How to rig tie downs on a flatbed.

It is my opinion that most people do not give a lot of thought to exactly what the tiedowns are supposed to do. Does anyone really think a headwind will blow the TC out of the truck bed? Think about it, a medium size car weight is about the same as a TC. Will a gust of wind blow it backwards?

If you think about it, the tiedowns do not tie your TC to the bed of your truck like tiedowns on a load of lumber. The tiedowns prevent the TC from moving forward and back due to the vibrations as you go down the road. You need only to look closely at the connection points in several TCs to see what I mean. Most can be ripped out if you overtighten the tiedowns. The tiedowns do almost nothing to prevent the TC from sliding side to side. About all they do side to side is put a very small amount of pressure down on the bed of the truck, which increases the friction between the TC bottom and truck bed.

As for spring loaded tiedowns, it was many years TCs were hauled with only turnbuckles and no springs. Have you ever went over a road bump a little too fast? The back of the TC will bounce up, the front stays in place. As I recall, when the spring loaded tiedowns first came out, they were for the rear. They allowed a little give when you hit a bump, but I think it fair to question just how valuable the spring tiedowns are. Have you ever looked at how a Class C mounts the camper? Is it spring loaded?

I played with offroad toys in the 60's, 70's and 80's. Everyone I was aware of had the front tiedowns pull to the front, and the rear pull to the rear. The reason was to help hold the TC against the front of the truck bed. If you slam on the brakes, the TC did not slide forward like a giant hammer. The TC was already as far forward as it could go. When going of the pavement on rough roads to get to our campsites, we loosened the rear tiedown. That would allow the back of the TC to bounce and flex a little. I have seen a couple of TCs that did not loosen the rear tiedowns on rough roads, and the result was the TC tiedown connection points ripped out.

When I had my various TCs mounted on flatbed trucks, I found it necessary to fasten 2x4s or something on the bed parallel to the TC floor sides.

Wayne

Have 105k on my truck with 95% with the Lance on. I agree with 69avion I prefer having 4 spring loaded tie downs to reduce stress on camper and bed. Your anti shift plan sounds good too.

Capt Eddie wrote:
I am working on the new bed on the Dodge. I will try to download some pictures of the old Ford. The bed are similar. I do not know how to put picture on here. It does not just go to MY pictures like all of the other web sites. It is on Expedition portal. F450 flatbed build. Sorry.

Post your pictures on a site like Photobucket and link them to here.

I am working on the new bed on the Dodge. I will try to download some pictures of the old Ford. The bed are similar. I do not know how to put picture on here. It does not just go to MY pictures like all of the other web sites. It is on Expedition portal. F450 flatbed build. Sorry.

My bed is aluminum diamond plate , I use no pad and it sticks like glue. The tiedowns are Anchor Guard spring loaded fronts ( short ) in all four positions . Attaching points are 1/2" D rings bolted through the bed and a reinforcing bar that spans 3 cross ribs to distribute the load . So far nothing has broken or bent and it's been on some ruff dirt road . I don't have centering guides yet but think it is a good addition and as TC life said they help for exact positioning when loading .

How about a pictureof the new flatbed ?

my attachment points for the tie downs are heavy duty eyebolts. they are mounted to the steel frame edge of the flatbed. my flatbed is a wood deck style. what are you using for that?
I have gone places a lot of people wouldn't take a 2 wheel drive, up national forest roads. no shifting with the camper. like 69 Avion mentioned I do have guides on the sides of the camper. all I used was a stick of 1"x1" wood along both sides. they are screwed down to the wood deck. I also have a small stick of 3/4" angle iron on the front of the camper. so nothing super strong but they do the job. they also help get the camper lined up perfectly the few times I take the camper off the truck. my camper stays on the truck 99% of the time.

My plan is to have a 2 inch space between the camper and the boxes. Then drop 1 x 6 lumber between the box and camper to take up the space.

I prefer spring loaded tie downs on all four corners, but I have used only two on the front before.
I would make sure you have some sort of camper guides on the bed to keep the camper from shifting from side to side.

My camper is smaller and lighter. My bed is 8x12. The camper is 8' wide. I use non spring loaded tied owns with a slight angle front and back. No big angle though. Its worked perfect for me but again...my camper is smaller and lighter. Also...my whole camper sits on the bed. Maybe that's no help at all but I thought I'd let you know how my set up is. It would be great to see a pic or two of your set up.