What Is On The Bottom of Your Truck Camper?

roamlab wrote:

Reddog1 wrote:
I have a Bigfoot molded fiberglas TC. I think I have used everything posted on RV.NET since 2004, and the horse stall mat has worked best for me. No guides, standard tie downs, and also with a Stable Lift. My daughter and son in law also used it with their SixPac TC on their flatbed truck, with no guides.

Thanks! I've seen mention of horse stall mats a lot while researching this. Do you have similar experience with generic friction mats?

Interesting...Is there anything on the bottom to aid truck bed drainage?

I have tried several different friction mats, from 1/8" to 1/4". They offered some resistance to sliding, but nothing compared to the stall mats. The surface was slicker (smoother), and being thin they had no cush to allow the TC bottom to imbed in as well wrap into the ribs of the truck bed. They are too rigid to completely form to the truck bed ribs and closings off the drainage.

On my present setup, I needed to raise the TC high enough to clear the 5th wheel rails in my truck. I also needed to raise the TC so I could open the back doors on the truck Quad cab. I wanted something simple, clean and light enough for me to remove. I also wanted it to not blow out of the truck if I left it in without the TC. The two 3/4" Horse Stall Mats did the job. I cut them in strips approximately 12" to 14" wide. They must extend outside the bottom of the TC floor, more is better. That is where most of the TC weight is concentrated. The mat strips work great.

Times past, I have fabricated risers from 2"x 4"s, plywood, foam, and 4"x4". Each were covered top and bottom with something to help prevent sliding. Each were heavy, bulky, or too light and really not very pretty.

This is what I have now. There are four strips of mat under the aluminum box. Two of them move toward the 5th wheel rail.