Great White North Eh
Squish Cat - And So
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1/8’’ ? ……at the plant I think 3/4’s is acceptable 
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4500 Camper/Jeep Hauler Build
- Thread starter gprguy
- Start date
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- 4500 camper chassis cab jeep
1/8’’ ? ……at the plant I think 3/4’s is acceptable
Mine was 3/4" form the cab alignment guy + 3/4" from the bed alignment guy - the opposite way. Talk about tolerance stacking. Worse than an Anderson AR15.
gprguy
Well-Known Member
Finished up the main structure of the flatbed today, at least tack welded. The front crossmember has a bit of a zig-zag in it:
And here's the reason why - so the fill neck can come up through the bed.
Here's the overall shot.
Next up is finish welding as much as I can on the truck, and then taking it off so I can get to the underside bits. After that, fabricating brackets to hold it to the frame.
And here's the reason why - so the fill neck can come up through the bed.
Here's the overall shot.
Next up is finish welding as much as I can on the truck, and then taking it off so I can get to the underside bits. After that, fabricating brackets to hold it to the frame.
Great White North Eh
Squish Cat - And So
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Ain’t nothing better than a pick of a bunch of tube welded together……well maybe one thing. 
gprguy
Well-Known Member
Frame is all welded together, other than the bottom side - I'll take it off the truck to do that.
Before I do that I wanted to figure out my spare tire storage. Unfortunately my plan A isn't going to work, which was to mount at least one spare at an angle under the back corner.
Hangs down too much, sticks out too far. So next I started thinking about mounting them vertically, sort of like a 50's pickup where they'd be frenched into the fender. It will fit up front here above the exhaust pipe if I take out a chunk of this cross member:
Still thinking that one over. The back corner of the bed, vertically, is also a possible option. The issue with both is finding a spot to mount the camper tie down D-ring. Those will show up in the next day or so to let me do some more pondering.
In either case, if I mount the two spares vertically, protruding about 10" above the deck it will still hide under the camper skirt and be plenty far off the ground.
Definitely some more pondering to do, but I don't think there's a ton of other options available to me at this point. And I'd really love to fit two spares onboard...
Before I do that I wanted to figure out my spare tire storage. Unfortunately my plan A isn't going to work, which was to mount at least one spare at an angle under the back corner.
Hangs down too much, sticks out too far. So next I started thinking about mounting them vertically, sort of like a 50's pickup where they'd be frenched into the fender. It will fit up front here above the exhaust pipe if I take out a chunk of this cross member:
Still thinking that one over. The back corner of the bed, vertically, is also a possible option. The issue with both is finding a spot to mount the camper tie down D-ring. Those will show up in the next day or so to let me do some more pondering.
In either case, if I mount the two spares vertically, protruding about 10" above the deck it will still hide under the camper skirt and be plenty far off the ground.
Definitely some more pondering to do, but I don't think there's a ton of other options available to me at this point. And I'd really love to fit two spares onboard...
gprguy
Well-Known Member
I think that would mean protruding up through the deck even for one spare (I don't think mounting two spares at an angle is an option any more, and even if it was it'd be more work) and if I'm going to do that, I might as well mount them vertically since two duals vertical are about 18-20" deep which is plenty narrow enough.
I'm leaning towards two vertically, above the exhaust pipe, provided that I can figure out where to put the D-ring in that front corner and have it still be sturdy. I think if I bias the spares rearward a little towards the axle I may be able to have a sliver of bed between them and the cabinet, big and strong enough to mount a D-ring on. That front tube is 3x2" 3/16" so it's pretty beefy.
If I ever needed to carry something that took up the whole deck I could take the spares off and even build a drop in plate if needed to fill out the gap. I need to do some more measuring and maybe make a cardboard tire to see what it would look like.
If the concern is leaving space for a D ring mount, what about putting them vertical facing rearward in the back corner? You wouldn’t have to cut any of the frame at all, just recess them into the existing open frame hole.
gprguy
Well-Known Member
Did some CAD work this morning, and here is what I am currently pondering.
I could bolt the wheels together normally and sink them into the bed by cutting out some of this structure:
I'd probably build something that goes down underneath the spares as well for some support from below. I just need to make sure that I am leaving enough room for the camper tie down up front. Looks like it might work.
I could bolt the wheels together normally and sink them into the bed by cutting out some of this structure:
I'd probably build something that goes down underneath the spares as well for some support from below. I just need to make sure that I am leaving enough room for the camper tie down up front. Looks like it might work.
gprguy
Well-Known Member
Off the back of the frame you mean? Unfortunately my current camper hangs down back there.
Not a great photo, but that whole tail section hangs down right past the end of the bed as it is now.
Recessed into the frame, like if you took the tire in the photo, stood it up on end facing the rear, and slid it vertically between the frame rails. You’d need something to lift and hold it up, but it would fit and hide nicely.
gprguy
Well-Known Member
Ah I understand. That doesn't fit unfortunately - it'd stick out the side about 3-4". There's something like 29" from the outside of the flatbed frame to the truck frame, and that doesn't count things like the hitch and other protrusions. These tires are 31-32".
gprguy
Well-Known Member
It’s close but not close enough. That’s why I was going to try tilting them, but that doesn’t help enough without them essentially dragging on the ground.
Metternacht
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Don't Forget to plan for larger tires in the future if you want to keep matching spares. Its been mentioned so I remind. 
gprguy
Well-Known Member
Good point - I am going to do my best to estimate enough space for 245's. I just don't see 265's as an option in general as much as I'd like to. I will probably make the tire mount bolt on to the bed so if I need to move/adjust it in the future I don't have to get into the powder coating.Don't Forget to plan for larger tires in the future if you want to keep matching spares. Its been mentioned so I remind.
We'll see, I am designing on the fly at this point since my plan A didn't work out.
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gprguy
Well-Known Member
Just tedious stuff the last few days.
Took the bed off so I could flip it over and weld the underside.
Many hours later, and flipped back upright.
I have a couple more welds to touch up and then I will probably start building the rearmost frame brackets. Monday I plan to start building some parts for the tire carrier.
Took the bed off so I could flip it over and weld the underside.
Many hours later, and flipped back upright.
I have a couple more welds to touch up and then I will probably start building the rearmost frame brackets. Monday I plan to start building some parts for the tire carrier.
Bigboom338
Active Member
I just have the stock one on my 5500 and could not believe the lack of sway. With that monster, yours won't even move.
gprguy
Well-Known Member
Excellent. Can't wait to find out myself.
Where were we.. So the Torklift hitch has two removable plates behind the 4 bolts in the rear of the frame, and this spacer can be removed.
I then made replacement spacers out of 5/16" 4x6" angle.
Installed they give a place to weld the rear crossbar of the bed to.
And then the bed back in place.
I need to do a little more checking to make sure it's all lined up right, but once it is I can start making the rest of the frame brackets and welding them to the bed.
Where were we.. So the Torklift hitch has two removable plates behind the 4 bolts in the rear of the frame, and this spacer can be removed.
I then made replacement spacers out of 5/16" 4x6" angle.
Installed they give a place to weld the rear crossbar of the bed to.
And then the bed back in place.
I need to do a little more checking to make sure it's all lined up right, but once it is I can start making the rest of the frame brackets and welding them to the bed.
gprguy
Well-Known Member
Status update - more tedious stuff. I am working on the rest of the frame brackets. I cut out 5 of the remaining 6 before I ran out of metal, I need to pick up some more 3/8" bar on Monday.
They are all some variation of these - if you include the rear brackets I showed in the last post, there will be 8 total brackets and many grade 8 bolts holding the bed on. They were all drawn up in Fusion 360 and then cut out on a CNC plasma table.
Since I don't want to weld any of those on till I have the final bracket in place, and I don't want to start cutting the tire carrier in until the bed is firmly bolted down, it's on to other jobs. I mentioned earlier that the center 4 pieces of 3x2" box tube is thicker, .250 wall. That's to add a little extra beef for the 5th wheel rail mounts that will be flush with the bed.
Starting with some 8" C channel to hold the rails:
Those need their edges trimmed down so it's all flush in the end, that's going to be a bit tedious. But this is pretty much where they will go.
Add some Curt 40k 5th wheel rails:
And then a gooseneck adapter to make sure things end up in the right place:
Next project (other than finishing the brackets) is trimming down the C channel to sink it down so the top of the 5th wheel rails is the same height as the eventual aluminum deck. They need to be flush so the camper can sit right over them.
They are all some variation of these - if you include the rear brackets I showed in the last post, there will be 8 total brackets and many grade 8 bolts holding the bed on. They were all drawn up in Fusion 360 and then cut out on a CNC plasma table.
Since I don't want to weld any of those on till I have the final bracket in place, and I don't want to start cutting the tire carrier in until the bed is firmly bolted down, it's on to other jobs. I mentioned earlier that the center 4 pieces of 3x2" box tube is thicker, .250 wall. That's to add a little extra beef for the 5th wheel rail mounts that will be flush with the bed.
Starting with some 8" C channel to hold the rails:
Those need their edges trimmed down so it's all flush in the end, that's going to be a bit tedious. But this is pretty much where they will go.
Add some Curt 40k 5th wheel rails:
And then a gooseneck adapter to make sure things end up in the right place:
Next project (other than finishing the brackets) is trimming down the C channel to sink it down so the top of the 5th wheel rails is the same height as the eventual aluminum deck. They need to be flush so the camper can sit right over them.