mkirsch wrote:
If there was something universal and any good, that is all that would be available.
It's very unusual, basically unheard of, to want to quickly switch campers from truck to truck to truck like that. Most people buy one truck and keep it for a long time, so you'll find any good commercial solution to be long term and specific to the brand, model, and year of the truck.
That leaves stake pocket tiedowns and belly bars.
The problem with stake pocket tiedowns is that the sheet metal used to make truck boxes these days is thin and flimsy. You'll be fine 99.9% of the time, but if you hit that unexpected bump just a little too hard, the camper will cause damage to the truck box.
I am unable to find any commercial solution for belly bars. Tweety's used to sell them but they do not list them on their site anymore.
Yes, most sensible people buy a vehicle and keep it for a while. But ours are "free" - so we're willing to put up with a certain amount of bother ;-)
The camper we are going to see comes with a belly bar; plus I have a clever steel fabricator a few miles down the street who has turned my sketched ideas into workable "things". That's probably the route we will go. The most "offroad" I'd go would be a rutted boat ramp to offload my kayak, so reduced ground clearance isn't really an issue.
Thanks, everyone, for your advice!
Deb
