camper tie downs

northshore wrote:
I am new to truck campers, I have heard many ideas on which tie downs to get, I have also heard that the tie down should be just snug, others say they should be tight, others say crank them down..... what is the correct tension?
I also need to know, do the tie downs keep the truck and camper together incase of an accident? or are they on there to keep the camper from shifting in the bed? It should be noted, I am new to truck campers and am not being smart a$$ I just don't know, and a guy gets all kinds of stories about what you "gotta" have and how to do it. If this is hijacking this thread I will be happy to start a new one.

Depends on the turnbuckle. The spring loaded HappiJacs in the front are loaded a certain amount, ends up being around 300 pounds. My spring loaded Torklifts are the same way. If it is a solid turnbuckle (besides throwing them away) you just want to go just beyond snugged up. Any more and it will pull the tie downs out of the camper.

And if you get in an accident, the camper will come off. It's not meant to retain it.

northshore wrote:
I am new to truck campers, I have heard many ideas on which tie downs to get, I have also heard that the tie down should be just snug, others say they should be tight, others say crank them down..... what is the correct tension?
I also need to know, do the tie downs keep the truck and camper together incase of an accident? or are they on there to keep the camper from shifting in the bed? It should be noted, I am new to truck campers and am not being smart a$$ I just don't know, and a guy gets all kinds of stories about what you "gotta" have and how to do it. If this is hijacking this thread I will be happy to start a new one.

Tie downs need to have enough "give" that they don't damage the camper or truck if the frame gets a little twisted, or something like that. I'm only familiar with the Torklift Fast Guns, but they have a visible tension indicator that lets you easily set the proper tension. Others may have something similar.

While the tie-downs would probably keep the camper on the truck in most mild to moderate collisions, I wouldn't expect to be so lucky if it more like several flips down the freeway.

And welcome to the world of truck campers. Have fun!

I am new to truck campers, I have heard many ideas on which tie downs to get, I have also heard that the tie down should be just snug, others say they should be tight, others say crank them down..... what is the correct tension?
I also need to know, do the tie downs keep the truck and camper together incase of an accident? or are they on there to keep the camper from shifting in the bed? It should be noted, I am new to truck campers and am not being smart a$$ I just don't know, and a guy gets all kinds of stories about what you "gotta" have and how to do it. If this is hijacking this thread I will be happy to start a new one.

Speaking of Torklift customer service, they saw my comments here about their instructions and contacted me to ask how they could improve. That level of service is pretty hard to come by these days, and is worth a few extra bucks, IMO.

RWDIII wrote:
JustReinstalled according to the video,why they didnt show this in the inclosed instructions.
the 4year old HJ were worn out in the front that they rattled.just sent off card for lifetime warranty.

I've noticed that the Torklift instructions, in most cases, are pretty bad. Especially the pictures. Good thing the stuff is pretty easy to install without them.

JustReinstalled according to the video,why they didnt show this in the inclosed instructions.
the 4year old HJ were worn out in the front that they rattled.just sent off card for lifetime warranty.

RWDIII wrote:
according to the instructions,they must be installed as shown,on my camper the hold down brackets were 90 degrees off.

According to this YouTube video, you didn't need the links.

according to the instructions,they must be installed as shown,on my camper the hold down brackets were 90 degrees off.

RWDIII wrote:

RWDIII wrote:
Thanks for all the replies
The tiedowns are installed the same way they came from the dealer on my first camper.I do see some TL fastguns in the future

Fast guns arrived todayHad to use quick link for correct position

How does the link help with position?

RWDIII wrote:
Thanks for all the replies
The tiedowns are installed the same way they came from the dealer on my first camper.I do see some TL fastguns in the future

Fast guns arrived todayHad to use quick link for correct position