Forum Discussion

BurbMan's avatar
BurbMan
Explorer II
Jun 01, 2020

Getting the truck ready?

I got a set of tie downs with the camper, they do have the tension spring that Lance recommends. What I don't have are the parts that mount to the truck. Is this something I can DIY or should I have a shop do the install?

Also where in the truck bed does the pigtail socket go? Front wall or side?
  • @srschang you are a genius! I found this cable on Amazon, the one that's on the camper now has a small 6-pin plug that needs to be replaced anyway. I'll just wire this cord into the strain relied in place of the old cord and run it back to the bumper plug on the truck. Kills two birds!!
  • Yep, made an extension, and used p-clips to support it along the underside of the wing(?) to run it to the back of the camper. I could never bring myself to drill a hole for a plug in the bed of the truck. Google "7 pin extension" tons of them for sale.
  • Ok thanks. How did you plug into the 7-pin on the bumper? Did you make an extension? My umbilical comes out of the camper up front on the street side.
  • Too bad I sold my old camper Saturday. Even though the buyer has a new Chevy 2500, I included the Torklift Talons (Stainless/Aluminum) as part of the deal. He's planning to modify the Talons to fit his Chevy. I took them off a 2015 Ram 3500 4x4 Laramie Crew Cab Cummins!

    The tiedowns aren't hard to install, remove some bolts in the frame, run them through the tiedowns, bolt them back to the frame. You can buy the tiedowns online, places like Etrailer. I didn't add a socket to the truck, I plugged the camper into the 7 pin connector in the bumper.
  • If you're getting a set of Torklift brackets, they're pretty easy if you can rad simple instructions and use hand tools.

    If you're adding a plug in for the TC, it can go wherever is convenient.
    Think though about being able to access it to unplug the camper from the truck with the camper in place. I never put an extra plug in. Got an extended pigtail as a "quick solution" 6 years ago. Works fine and has a Y splice built in to hook a trailer in as well.
    Can build or buy one for under $100.