Flatbed camper with bike racks?

[vermonter4life]

Any mountain bikers on here?



We are on paper at this point trying to put together a flatbed camper set up.



Trying to configure two different ways to go.

1. 6 foot flatbed camper on an 8 foot flatbed. Push the camper to the back creating room for tunnel boxes right behind the truck cab. Store our inflatable paddle boards and other “wet” gear here. Run some type of hitch mounted bike rack off the back for our mountain bikes.

B. 6 foot flatbed camper on a 6 to 7 foot flatbed. Off the back of the flatbed install double cargo boxes with bike racks mounted on top. No room for our inflatable paddle boards but it does keep the bikes up and out of the way.



I assume in both setups we are about the same length.



Does anyone have real world experience with either setup?



Photos below pilfered from the net. Thanks if they are yours



Thanks and cheers.

 

[gdaut]

I have a similar - but more awesome - setup to the red truck with the FWC camper in your picture above. An XP Camper (now Nimbl) with the storage boxes between the truck cab and the camper. We do a lot of mountain biking with our camper. We put a One Up bike rack on the trailer hitch. Works great; very stable even on rough terrain. It does compromise the departure angle, but we do not do a lot of extreme off roading, and so far it has not been an issue. Heading into the San Rafael Swell tomorrow with the bike rack on, so hopefully that continues to be true.

I know some XP owners have a large storage box on the rear of the camper that sits higher, and thus has less effect on the departure angle. I believe you could fit one or two bikes in that box (might be a bit of a Tetris game), or you could mount fork mounts on top of the box. A hitch mounted bike rack is a lot easier, cheaper, and can be quickly removed when you do not need it.

 

[Heifer Boy]

I've just bought a Yamika Backswing and an ISI Carrier 2 bike rack for my Tommy Camper. I needed the swingaway for the rear door and ladder to work but it should be tough enough for firetrail/dirt road type touring. The rack is bullet proof so I have no concerns with that.

HB

 

[danjr]

If you end up with a rear door and go with a hitch mount rack, I'd HIGHLY recommend the RockyMounts Backstage. Its a beefy rack with built in swing away that keeps your bikes locked down through some rough terrain. Much more stable than a separate rack and swing away system.

 

[Buckstopper]

This was exactly the dilemma that led me to build my Fuso. How to carry bikes that was secure and out of sight. This is version 2.0 but the layout is same as the first version. Bikes are out of sight behind the teak doors and stay clean and dry.

 

[ebnelson]

We switched to a camper without a cabover bed to be able to use racks. We have the additional headache of carrying tandem mountain bikes around. They are a real pain the ass.

If your flatbed has a side door entry then carrying on a rear hitch rack might be a good option. Our current and previous campers have rear door entry. We used a One Up rack and it was OK, but I ended up having to remove the bikes to get entry to the camper, a huge pain in the ass at the grocery store.

Our current truck allows us to carry two bikes inside and the tandem on top.

 

[GoinBoardin]

I run a couple (actually 3, but primarily use only two) fork mounts inside the camper, but my flatbed camper is rather Spartan inside with lots of available floor space. I use a hitch rack if space is limited on a trip. I prefer bikes inside: no dust/mud/salt, and out of sight out of mind for theft. The fork mounts are also very stable, so no worries on extended rough roads at whatever speed the truck can handle.

 

[calicamper]

All the people I know that RV a bunch with bikes. All of them have gone great creative lengths to get inside bike storage figured out. Others have made heavy canvas type bags they bag rear mounted bikes in. Bike stowage is a tough nut to crack and damn they aren’t cheap either.

 

[ericvs]

I am working with a friend on the design of a flatbed camper that can store bikes inside. The trouble with a camper behind the box was the camper COG was way behind the rear axle (he has a crew cab 8' bed Ford F-350)

Rear garage seemed to be the best option for COG, but it presented other issues with fabrication and his usage as he needs to be able to remove the camper frequently to use the truck.

Highway products has a design on their website, but that is a single cab so the rear axle is much further behind the cab.

Custom Flatbeds | Pickup Truck Flatbeds | Highway Products, Inc.

HPI builds custom pickup truck flatbeds to the exact specifications of our customers. Call us with your idea or send us a drawing and let's get started!

www.highwayproducts.com

go to the 9061-696 dodge.



another option was this guys, he had a rear barn door and hung the bikes from that inside, seems like a great idea until your bike is muddy




Looking forward to what you come up with!

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

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