ever heard of a camper slide off the back?

This actually might be a good time to bring up this report again. Maybe even get it into the TC University AnEv? I couldn't find it there.

An Analysis of Restraining Requirements
for Truck-Mounted Slide-In Campers

(If it disappears, I can usually find it by googling the words magleby truck-camper.)

With lots of interest in the possibilities of what this thread implies can happen, new TC'ers coming along all the time and the OP indicating obvious concern in certain steep-road conditions, it's worth understanding the forces of gravity, friction and restriction as it relates to our campers. The falling out the back is what the report author calls the backward translation.

And the OP subject reminds me of the time I drove, with Dad in the passenger seat - and Mom, DW and two kids in the 12.5' camper on '73 F250 single cab, UP the steep roads to Boothill Cemetery in Deadwood. That ALMOST caused a divorce!

I went from a 1800 lb Sunlite to a 2800+ lb Bigfoot and thats a lot of camper back there. I do believe that the tie downs are more show than true load securing and if the camper decided to slide off there isn't much to stop it, but the tie downs keep it from breaking loose.

I think a molded fiberglass TC on a plastic bed liner is the most prone combination to slide around. With proper tie downs, not a serious problem, but just more likely to move.

I don't think most people understand the purpose of tie downs. They are to prevent movement of the TC due to vibrations, not to literally hold a 4,000 lb TC on a truck bed during a rollover. Think about it, if the forward motion of your truck could blow the 4.000 lb TC out of the bed of your truck, you could not leave the TC unloaded in a wind storm.

I'm just glad the Space Station doesn't depend on a TC, even if it IS tied down. And that leads me to question some of those photos posted by whazoo.

As always you can have different materials in everything.
The spray bedliners I have seen have been like sandpaper.
When I had plastic bedliner on my truck - wet lumber would slide out on modern acceleration.

I think a rubber mat is a good idea, but there really isn't much difference in friction between a plastic bed liner and a spray in liner or the steel truck bed. I tried both and the camper shifted just the same. The shifts I got weren't from normal driving accelerations, but from bumps and road settling combined with a good crosswind interrupted periodically by semis going by the other way. If you go over a good frost heave or other woopdie, the camper will momentarily be weightless or nearly so, what it is sitting on doesn't matter. Pick that moment to encounter a 30 mph side gust and it will move. Which is why most of us tie them down somehow, and why I block it in place.

Maybe yours hasn't budged but a lot of other people have reported problems with their campers shifting and/or sliding around on plastic bedliners, right here on this forum.

It's plausible that a camper under the right conditions could fall out the back of the truck. A slick plastic bedmat, no/inadequate tiedowns, and a jackrabbit start up any sort of hill is all it would take.

In short, you'd have to be really complacent for it to happen.

For a properly secured camper on a rubber mat on a level surface to fall out of a truck would require levels of acceleration comparable to NHRA dragsters. Pickup trucks are simply not capable of that kind of acceleration.

Most people realize that they have a significant amount of hard-earned money invested in their rigs, and take measures to protect their property. They recognize that their camper is sliding around on a slick bed liner and take measures to stop it. They secure their camper to the bed with proper tiedowns. They do not perform jackrabbit starts on steep hills. They do their best to avoid potholes and slow down for speedbumps. For this to happen to the average everyday driver, it would require a rare series of failures to occur all at once.

Kayteg1 wrote:

I have degree in mechanics ...

Is that like Mr Goodwrench?

kohldad wrote:
If it was installed on a plastic bed liner, I could see it sliding out.

Yes...absolutely...we are hauling our 2nd TC on same truck with same "plastic" bed liner for 10+ years now. Been x-country 2x...I am pretty sure one of these days the camper will slide right off...

Other than hitting a speed bump way too fast in downtown Chicago...the camper has never budged.

Saw it happen once, truck pulling away from being stopped at traffic lights on a hill. Not sure whether he had tie downs or not.

I have degree in mechanics and don't think the common ties are really strong, especially for camper like mine that can exceed 5000 lb

They are on the Bigfoot 3000 series. My father dropped a wheel off the side of the road. He tried to gently bring it back up but wouldn't come until finally the drop off ended which shot the rear end around, then back over the other way. The fellow TCer behind him swore it was going to go over and even had one of the rear wheels off the road by several inches. We figured the only thing that saved the day was the slow speed because of heavy fog and wet roads allowing the tires to slide a little. The TC rocked so violently in the bed that three torklifts came unhooked at the bottom but the camper did stay in the truck bed without any damage.