Custom RV Truck Bed Plus Motorcycle Carrier Plus Fifth Wheel RV!
This article could fit into several spots on the site... I thought showing what you can do, in terms of tailoring a Truck with a custom RV Truck Bed seemed to fit here in the Tow Vehicle section pretty well...
I've been discussing ways, for some time, of how I might could carry two large motorcycles on a fifth wheel rig... since I discovered I've been married to a 'closeted' Biker Granny. :-)
It was my good fortune to find out that one of the Visitors to goin' RV Boondocking did almost exactly the same Custom Modification that I've been talking about!
Now, he wasn't carrying a big bike... more like a smaller scooter, (which is hidden in the pictures) I guess for zippin' around on job sites... But, he was carrying a lot of weight and bulk there, as you'll read below... so in the end... a perfect example of what I've been cogitating on...
... That idea being, to bump the hitch rearward a small amount, to make room for the second motorcycle carrier behind the cab. (The first carrier being the Motorcycle Carrier that's built on the tail of our Jayco Eagle.)
It's one of the cleanest looking, well executed, setups I've seen... and one which I plan on using as my inspiration for our rebuild this winter ('09-'10)
When you look at the pictures, notice that everything is sitting nice and level too...
First, You MUST keep the weight properly distributed... and second... you MUST keep the total weight within reasonalble parameters...
... or bad things happen to good people! :-)
So I'll just let him take the stage now for this lil' bit of Show an' Tell!:
Hi Brian,
Here are a couple photos of my truck with its' Custom RV Truck Bed and trailer.
I don't think there is anything special about it other than the RV truck bed. I made it my self while I was waiting for the custom ordered truck to be made. '94 was the year dodge changed to a new body style and it took 6 months after it was ordered (sept. '93 and received it March of '94).
I had tool boxes on top and under the bed, with (2) 50 gal. fuel tanks in back of the toolboxes on top. The bike would ride in the middle and can not be seen in the picture. I do wish I had some better pictures, but I just don't take many pictures. My old 35 mm camera is out of date now.
I think the photos were taken around 98 -2000. We made our last trip to the east coast in 2006 with the trailer then passed it on to the daughter when we got our big Motor Home. I still have the truck to pull my gooseneck horse trailer.
It is also hard to see that the hitch is 12" back of center of the wheels instead of forward. The RV truck bed is 12' 4" long so the placement of the ball had to be back there to allow for the swing of the 5th wheel.
The truck also weighed in at 10,169 when I finished it. Never had any problem with towing even in snow. For me it was a good way to go. (ed. note; The Truck weighs modestly heavy... but his fiver is a more moderate sized rig... kind of like ours)
You could leave the toolboxes and fuel tanks off, on top of the bed, to get one or two bikes up there. That is 4' of bed space and still room for the swing of the 5th wheel plus.
Brian, if you can build a ramp that will let you get your bike up there I know it will work. I also had a big air compressor and 6500 Onan gen set mounted in that box. So there was a lot of weight there. I still did 14-15 mpg. I did want an extended cab, but it wasn't available in '94.
The reason for the extra 100 gal. of fuel was for work and so I could drive non-stop to where I was hunting in the Big Horn Mts.
Good luck and I enjoy your website and photos. (ed. note; and I enjoy the contributions of all the visitors who come here!)
-John Davidson
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