Truck Camper On Utility Bed: Putting a Camper On a Utility Bed
If you are not sure of what a utility bed truck is then think about those maintenance trucks with a small bed surrounded by lots of storage boxes. These trucks without the camper carry tons of equipment, parts, and other tools to repair a wide variety of issues. They are great for storage but little else.
This may be a custom project only as the beds in these utility trucks are often too small to accommodate a full-size truck camper. Customizing has been done to make these campers fit but it is rare to see a natural slide-in camper fit those smaller beds.
To learn more about this topic and if it is feasible or not just continue to read our article. It has the information you want to know about so you can make the right decision on using a utility bed truck for camping or not. It is not always a good fit.
Will a Truck Camper Fit In a Utility Bed?
Some people will say yes, but their affirmative answer is loaded with lots of depends. Not all slide-in truck campers will fit in the utility bed. The reason we say that is due to the size of the truck camper.
Some are just too large to fit in the remaining space not covered by all those storage compartments. If the slide-in truck camper is small enough, then you should have no trouble with getting it to fit.
There are other considerations to take into account. One is the weight issue. Will the truck camper be too heavy for the pick-up truck carrying it? You have to watch the cargo load rating to make sure you are not putting too much weight on the back of the truck.
Do not forget to factor in the weight of all the items you will place in those storage compartments most utility trucks come with. You are going to be working with a lower weight capacity than the towing weight capacity so you need to make sure everything in the truck is light enough to make it all work.
To make it work properly, you will have to measure the remaining space in the utility truck bed to see if the slide-in camper you want to use will fit. Some people think the floor of the camper will not touch the floor of the bed. But that is something you won’t know till you try to make it fit.
Can You Put a Truck Camper on a Utility Bed?
It is possible only if the slide-in camper is small enough to fit between the utility cargo storage boxes. We have seen a couple of pictures of two that have been done but there is very little living space available.
You can get some great cargo space but your camping time will be spent more outdoors if you need head and leg room, not to mention sleeping room. Other photos have shown a regular-sized truck camper in a utility bed but again, you are only getting marginally more room.
Do not expect to get a large slide-in truck camper inside a utility truck bed without some major customization being done. Some owners have put a pop-up slide-in camper in their utility truck bed. This offers a bit more headroom but maybe not a lot of living area to relax in or cook.
Customizing may be the best way to go but the cost may be prohibitive. It is something to check into as there are some companies that do this type of work. It is worth checking out to see if it is a viable option for you.
Putting a Truck Camper on a Utility Bed
The first thing to consider would be the purpose for doing this. Are you wanting to get back to roughing it or close to roughing it when you go camping?
Some of those larger motorhomes and trailers take the roughing it out of camping. But a slide-in truck camper is like tent camping with a solid wall between you and nature.
The second question to consider will be is the truck bed large enough. Some utility bed trucks are like regular trucks and only have a short bed in the back. This cuts down on the options for a slide-in camper.
Measuring the truck bed to see what type of room you have to work with will give you lots of options you can go with. The third consideration will be mounting the camper securely as well as connecting it to power.
This will take some work and you need to make sure the mounting brackets will fit in the right spots to keep the camper secure. As for electricity, will the camper be in the right position to connect to your truck’s power supply?
How much wiring will you have to do to get the appliances, etc., to work right? Then finally, the rest of the cargo. You will have to subtract the weight of the slide-in camper from the cargo weight capacity to see how much stuff you can bring with you.
Adding a slide-in camper is not limited to just making it fit. You have to consider all of these issues to make sure you do not overload your truck and that you have enough power to turn the lights on, etc.
It is all doable if all of these factors line up and fall into place. Not to mention how much time you want to spend inside. This set-up Is not going to give you a lot of personal space zones like trailers and RVs will.
Some Additional Words
If the truck camper will not slide in without any help, customization may be your only option. But then, all custom work will add to the weight and lower the remaining cargo capacity so you may not bring a lot of things with you.
Check the cargo weight capacity of the utility truck you want to use to make sure you have a high enough limit to live comfortably while camping.
