Hauler using short bed to haul long bed TC?

[welsteach]

I have had a bid to move a potential Northern Lite Truck camper from Florida to Minnesota for me. His price seems reasonable, but he is planning to haul the long bed camper on a short bed truck. He says he has done it many times before and it is “safe”, butI have my doubts on safety, and on the pressure of the short bed on the fiberglass basement. Thoughts?

[Kayteg1]

That extender is only few hundreds lb rated, so it might bent under heavy TC, but that would make good indicator when you have a problem.
Still not much use with 3rd party doing the hauling.
$59 at HF and you still can use 25% coupon.

[Grit_dog]

Or with more rudimentary skills, just build a 2x4 wood frame and skin it with some osb.
OR, since OP still hasn't answered how long it is, I'm not aware of any camper that needs more than 8' of support.
Leave the tailgate on, load the camper, use a piece of plywood for extra support, or don't, and haul it.
Have driven lots of miles with our 860 sitting on the tailgate. And a lot of miles with it removed. Depends if I need a tailgate when i get where I'm going.

[burningman]

If I had to haul a NL 9-6 or 10-2 on a shortbed, I’d weld up a hitch attachment that gave me a support for the floor behind the truck bed. Wouldn’t take long with a chop saw, welder, and some 2” square tube. It’s suprising how much the steel costs though.
I’d rather do that than risk buckling or cracking the fiberglass lower hull.
The problem in this situation is you’re not there to do it or see that it gets done.

[finsruskw]

May not work on a class 8 flat bed. may be too high. Better off on a step deck.

[Chuck_and_Di]

duplicate

[mkirsch]

If the camper had an 8' floor, you would be okay, but if it's any longer than that, you're making the right decision.

[welsteach]

Thanks everyone! You confirmed what I thought.

[Kayteg1]

I did haul my 12' Fleetwood on short bed F250 but custom flatbed was 7 ft long. Bought it 2200 miles from home and it had to work.
Empty camper scaled at 4300lb and COG was not an issue, although I had spare wheel mounted on front bumper to help it.
With empty tanks, the stress on the floor edge was't issue neither.
Still have the camper 6 years later.

Click For Full-Size Image.

[SidecarFlip]

Find someone with a goose neck or flatbed pickup and haul it that way or go pick it up yourself. In lieu of all that find a trucking company that has flat bed trailers and put it on a flatbed as an LTL shipment.

[maxum1989]

I own a Northern lite and have experienced some flexing of the overhang in mine and that's a short bed camper on a short bed truck. I wouldn't let him do it unless he put a substantial structure in the bed of his truck overhanging the rear to support the camper properly. A single sheet of plywood doesn't cut it. Has to be stronger to stop the flex.

[burningman]

I think I know the camper you’re talking about, if it’s the 10-2. I was considering buying it too, but I was just too far from it.
I wouldn’t risk the structural integrity of my camper on a long trip with the floor not properly supported.
I don’t care how many times this guy has done it, he’s been doing it wrong. I’d keep looking for someone who knows what they’re doing.

[d3500ram]

I would ONLY allow it if and only if the mfgr of the truck camper recommends the camper be allowed to be used on either a SB or LB truck bed. Many mfgr's make campers to fit either. If the camper cannot be used on a SB then under no circumstances, temporary or otherwise would I allow it to be transported.

[Grit_dog]

Short answer, depends.
Dependent the length of support needed. If it needs 8’ of support and he leave the tailgate on his truck then it will be fine. Regardless if it’s 10-11’, it’s likely designed to be hauled with 8’ of support.
Whether his tailgate holds is his problem. If there’s plywood on the tailgate and truck is not a beater then no reason at all it won’t hold.
Steering and axle loading is his problem.

[schlep1967]

I would think if he put a 3/4" sheet of plywood under the camper it would be supported fine. As for the light front end..... steering is his problem. Make sure he is insured.