Cab bonding to bed pontificating please

[Paddy]

I've been thinking about my camper project again lately and I'm at the stage where I need to have some idea how I'll bond the cab to the box. I'm planning on building a welded aluminum cap for the utility bed and cut the back wall of the cab out for a pass through. Possibly cab roof too. So rather than letting it flex with some sort of bellows I just thought solidifying the chassis would be a simpler approach. Interior noise was also a consideration in this.

So, can I just rivet the bodies together with angle iron or what? Seems like a lot of weight shifting around.

Here's how it sits. I've designed a cap that will add some height to the roofline and give a 5' interior height.

 

[WrenchMonkey]

I think it's always going to find a way to flex, and it'll eventually destroy whatever you try to build.
.
Go with a flexible boot.

 

[Paddy]

Okay you may be correct. Guess I gotta flex it out tomorrow and see how bad it really is. One thought was external roll cage too.

 

[southpier]

I agree rigid would be not good. something in the assembly would be subject to torsional twist. tear & break. toolbox bodies are pretty heavy and i'd wager sooner than not your cab doors would not open or close properly as a result. of course after the glass pops out at 60 mph, it may not be the first thing on your mind.

 

[nitro_rat]

An accordion boot between the cab and bed has worked well for the past 50+ years. If it ain’t broke...

 

[IdaSHO]

Until you get into the new fully boxed frame superduties, you will have flex to deal with.

Its simply a by-product of the open C channel frame.
They are plenty strong, but they do flex.

This is my 2011 during testing. It will be getting a custom flatbed, that will ride on a torsion free 3-point mount.

The rear e-locker really helps these tests :sombrero:

 

[Paddy]

I totally agree with these comments, but will add that somehow the excursions keep their windows in and doors swinging. So, it's not that it's impossible, just takes considerations.

And yes a flex boot is possible but honestly a project like that could bog me down a lot. I really want to keep this truck tolerable noise wise too.

 

[nitro_rat]

The body of an excursion adds to the rigidity. The floor and the roof make up the flange of an I beam and the walls are the web. Adds a lot of stiffness. Whack the roof off one and it will get all flexy!

 

[Clutch]

How does Tiger address chassis flex?

 

[IdaSHO]

Ive yet to see photographic proof, but Ive been told that the frames are heavily reinforced, to the point of very little flex.

here is a post from a tiger owners forum, specific to models

Both Bengal models are built by cutting the back wall off the pickup and welding the coach to the cab. The underside of the truck has to be reinforced so that almost all of the flex is removed from the frame. Malayans and Siberians (just like EarthRoamers and GXV pickup models) still allow the frame to flex in the same way that a pickup cab and bed flex freely from each other. This means that the coach and cab are separate compartments. Only a small passageway is cut between the two portions and a bellows system connects the two.

 

[Clutch]

Ive yet to see photographic proof, but Ive been told that the frames are heavily reinforced, to the point of very little flex.

here is a post from a tiger owners forum, specific to models

Thanks IdaSHO. I wondered how they did it, assumed they beefed up the frame but unsure.

 

[Paddy]

Ive yet to see photographic proof, but Ive been told that the frames are heavily reinforced, to the point of very little flex.

here is a post from a tiger owners forum, specific to models

I feel like that’s unlikely. Seems like it would negate the engineering that ford used in designing the chassis. There may be options for reinforcing that I don’t know about and more than likely.

 

[marshal]

Ive yet to see photographic proof, but Ive been told that the frames are heavily reinforced, to the point of very little flex.

here is a post from a tiger owners forum, specific to models

not sure what tiger does, but I use to pick up super duty frames from Dana in Bowling green when i worked for the railroad, and the F450 and F550 frames would come out in various levels of reinforcement from Dana themselves. Notably was the F550 frames that were sheathed in 3/8ths C channel ontop of the existing frame and riveted

 

[IdaSHO]

Yeah, the F250/350 frames are of no comparison to the 450/550

Totally different animals.

 

[pappawheely]

not sure what tiger does, but I use to pick up super duty frames from Dana in Bowling green when i worked for the railroad, and the F450 and F550 frames would come out in various levels of reinforcement from Dana themselves. Notably was the F550 frames that were sheathed in 3/8ths C channel ontop of the existing frame and riveted

My cab&chassis has those reinforcement straps right behind the cab. It's in the transition between the taller frame section in the rear, and the standard cab section forward.