By Russ and Tiña De Maris
Take a short-bed pickup, add a long-box truck camper, add a little highway bounce and the result? It looks like an origami disaster! This post came from a section on reddit.com called Idiots In Cars.
We’re not quite sure how the driver gets over speed bumps, but they do probably get extra points from the “Redneck Fix-It” team for the creative use of ratcheting tie-down straps.
Undoubtedly there’s an interesting back-story here. While the original poster had little to say, other than he’d seen the rig around town, commenters had plenty to say. Much of the comments were far from complimentary: There were those who wondered if the owner had hit some pretty hard times and was making do as best they could.
File this under, “And you think you’ve seen it all.”
##RVT928
Hell! All ya need is some bailing wier
N t0 ba fours by god!
This might fall under the truck salesperson’s assurance yes this truck will definitely haul your camper, I’ve heard that so many times it isn’t funny.
I saw a similar picture of this truck on another site a month ago. A week later I saw him in Port Charlotte Florida. He was broke down on the side of the road. The sheriff was called to help him. Later I talked to a deputy who said He is a homeless elderly man with a walker. I am thankful I am not in his situation.
What’s funny If he bought the camper new, and the truck owner says to the salesman well I have this kind of truck will this work? He says oh yes sir you have plenty truck for this camper! I guarantee that happened!
Come on down to Miami FL. This site is nothing new
I have a standard bed (5-1/2 ft) 2109 1 Ton (Chevy single wheel) diesel pickup with a modern Arctic Fox camper designed for these trucks. The front hangover is very long to compensate for the weight behind the rear axle. The camper has a center of gravity mark that is a few inches behind the rear axle. My tie downs don’t mount to the bumper or truck bed, but rather directly to the truck frame.
Wow you do have a new truck!
Back to the future!
I could correct it, but what fun would that be? 😆 Have a great day! 😀 —Diane
I really think the photo is just “photoshopped”. A few details: 1. The weight of the camper, 2500 pounds or more isn’t settling the rear springs down to the frame. The owner would have had to really upgrade the springs to keep the truck level. 2. No load on the tires. That much weight on what looks to be stock tires for a F150 truck would flatten out the bottom of the tire tread on the rear tires and the front tires would have almost no weight on them. 3. That ratchet strap does not appear to be attached to anything. 4. To actually bend the frame right at the point of the rear door and bed of the truck, you would have to support the frame of the truck just in front of the bed of the truck and then strap down the very front of the truck so the front ties don’t lift off of the ground.
Nope. If you read the comments on the reddit thread this was found in, this rig has had multiple sightings.
Of course it’s in Florida.
Al, I agree with you on the photoshop. This would also destroy the driveline and would have had to have been towed to the wrecking yard.
Not photo shopped. I’ve seen this one in person in Naples Fl
He doesn’t get bothered with dot because he has a 1500 and isn’t over weight. Like hauling cargo. He has it secured so it check as good. Still not a good idea.
The frame may not be bent .. there are probably only 4 bolts mounting the bed to the frame thru rubber blocks and if the front two detach this would be the result. Also, these harbor freight ratchet straps are a common occurrence .. I’ve seen it in Oregon and Nevada.
Expensive truck for a dumb idea can you say Florida DOT laws should be looked into cause if that camper comes off on the highway someone will be hurt or even killed………Not cool
The person is probably homeless and that’s the shelter they have. Better that than the street.
Redneck stupid camping
Nothing a little duct tape cant fix!
All I got to say is, it’s a Ford (and a Ford owner!), would you expect anything more?
Remember back when we were in grade school ,and the teacher always circled our mistakes? Well, obviously if you look at the oval Ford emblem, you will notice that Ford circled their mistake too. LOL:)
The sad part of this story (other than the obvious) is the fact that modern pickups are little more than a 4-door SUV with a tailgate party box on the back, just large enough to hold a propane
BBQ grill, a stadium-size beer cooler, and a few folding chairs. That’s it.
This summer I visited GMC and Chevrolet dealers looking for a possible replacement pickup with a standard two-door cab (no rear seating or jump seat) and an 8-foot bed with a 3,000-lb cargo capacity, all under 22′ length overall. Sorry, Charlie. They don’t make them anymore. Not for several years, in fact.
One factor frequently overlooked is the overall length of the rig. Here in WA state, on the coast, ferries are a fact of life (as are cramped, tiny campsites squeezed between the big trees in some of our aging state parks). As long as the truck with camper is under 22 feet LOA, the ferry fare is the same as a passenger car. That’s a big savings. And we have no problem squeezing around trees into a campsite designed for 1950’s era RV’s.
So unless you’re willing to put up with a truck camper with a six-foot body (that may yet hang two feet rearward of the pickup box) and an overlong cabover section (look at that photo again), then you’ll be stuck towing a trailer or a five’er, the only thing today’s pickups are designed for.
Weird. I just built one on their website.. 🙄 https://www.chevrolet.com/commercial/silverado/2500hd-3500hd/build-and-price
Quote:
“ This summer I visited GMC and Chevrolet dealers looking for a possible replacement pickup with a standard two-door cab (no rear seating or jump seat) and an 8-foot bed with a 3,000-lb cargo capacity, all under 22′ length overall. Sorry, Charlie. They don’t make them anymore. Not for several years, in fact.”
I don’t know about GMC or Chevy, but this is not true of Ford. For example, a regular cab pickup with an eight-foot bed is under 20’ in length. Depending on the engine, drive type, tires, trim level, and other options, a payload of up to 4,960 lbs. is available on a 2020 F350 SRW regular cab long bed.
HTH,
Jim / crewzer
I didn’t understand his comment either. My payload on a Ram 2500 is close to 3600
Ford also will build a std. cab F150 bare bones long (8’) long bed without any options with a 3000 payload. But very few people will buy it w/o a/c and all the other creature comforts, but it is available under special order. I looked it up!
I hope the dumb {bleeped} did not bend the frame of his pickup and ruin his leaf springs and axle and drive train ( but I bet he did)
It’s easy to see the bend, the bed can’t flex on the frame.
No problem, he has a strap in front holding it tight..Ha Ha
Aw, come on. No problem. That’ll buff right out.
Extremely overloaded, that truck is bent. Good example of putting 10 lbs of fertilizer in a 5 lb bag.
No problem here
These short bed trucks are useless. We use our trucks for more than just camping.
Bet this guy sues Coachman for the damage!!!