Front Frame Mount Tie Downs Not Working!

Geo*Boy wrote:
Very strange, my AF 990 doesn’t move period. I tension my Fastguns per Torklift spec’s.

It would probably move if your frame mounts looked like mine. Ha ha.

I can't make much of those pictures.
I don't see ties on them, I don't see mounting angles, all I see is fatigue metal and no idea what is tie-down what is frame.
So once again, ties should have some angle to pull the camper forward and some side angle to keep camper from moving sideways.
When you have them vertical, ties have pull the camper down without preventing sides movement.
That would work with no vibration and no impacts, but that doesn't happen while driving.

Hadenough, idk what is happening, but it’s not the forklift mounts. There is absolutely no reason your camper should be bouncing and sliding around as you describe.
Fix the root cause of the problem, and not by building heavier tie downs.
Do you actually think the normal for your camper to move around like that?

Very strange, my AF 990 doesn’t move period. I tension my Fastguns per Torklift spec’s.

Kayteg1 wrote:

mkirsch wrote:


IMHO the camper should stay in the bed simply due to weight and friction under normal driving conditions. I myself would not hesitate to take the tiedowns off my camper and drive around town. It would not move a fraction of an inch and I am not doing anything special to keep it there.

Normal driving in most of US cases include constant vibration (yes, I drove autobahns, where you could put coffee cup on top of dashboard and it would stay there at 200 kph).
When I set my new pickup, where front ties did have noticeable angle pulling camper forward, I gave it advised "5 yo girl" hand tension on fastguns. Over 500 miles driving, the camper moved about 1/2" to the rear.
I concluded that when vibration liquefy the friction, regardless factory bed mat, the air drag gives the camper significant pushing force.
I adjusted fastguns from 1/4" stretch to 1/2" stretch and camper did not move anymore.
Now OP is saying his camper is also turning on the bed, so sounds like he is not having side to side angle neither.

Are you able to see the pics of just posted?

Of course there is no side to side holding in the front. LOL. There is nothing to stop it since it’s all broken.

mkirsch wrote:


IMHO the camper should stay in the bed simply due to weight and friction under normal driving conditions. I myself would not hesitate to take the tiedowns off my camper and drive around town. It would not move a fraction of an inch and I am not doing anything special to keep it there.

Normal driving in most of US cases include constant vibration (yes, I drove autobahns, where you could put coffee cup on top of dashboard and it would stay there at 200 kph).
When I set my new pickup, where front ties did have noticeable angle pulling camper forward, I gave it advised "5 yo girl" hand tension on fastguns. Over 500 miles driving, the camper moved about 1/2" to the rear.
I concluded that when vibration liquefy the friction, regardless factory bed mat, the air drag gives the camper significant pushing force.
I adjusted fastguns from 1/4" stretch to 1/2" stretch and camper did not move anymore.
Now OP is saying his camper is also turning on the bed, so sounds like he is not having side to side angle neither.

HadEnough wrote:
As far as the tension in the Torklift fastgun tie downs, it’s just right. Not loose and not cranked down super hard. They have a natural click to them at the right tension. They snap closed easily without too much force, yet they aren’t loose. Nice and snug.

At the proper tension I wouldn't say my fastguns snap closed easily. It takes a decent pull and they bang into place. The spec is 1/4" of spring compression (using that rubber washer to measure). I use the alternate easier method of just pulling all of the slack out and looking through the lock hole, where you can see exactly half covered before you pull them over center into place.

https://www.torklift.com/blog/entry/proper-tension-for-turnbuckles

wnjj wrote:
I have to agree with those who say you'll just be covering up the real problem by building different/stronger mounts. Something is way off to break welds that are basically in shear. As someone said, the camper mostly sits there and only needs some help to stay. If there's enough force to bust those welds either there is way too much tension on the tie-downs or not nearly enough, allowing the camper to leave the bed and "get a run" at pulling on the welds. If you switch to a one-piece belly bar, I suspect you'll start bending it unless it's really overbuilt.

Have you checked the truck's bed mounts? Since the camper sits in the bed but the mounts are to the frame any slop in the bed mounts could possibly aggravate the issue.

You haven't answered how tight you are running the fastguns? What method do you use to ensure the right tension?

Also, I'm really surprised you lost a rear mount with or without the camper. They are held by pins with spring-loaded retaining clips.

Yup. The spring clip like you see holding them in these pics just vanished one day and with it the rear mount. It was rattling around with no camper on it so it vibrated loose somehow.

I’d say the bed mounts are reasonable. I’ll have another look though.

The Arctic Fox TC just has momentum. It definitely wants to leave the bed over a lot of different bumps you encounter. Especially after the truck is depressed and then springs back up. It feels like the TC is carrying the truck higher into the air after many types of bumps. Say speed bumps for an extreme instance it feels just nuts going over those even at almost a dead stop. The TC and truck want to do different things.

I do plan to overbuild the bar across type of mount because I need to lock the front of this tc into the truck better than these Torklift mounts are capable of.

As far as the tension in the Torklift fastgun tie downs, it’s just right. Not loose and not cranked down super hard. They have a natural click to them at the right tension. They snap closed easily without too much force, yet they aren’t loose. Nice and snug.

It all works great on the back of the truck, don’t forget. Everything is fine on the rear frame mount and tie downs.

I have to agree with those who say you'll just be covering up the real problem by building different/stronger mounts. Something is way off to break welds that are basically in shear. As someone said, the camper mostly sits there and only needs some help to stay. If there's enough force to bust those welds either there is way too much tension on the tie-downs or not nearly enough, allowing the camper to leave the bed and "get a run" at pulling on the welds. If you switch to a one-piece belly bar, I suspect you'll start bending it unless it's really overbuilt.

Have you checked the truck's bed mounts? Since the camper sits in the bed but the mounts are to the frame any slop in the bed mounts could possibly aggravate the issue.

You haven't answered how tight you are running the fastguns? What method do you use to ensure the right tension?

Also, I'm really surprised you lost a rear mount with or without the camper. They are held by pins with spring-loaded retaining clips.

Driver’s side again.