Forum Discussion

ajriding's avatar
ajriding
Explorer II
Dec 20, 2018

Tie-Downs

I have two questions.

1. I have the tie-downs that drop into the square holes on top of the bed rail (Ram 2nd gen).
I have never used these. How strong are they? My camper is 1800lbs dry.
I plan to use these in the front.

2. For the rear I want to make something that attaches to the receiver hitch extension. A long bar welded to the extension, right at the receiver, that spans out to hold the tie-down chains.
Who has made or used one?
What steel tube do I need? I was thinking a 2 inch square, but could would a round steel pipe from the HD plumbing dept be enough? I will weld it all up.

Also, I have a gooseneck hitch, so there is a solid anchor point in the center of the bed. Has anyone used this a a 5th tie-down point? It would not do much for topple, but would keep it from sliding.

I'm back at the truck camper game after two years of trailers. I had a slide-in pop-up so did not need much to keep that in place. Now have a full height unit, 9.5 feet long. It does not have any cabinets high, really nothing but the shower door and curtains within the top 20 inches, so cant be as top heavy as most. It does have roof AC.
I will be towing a cargo trailer also, light, single axle.
I am buying the camper tomorrow Dec21.

16 Replies

  • I had the brophy pocket style tie downs on my first camper and quickly moved to a happijac down as I didn't find them very sturdy bending themselves and somewhat mangling the truck. That was over 20 years ago. Maybe they work better now. I switched to happijac bed mounts and didn't like them either as they tore the sheetmetal on our 1994 Ram. I know others here have had better success and I'm sure the product has improved over the years. After the happijac we went with a frame mount that has worked well on the last 3 trucks and 4 campers. I believe you can buy just the fronts if you are doing your own thing on the rear. Some sort of spring is recommended by most camper manufacturers to relieve stress on the camper.
  • This guy did what Im thinking of. I will be towing a cargo trailer on that same extension too.
    https://lookbeforeyoulive.com/?p=22714

    I have also seen on etrailer there is a clip that can be bolted into the rear bumper. How do these work? My bumper seems pretty sturdy.

    If I knew the forces involved it would be much easier
  • I posted the picture before and check that I deleted it from my computer. If you don't find old thread, I will take another.
    1" tubing is what Torklift uses originally and rear not suppose to hold any load on regural basis. I adjust the ties to eliminate the play, putting only minimal tension.
    That said, you need to design weak link somewhere and IMHO bend tubing is way better than the anchor point ripped off the camper.
    I weld everything as this is the quickest and best way
  • Kayteg1 wrote:
    I build rear tie-downs myself as I could not justify spending $300 for Torklift model.
    All it took was 1" square tubing, some pieces of old receiver as my truck has 3" hitch and top it with 3" framing square washer from Home Depot.
    I slid the adapter into end of hitch cross tube and secured with 1/4" pins.


    Do you have pics?
    I was worried 1 inch would not be strong. Im not sure how much pull the camper will ever have pulling up on the mounts either.
    Does the mount wiggle in the hitch, or do you have an anti-rattle thing holding it still?
    Is the square washers just welded on for a place for the chain to hook?
  • I build rear tie-downs myself as I could not justify spending $300 for Torklift model.
    All it took was 1" square tubing, some pieces of old receiver as my truck has 3" hitch and top it with 3" framing square washer from Home Depot.
    I slid the adapter into end of hitch cross tube and secured with 1/4" pins.
  • I’m about to fab up similar rear tie down anchors myself, because my Kelderman Air Ride conversion prevents any commercially available anchors to fit.
    I’m
    Doing it like a little set of receiver hitches on the sides.
    I’m going to buy 1-1/4” square tube for the anchors, and some square tube they slide into for the part welded to the truck. I’ll drill holes and use pins to hold them, so they can be removed when the camper is off for any length of time.
    The over-the-bed-rail stake pocket or clamp on brackets will work. Everyone used to use them.
    However, if you’re ok with a little cutting and welding, I’d say make yourself a similar set of front tie down anchors.