Cabover struts?

Well got a piece of plywood and before I cut out for the hitch it was floppy as all get out. I'm betting that's atleast some of it.

I'm not sure now who needs camper guide info, so here's the info:
Do a search on this very site and find a plethora of homemade or shop made camper guides.
I think almost everyone of them is a better bet than the Lance camper guides. If you ever are going to get in an undulating, steep up or steep downhill, sidehill or axle crossing, frame twisting position, I would definitively opt for some kind of camper guides. They have saved my bacon over and over again.
jefe

rooney77 wrote:
Did you ever run the camper without the plywood? If so, did you notice any excess movement?

No, only with the plywood in place. I dont think it would have excess movement, as it would probably dent or bow up the bottom of the camper instead.

With the camper off the truck, can you stick your head underneath and get a good look at the underside?

You should see CLEAR marks where the safety chain loops were making contact, if they were a problem. That much weight on two small points of contact exerts a LOT of pressure.

Did you ever run the camper without the plywood? If so, did you notice any excess movement?

rooney77 wrote:
Just a quick update. I got to looking at my setup yesterday and I noticed my BW gooseneck setup sticks up a tad higher than the rest of the bed floor. Really just the safety chain catches but you get the idea. I'm gonna get a sheet of plywood to eliminate that as a possible rocking point. I don't know how I never noticed it before. Hopefully that's it.

I have the B&W and mine sticks up a bit too. I use some 3/4" plywood and cut out access holes for the ball and the chain loops so the plywood can stay in the truck.

Just a quick update. I got to looking at my setup yesterday and I noticed my BW gooseneck setup sticks up a tad higher than the rest of the bed floor. Really just the safety chain catches but you get the idea. I'm gonna get a sheet of plywood to eliminate that as a possible rocking point. I don't know how I never noticed it before. Hopefully that's it.

ab257 wrote:
My cabover bounces quite a bit when looking at it from the drivers seat going down the road (23' long bed crew cab). But my impression is that it is the truck frame that is flexing rather than the cabover of the camper. Ford had a video a while back showing their truck and a competitors going down a railroad track, with the camera looking back at the bed. It was amazing how much the beds were flexing (of course Ford was flexing less, hence their video).

It seems to me that a cabover strut takes the forces flexing the bed and transfers them to the camper structure, reducing truck flex but increasing internal flexing of the camper. With a wood frame this might not be too bad, but would lead to stress cracking of an aluminum frame. The steel of the frame handles flexing better than aluminum.

This is different from porpoising, in which the whole truck is bouncing as a unit - air bags, upgraded shocks and Torqlifts have helped reduce that.

Also bump stops (the last resort to keep the wheel from hitting the wheel well) are different from the helper springs engager stops which are what is replaced with a Torqlift or DIY.

Hello ab257,
I’m having the same problem that you do with my cabover bouncing. I have a Chalet TS-116 camper that weighs in at 4325 LBS, when I first got it I was driving down the road and opened up my Sun Roof. Looking up at the camper through the Sun Roof made me a nervous wreck from looking at all the bouncing going on. I had to close the Sun Roof! When driving down the road it doesn’t bother me as long as it’s a smooth road. However, if I’m on a dirt road with pot holes or go over a bump the whole truck and truck camper reacts violently. Even going to the end of my block has a difference in heights that my truck with camper will bounce badly so I drive real slow crossing over from one block to the next.
Years ago in the 70’s, I had a Chevrolet and Open Road camper with cabover struts. I can’t remember if they helped or not. I have tried to find some Cabover struts for my Ford F-450 and Chalet TS-116 but haven’t found any. Where did you get yours at? How are they working for you? Thanks.

jefe 4x4 wrote:
camper guides

Hello Jefe 4x4 I called the nearest Lance dealer to see if could buy some Lance camper guides and they didn't,’t have them. I even tried to do an Internet Search for them including eBay and Amazon and came up with nothing. Now considering that I’m on the East Coast and truck campers are few and far between. I’m wondering what my chances would be like where you’re at. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

We were into truck campers in the '60s and '70s with a 8'/9.5' and a 10.5' TC.
Back then it was common for the TC to be bolted to the beds frame or tie downs/turnbuckles from the bed stake holes.

As one poster said looking through his windshield at the cab over it could moves several inches especially when fighting strong head winds or a passing semi truck. The camper would literally shake the truck. We installed Camper Dampers hyd shocks to cure this issue. It worked.

Camper Damper shocks was a name brand back then. I did a quick google and it didn't show anything so recon they don't make them anymore or they have changed names.