TxGearhead (Brent) had asked what kind of clearance I had with the new rig, well, it sure is tight. It's really at the tailgate opening where there is the least clearance, between 3/8 and 1/2 inch if camper has not shifted (which it did in the photo). So the tailgate is the tightest point. Didn't go that smooth ...1. wrong model number tie downs ordered, so stayed night near Apache TC. Put me up free in nice hotel. Relaxed with a beer! 2. Next day, they figured that Torklift had no idea what they're talking about fitting to a 2019 3500 dually. Wound up having a bunch of holes drilled and used Happijac to get me on the way. 3. After 6 months of looking at Torklift web site a couple times a week, as I overnight in Portland notice they change their fitment and say brand new tie downs are being designed for my truck. 4. I plan to use the new Torklift rears, will keep the Happijac front. Bugging dealer and will bug torklift to get stuff at cost. I need to practice loading, no way I feel comfortable doing this on my own! I hope to be able to unload in flat(how flat?) dispersed campsites, time will tell. Very nervous about this! Driving south of Eugene on I-5 to Grants Pass, there's some hills. I didn't notice any sway at all with the factory airbags. Kept taking turns faster, no problem! I can notice some front to back movement, that's the shocks I guess. Truck is a beast, love it! This year will be great for trucks as all 3 brands have new HDs. Can't go wrong. Camper, disappointed in my inspection(!) because I found NOTHING wrong except one exterior compartment latch was tight. I wonder waht I didn't test thoroughly! Every other little detail seems spot on, not even a piece of trim seems off. Good job Bigfoot! Back in CA working for now, will reunite with rig in Orgeon week of July 4 for trip. Keeping rig in OR till I retire and avoid CA taxes.

See that taper in on the lower 1/2 of your tailgate opening? that started in end of model year 2015 duallys.I think its to stop the bed cracking at bottom corner of that opening with the weight of the dualey fenders added to bed.My AF 990 is also tight here. but on the AF they put aluminum angle on the front corners, and if your not careful it can hook on that button at top that is for tailgate lock. And yes my camper moves every time I put it in bed of truck, even with rubber mat and torque lift fastguns that are set correct. one trick to get it off the edge is to jack up the camper so the weight is off the bed, than and lower the close side first until it starts to put weight on bed, than lower other side to level. (it also helps if you can have someone push on corner of camper to move the needed direction as you lower it :). I been meaning to measure the space so I can put a board in between wheel well and camper to force camper over some. but once I load the camper, it seems to stay loaded until fall. I have to mess with this every time I load/unload since I don't have a level space I own.

I won't run the TL rear tiedowns (or the front) for that matter. Where we go, anything hanging down and out the the sides of the bed is an invitation to snag a log or rock. HJ's don't hang down or out.

I have a 2018 GMC 3500 and a Bigfoot 25 c 94. I had to raise the camper 1" to avoid hitting the radius at the bottom of the tailgate opening. When loaded I have about 5/8" per side. In order to avoid hitting the side of the truck either loading or from shifting. I made front and rear guide blocks. The front ones are attached to full width, doubled up 2x4's ripped down to prevent camper from sliding forward ( I do not trust the two rubber bummers as the point load could damage the camper or truck bed). In the rear, the wedge guide blocks mount on a full width 1" board. The wedge blocks are 5" tall tapered for 2 1/2" to "guide" the camper into the exact centered position. Makes loading painless and no shifting during traveling.

SidecarFlip wrote:I won't run the TL rear tiedowns (or the front) for that matter. Where we go, anything hanging down and out the the sides of the bed is an invitation to snag a log or rock. HJ's don't hang down or out.mine is a 2wd pavement queen. off road to me is my stone driveway. no problem here.

Clearance is an issue. I'm using a 2x8 all the way across the front of the bed. I backfill that in the front bed wall recess with 2 pieces if scrap chipboard 12x1x4. I needed that to open the truck rear doors. I attached to the 2x8 2 joist hangers so I can run a guide rearward on both sides against the fender well. I put a short (8"?) piece of 1x4 on both sides of the tailgate opening with a shorter piece of 2x4 screwed to it so that it is captured behind the tailgate opening. I wrapped the guide boards and the tailggate spacers with astroturf. I needed the tailgate spacers to keep the camper off the truck. I use the rear bumper plug and wanted to be sure I didn't crush the power cord in the tailgate opening if the camper moved. I have my entire bed covered with 5/8" plywood. I use a full coverage rubber bed mat on top of the plywood. So far I haven't seen much movement from the camper.The jacks are an issue I don't think I can solve, or at least it may not be worth the effort. They have maybe 3/4" clearance with the fenders when loading. It's a pretty high pucker factor. It's a foot or so when backing up that it gets so close. I just go slow slow. I have looked at ways to extend the dually swing outs. If I just use plate aluminum sandwiched over the attaching bolts of the swing out bracket and the jack I won't be able to open the truck rear doors when they are swung in. I suppose I could just swing them out whenever I need to open the truck doors but... I have looked at maybe using square tubing between the jack and the camper to extend the jacks out and not interfere with the doors. If I do that I will have to talk to Bigfoot about what the jacks are screwed in to. Not sure if it's a wood block or a piece of steel.There is an opportunity here for Bigfoot to step up and offer a solution to mount the jacks farther out. The Torklift tiedowns. When I bought the Camper, the previous owner threw in the Fastguns. I mounted the Torklift tiedowns to the truck I owned at the time....2016 RAM 3500 SRW. The front tiedowns were a beast using the fish wire and a bolt that should have been longer. Needle nose Vise Grips saved me. When I bought the 2018 dually I assumed I would need different rear tiedowns, but no, I needed new front ones. Thankfully they didn't require a fish wire. Fastguns...they will rub the fenders without some kind of modification. I talked to Bigfoot about using machinery eyebolts in the Bigfoot tiedown anchors. They were fine with that, so that's what I'm using. They pushed the Fastguns out about an inch. I also talked to Torklift and they said it was OK to drill another hole in the frame tiedown extensions. I drilled a hole about an inch farther "in" on the extensions so that extends them out some more. Hope that helps. Keep us posted,

2019 Ram 3500 dually and loading a bigfoot 10.4 ...

14 Replies

towpro
Explorer
Jun 06, 2019
SidecarFlip wrote:
I won't run the TL rear tiedowns (or the front) for that matter. Where we go, anything hanging down and out the the sides of the bed is an invitation to snag a log or rock. HJ's don't hang down or out.

mine is a 2wd pavement queen. off road to me is my stone driveway. no problem here.
Bradymydog
Explorer
Jun 06, 2019
I have a 2018 GMC 3500 and a Bigfoot 25 c 94. I had to raise the camper 1" to avoid hitting the radius at the bottom of the tailgate opening. When loaded I have about 5/8" per side. In order to avoid hitting the side of the truck either loading or from shifting. I made front and rear guide blocks. The front ones are attached to full width, doubled up 2x4's ripped down to prevent camper from sliding forward ( I do not trust the two rubber bummers as the point load could damage the camper or truck bed). In the rear, the wedge guide blocks mount on a full width 1" board. The wedge blocks are 5" tall tapered for 2 1/2" to "guide" the camper into the exact centered position. Makes loading painless and no shifting during traveling.
SidecarFlip
Explorer III
Jun 06, 2019
I won't run the TL rear tiedowns (or the front) for that matter. Where we go, anything hanging down and out the the sides of the bed is an invitation to snag a log or rock. HJ's don't hang down or out.
towpro
Explorer
Jun 05, 2019
See that taper in on the lower 1/2 of your tailgate opening? that started in end of model year 2015 duallys.
I think its to stop the bed cracking at bottom corner of that opening with the weight of the dualey fenders added to bed.

My AF 990 is also tight here. but on the AF they put aluminum angle on the front corners, and if your not careful it can hook on that button at top that is for tailgate lock. And yes my camper moves every time I put it in bed of truck, even with rubber mat and torque lift fastguns that are set correct.

one trick to get it off the edge is to jack up the camper so the weight is off the bed, than and lower the close side first until it starts to put weight on bed, than lower other side to level. (it also helps if you can have someone push on corner of camper to move the needed direction as you lower it :).

I been meaning to measure the space so I can put a board in between wheel well and camper to force camper over some. but once I load the camper, it seems to stay loaded until fall.

I have to mess with this every time I load/unload since I don't have a level space I own.

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2019 Ram 3500 dually and loading a bigfoot 10.4 ...

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