well just get the aluminum flatbed right?
I think another big issue here is also that the towers are gone. Those are welded to the frame. They are not bolted on. So, I would have to get some new ones fabricated. As well as buy a new bed. Maybe it’s time for the flatbed. But I’d have to get a flatbed that has wheel wells. Not a true flatbed. Because the height of the camper would be ridiculous otherwise.
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joerg68
St. Ingbert, Germany
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Do you have a picture showing the passenger side of your rig with the camper in the bed?
Do you have any mods to the rear axle? Airbags?
Obviously the OEM bed is over its design capacity with the current setup.
* This post was
edited 03/21/22 12:55pm by joerg68 *
2014 Ford F350 XLT 6.2 SCLB + 2017 Northstar Arrow
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AdvancedQs
Tampa
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joerg68 wrote:Do you have a side picture of your rig with the camper in the bed?
I don’t have one right now. But it wouldn’t really tell you very much. It looks normal in side view.
Where it looks funny is from the front or the back. Because it leans to the passenger side where you see the dip in the truck bed.
And it leans significantly more when you have the camper in there. It kind of springs back when you take the camper out, so, it doesn’t look as severe in these pictures as it really is. I’ll try to take a look through my pictures and see if I can find one where you can see it tilting to the passenger side.
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Old Days
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I agree with the other comments take the bed off and replace with a flat bed.
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AdvancedQs
Tampa
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Here is a good picture of the lean. Notice also that it slides over to the passenger side because the wheel well ends up moving over as well. When that whole side of the bed slumps, it moves the wheel well a few inches to the passenger side also.
So it’s both tipping, and sliding over to the passenger side.
![[image]](https://i.ibb.co/ccdYNZY/1184-A39-E-D999-4-BF7-982-B-C6-C138374376.jpg)
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AdvancedQs
Tampa
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joerg68 wrote:Do you have a picture showing the passenger side of your rig with the camper in the bed?
Do you have any mods to the rear axle? Airbags?
Obviously the OEM bed is over its design capacity with the current setup.
The rear axle is the really strong Dana axle. It’s definitely rated for the weight.
And yes. I mentioned the airbags above. It has extra leaf springs, special rims, special tires. You name it. It’s made for this weight. But the bed seems not to be. It’s crushing.
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