Off Road Limo Build

[mode7]

2017 Ford F150 SuperCrew 6.5ft bed

I’ve been having an awesome time slowly building this truck from stock to pull double duty as my daily driver/work truck and weekend camping rig. There’s no question the GFC is the best platform to achieve this and I put down a deposit a couple days after I discovered them last August.

While I was waiting for the camper, I started working on making the truck a bit more off road worthy without killing the road manners or bankrupting myself. I primarily use the truck to access remote rock climbing areas which usually entails lots of highway and forest service road miles with just enough slightly more technical stuff to make it fun.

Stage I: Suspension and Tires

• Bilstein 6112 Coilovers +2" lift
• Bilstein 5160 Remote Resevoir rear shocks
• Auto Spring Add-a-leaf to keep some rake
• 275/70r18 BFGoodrich KO2’s

Stage II: Lighting

• Diode Dynamics Lo Beams, Hi Beams, and Fog Lights
• Baja Designs Squadron Sport Ditch Lights with Combo Lenses

The Ford’s stock halogen lights are literally useless so this was a priority for me because I’d rather not put a deer through my windshield.

Stage III: Go Fast Camper

If you’re here, you already know. This thing is amazing. Don’t think I slept more than a few hours the night before my install I was so damn excited. I was honestly shocked they had pumped out 200+ campers at the time out of such a small operation.

Camper Setup

Since I don’t have to think too much about over loading the truck I opted to build a platform and drawer system. I’d guess it weighs about 150 lbs but I wouldn’t trade the utility any day. I followed this guys plan. His solution for the drawer slides is awesome, check it out if you’re thinking about building drawers.

The left drawer is our “kitchen”. It holds 3 Wolf Packs for dry food, cooking stuff, dishes, etc. When we get home they get pulled out, everything gets cleaned and repacked, and we’re ready to go again as soon as Friday rolls around. The right drawer is either ropes and climbing gear, bouldering pads, or misc. camping gear depending on the trip.

A Goal Zero Yeti 400 powers our lights and devices.

Upstairs, I added a 1.5" memory foam topper cut to fit the panels and my lady sewed up some custom sheets to accomodate the additional thickness. It takes a bit more effort to make sure everything tucks in neatly, but it still closes up nice and easy.

I’m looking forward to seeing some more builds on here and stealing some ideas. What are the must have truck/camper mods in your opinion?

Cheers,

Eddie

[GFC]

Heck yeah! Stoked to follow this build!

[crazysccrmd]

How do you like the truck? I’m considering moving on from my Tacoma and picking up a F150 with the heavy duty payload package so I can actually have a truck that can stay within its payload limit. Right now my Tacoma with a very, very mild build is already over max GVWR once I put any camp gear in it.

[mode7]

It’s an awesome truck! I love it. For me, there was no trade off upgrading from an ‘05 Tundra. The payload (1927 lbs on my truck) and a 5 star crash rating are what convinced me to switch from Toyota.

[crazysccrmd]

5.0 or 3.5?

Having a 2700lb payload compared to my 1200lbs right now would be a huge benefit. I think that combined with the increase in towing capability and how much less I truly take it offroad now makes moving up to a slightly larger truck worth it.

[mode7]

Mine’s a 5.0, but I don’t think you can really go wrong either way. Both are miles ahead of anything Toyota puts in a truck in my opinion.

[mode7]

Lots of upgrades happening the last few weeks! The drawer system is gone in exchange for a simple
platform to shed weight and increase the storage space in the basement to make the main floor more livable in case we need to cook/hangout inside for any reason.

I think the thing that makes the biggest difference is the homemade Lagun style table. Having a table inside that is easily moved out of the way is a game changer. When we’re driving, the table top unscrews and stows under the platform.

The next project was upgrading the electrical system. That meant adding a 100w solar panel to the roof which charges our goal zero.

In order to increase the amount of electrical storage capacity, I picked up two additional 33ah agm batteries to chain to the goal zero. Goal Zero may not make the most robust solar system out there, but its hard to argue with the simplicity. Battery capacity increased from 400w to 1200w.

The new electrical system allowed us to also upgrade our $40 Coleman cooler to a new Dometic electric cooler. The 100w panel seems pretty capable of keeping up with the fridge and the additional battery capacity should allow us 4 or so days of refrigeration if the sun stops working.

Now here’s hoping this all ends soon so we can all start getting out again!

[anon72572904]

Can you post more pics of the table? I may have to steal—I mean, borrow— that idea from you

[mode7]

Haha the only thing I can take credit for is finding this video. Pretty simple to build with stuff you can grab from the hardware store!

[owennoll]

Which Dometic did you get?

[mode7]

I got the CFX3 45. Almost went with the 55 but the way the lid opens on this one means you can access it from inside or outside of the bed.

[claytonburns]

really like your set up! how does the camper sit on the bed rails of your f150 and mainly the tailgate? I have a 2017 f150 but hate the huge tailgates and seems like a big place for water to sit on and seep inside the camper. do you have to open the tailgate and then the rear part of the camper?

Thanks!

[mode7]

Thanks man! The camper follows the inside perimeter of the truck bed so there’s like 2-3” of bed rail sticking out at the cab end, but since the body of the truck curves it sits right on the edge when it gets to the tailgate. I can take a photo for you a bit later.

Here’s a shot of the tailgate I had already though. The seal does a good job of keeping water out. The corners leak a little bit but it’s not any more than previous trucks I’ve had with flat tailgates.

I have to open the camper first before I can open the tailgate.

[mode7]

Here’s the side view

[dbortz]

Dang. I assume it’s the same for the Raptor.

[mode7]

Probably similar. It really hasn’t been an issue for me at all, the bulb seal they use works pretty well I guess.

[d.shaw]

id guess its pretty normal, 3rd gen tacoma is similar (as seen on right)

[claytonburns]

wow! thanks for the feedback! really appreciate it, that’s my biggest concern with the camper. hopefully ill see an f150 with one in the San Diego area and get to scope it out.

[KOM-Chaser]

@mode7 bumping this thread to see if you’ve got a year-in review. I’m on the cusp of doing just the same with a 2021 F150 with the onboard generator (saves the need for a battery / electrical setup).

Any new mods, perspective on climate of the GFC, or thoughts on using it as a daily driver + camper? Thanks!

[mode7]

Do it! It’s an awesome combination and I’d imagine the new f150’s with the onboard batteries are setup perfect for something like a gfc. It’s as easy to daily as a full size truck can be but having the camper on there doesn’t make it any more difficult. Here in salt lake it’s never a problem but I could see it being annoying if you live in a crowded city.

My only complaint is always having to move the cushions out of the way to get in and out of bed. If I was ordering again I would for sure get the side tent doors and keep a ladder in the truck.

The only newish mod I’ve done is to swap out the foam in the mattress pads for some nicer latex foam. And I ended up ditching all my previous bed build outs and just rock action packers and front runner bins now. Here was the setup from this weekend (usually the bike is on a rack but the truck was parked at a trailhead for a couple days so I wanted it inside)…