Dumb question about truck camper tie downs
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 ma...
Forum Discussion
pratmaster wrote:
IS that a home made traction plate on the side of your truck under the camper?
And what is with that shovel handle, it looks like a wavy/crooked home made handle.. I assume its just the way it looks in the picture, but it looks odd...
Yes, it is a form of sand ladder - actually I think it is recycled flooring.
Yes, the shovel handle looks crooked, but I think it is just the picture.
I also have rubber matting (horse stall matting) - it gives extra grip and a bit of isolation and spring between the camper and the load bed; plus it lifts the camper to clear the cab roof - modern trucks often have higher cabs than older truck campers were designed for.
Dadwolf: Yes, they were home made tie-downs. The front ones don't have any built in spring, but I found that the steel mountings gave enough flex anyway. The rear mountings are shorter and don't flex so I built spring units. You are right about getting the correct spring rate. If I can feel something in my hands I tend to know what strength etc. I need for it. In this case the spring was from a car door - I considered an engine valve spring but that would have been too stiff - I don't like too much tension.
This is the write-up I did covering the entire evolution - you have to follow the various pages
I also ended up adapting the front tiedowns into a form of belly bar. I found offroad the front mountings tended to flex too much, so I welded some re-bar between them to cross-brace them.
Steve.
