Tie-down systems performance/safety vs cost

bigfootford wrote:


Fast guns do not keep the camper from shifting backwards
Fast guns if not set up properly have damaged campers.


Question to all...

When on a road with ruts etc does the frame twist and if so what happens with Fast Guns hard contact because they are attached to the frame?

Happijacks are attached to the bed in the front and are at an angle so they hold the camper forward with very little hold down force. The rears are attached to the bumper which is flexible and are set up to have very little down force.

Been using the same Happijack takedowns for 20 years and driven over some hellacious roads.
Camper weights 4200lbs... Never had 1 problem with the camper shifting.. Over 200,000 miles on the camper 2 F250's.

Would I use Fast Guns? Probably not.

Jim

Any turnbuckle if setup incorrectly can damage a camper.

Keep in mind there are two different systems in play here. The attachment points and the turnbuckles.

On my old 1997 truck I had both Happyjack attachment points (front of bed and bumper) and turnbuckles. I believe that the turnbuckles had springs in the chrome tubes.

Fast forward to 2018 and a new 2017 Ford with aluminum bed/body. The choice here was to use frame mounted attachment points. Since my old turnbuckles were the incorrect length, I got Torqlift springed turnbuckles to go with the Torqlift frame mount attachment points.

In my mind the key is to have something with a spring and when installed have the spring tensioned properly so that the "eyelet" on your camper is not torn out.

While it is debatable how much each of the big threes (GM, Dodge, Ford) frames flex, I would not trust any of the metal work (much less Ford) to secure a turnbuckle tied to a camper.


- Mark0.