Dumb question about truck camper tie downs

I personally would much rather cross the mounting ties, the front point on the camper to the rear point on the truck, the rear on the point of the camper to the front point of hte truck.

pratmaster wrote:
OK, so looking at all types of truck camper pictures, both on and off trucks I have noticed that most all truck campers are "tied" down to truck with the same type frame mounted system from various manufacturers, but basically the same concept.

I am referring to the type like the Torklift systems.

Every picture I see of a camper on a truck with this system, the mounting parts, happyjack, turn buckles etc. are all vertical. Straight up/down from the mounting point on the truck and camper.

So what keeps the camper from sliding out the back of the truck on steep inclines or any other situation where the truck would be pitched to where something would slide out the back.

With the "ties" vertical, there would be, what about 2 foot of room for them to slide backwards (away from the cab). The front of the bed keeps it from moving forward(toward the cab) but what keeps it from moving out the back?

Again, just looking at pictures it looks to me if you pulled off a little hard on a incline, the thing would slide back a few feet. So tell me why it wont.

Most, if not all, truck camper manufacturers recommend that a rubber bed mat be installed between the truck bed and the camper bottom. This mat keeps the camper from sliding front to back and side to side. Pickups do not have enough power/traction to climb a hill so steep that the rubber mat would allow the camper to slide rearward. The front bulk head of the truck bed keeps the camper from sliding forward during a very harsh sudden stop.

LeRoy

The fact is, the tie downs do not do as much as most people think they do. They are not intended to hold the TC on the way truckers use big straps to hold loads on. They are intended to prevent the minute vibrations from walking the TC back and forth on the truck. Especially to keep it from walking out the back of the truck.

Ideally, you would have the two tiedowns at front at an angle opposite the rear. If the tie downs are straight up and down, they will minimize the distance the TC can travel, but not as efficiently as if they were mounted at an angle.

The TC will move around a little, but not come off the truck under normal use of the truck/TC.

Wayne

Reddog1 wrote:

Ideally, you would have the two tiedowns at front at an angle opposite the rear. If the tie downs are straight up and down, they will minimize the distance the TC can travel, but not as efficiently as if they were mounted at an angle.

Much like the bow strap and transom strap on my boat. The bow strap prevents the boat from sliding back on the trailer and the angle of my transom straps prevents the boat from sliding forward into my truck.

On dually trucks, the rear tiedowns are a challenge because of the fender hips being in the way. If the tiedowns are straight vertical on a SRW truck, the mounts on the camper likely need to be moved.

Not a dumb question at all, I think the tie downs are not understood by a lot of people.

I was not aware truck camper manufacturers recommend that a rubber bed mat be installed between the truck bed and the camper bottom. It does certainly help preventing the TC movement.

I definitely remove a plastic liner from the bed. I would definitely use a rubber mat on the plastic bed liner. I do think the plastic on the bed would still allow a lot of movement.

Wayne

These instructions are from Torklift

"RECOMMENDED TRUCK CAMPER
INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
When securing any heavy load (especially a camper) in your truck bed, your
front tiedown points should pull the load forward as much as possible. Some
camper anchor points may differ with different manufacturers, as well as the
camper jack mounting locations. Your TorkLift tiedown inserts have offset
triangular brackets to increase the angle of pull. These are designed to be
used in the front facing forward, and the rear facing rearward but can be
used in either front or rear. These recommendations are to be considered
and followed as a basic rule of thumb. Obviously there will be some applications
where this may not be possible. At a minimum, if opposite pull of
both front and rear tiedowns cannot be achieved for whatever reason, you
should have at least a forward pull at the front or rear location.
If your camper does not come with rubber bumpers on the front lower portion
of the camper, installing rubber bumpers (TorkLift has Rubber Bumpers
available P/N
A7001) or using a block of wood such as a 2 x 4 in the bed will prevent the
camper from damaging the front bulkhead of the truck bed.
Minor movement (or settling) can occur in some incidental harsh driving conditions
(on or off road). A rubber bed mat is not a requirement to maintain
the lifetime warranty on a Torklift system, but a strong reccommendation
simply as a safety precaution to protect the truck bed, the bottom of the
camper and to give the camper additional support."

Ever see a TC come out of a PU? They seem to just float upward almost like in slow motion, then stay in mid air a moment before falling downward..If you see one come off a truck the wind is pulling them up. They don't appear to slide out the back. JMHO.

Farmerjon wrote:
These instructions are from Torklift

"RECOMMENDED TRUCK CAMPER
INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
When securing any heavy load (especially a camper) in your truck bed, your front tiedown points should pull the load forward as much as possible. ..."

Ideally, your front tiedowns will pull the TC forward as stated above. If you go off road on real bumpy trail type roads, where there are lots of ruts, it is much less stress on the TC to remove, or loosen, the rear tiedowns. This will allow the rear of the TC to move up and down a little, while the front tiedowns will prevent the TC from sliding out the rear of the truck bed.

Wayne

this pic was taken on a recent trip to Quartzsite to do a little stargazing.As you can see by the pic the front tork tiedowns have about 30 degree of angle and the rear about ten
.

WyoTraveler wrote:
Ever see a TC come out of a PU? They seem to just float upward almost like in slow motion, then stay in mid air a moment before falling downward..If you see one come off a truck the wind is pulling them up. They don't appear to slide out the back. JMHO.

I just have to ask, have you ever personally seen what you described?

I suppose under the right circumstances, anything could happen. I have had, or been around TCs since about 1972. I have only personally seen maybe four TCs that had slid back in the bed of the truck. In each case the front tiedowns were pulling toward the back, the back tiedowns were removed due to a rutted/bumpy road while traveling at 5 to 10 MPH. A car salesman told me he was driving a truck with a TC on the back, and no tiedowns but with the plastic bed liner. He said he was going up his real steep driveway, and the TC slid out far enough the back of the truck the rear of the TC was on the ground and the front was still on the truck.

I have never heard of a situation as you described, but to be fair, there are lots of things I have never heard of.

Wayne