2019 Ram 3500 dually and loading a bigfoot 10.4 ...

[Camp_woof]

TxGearhead (Brent) had asked what kind of clearance I had with the new rig, well, it sure is tight. It's really at the tailgate opening where there is the least clearance, between 3/8 and 1/2 inch if camper has not shifted (which it did in the photo). So the tailgate is the tightest point.

Didn't go that smooth ...
1. wrong model number tie downs ordered, so stayed night near Apache TC. Put me up free in nice hotel. Relaxed with a beer!
2. Next day, they figured that Torklift had no idea what they're talking about fitting to a 2019 3500 dually. Wound up having a bunch of holes drilled and used Happijac to get me on the way.
3. After 6 months of looking at Torklift web site a couple times a week, as I overnight in Portland notice they change their fitment and say brand new tie downs are being designed for my truck.
4. I plan to use the new Torklift rears, will keep the Happijac front. Bugging dealer and will bug torklift to get stuff at cost.

I need to practice loading, no way I feel comfortable doing this on my own! I hope to be able to unload in flat(how flat?) dispersed campsites, time will tell. Very nervous about this!

Driving south of Eugene on I-5 to Grants Pass, there's some hills. I didn't notice any sway at all with the factory airbags. Kept taking turns faster, no problem! I can notice some front to back movement, that's the shocks I guess.

Truck is a beast, love it! This year will be great for trucks as all 3 brands have new HDs. Can't go wrong.

Camper, disappointed in my inspection(!) because I found NOTHING wrong except one exterior compartment latch was tight. I wonder waht I didn't test thoroughly! Every other little detail seems spot on, not even a piece of trim seems off. Good job Bigfoot!

Back in CA working for now, will reunite with rig in Orgeon week of July 4 for trip. Keeping rig in OR till I retire and avoid CA taxes.

[Camp_woof]

Skyhammer, truck and camper stay in Oregon till I retire, then I move to Oregon. No CA sales tax.

Following the discussion, seems like a lot of people have various clearance issues. I will practice loading!
Dave

[Marcela]

TxGearhead wrote:
Thanks Marcela. I need to look at my jacks again to refresh my thoughts on the fender clearance issue. I question my thoughts about extending the jacks out by adding something between the camper and the jack. Not sure about bending forces on a longer bolt, assuming using square tubing. Also if I have wood backing issues like you, it may go downhill. I guess I could just bolt the tubing to the camper and then bolt the jack to the other side of tubing. It's getting a bit convoluted when I could just be very very carefull when loading.

I really didn't have wood backing issues, all the fasteners are just not used:). The brackets are plenty strong at the attachment point.

Your deal is as you move the brackets out you also move them forward when they are collapsed in, interfering with the doors. Mine are close as is, I really need to put a 1/4" piece of plywood at the front.

[Bradymydog]

TxGearhead, I ripped down two full width 2x4's to around 3" wide, then stacked one on top of the other, they are 1/4" less then the width of the bed. The reason for two is that the bottom of the Bigfoot has about a 1/2" radius in the bottom. I then screwed the guide blocks to the vertical (rearward) face of the 2x's with 5 1/2" long torx head wood screws. The outside dimension from block to block fit snug to bed and the inside dimension is snug to the camper. All contact points between wood and camper are covered in felt.

The front blocks were easier to secure as they just sit on top of the 1 x8 (full 1" thick) which spans the width of the truck. The 1x8' took a while to fit as on my GMC, the bed is NOT flat from side to side, the ribs are higher on the outside then the middle which required the bottom to be tapered. In addition, the sides of the bed are not square but taper front to back where the wedge contacts the side, I just inserted shim shingles cut to fit the slight taper so the wedge contacts the side of the bed.

Next as I have to raise the camper 1" to clear the tailgate opening, I have a full sheet of 1" poly Iso foam in the bed which is flush with the 1x8. The foam extends to the front of the bed. I then put my rubber bed mat on top of foam and 1x8 and the front wedge assembly sits on top of that. As I use my truck as a "work" truck, I can leave the foam, mat wedge assemblies in my truck all the time. I did have to cut the foam 1" shorter where it meets the rear assembly to allow for the tailgate to clear, I just save the strip of foam so I insert it when the camper goes on the truck so that the 1x8 is flush with the rear of the bed.

Long answer for a simple questions, a few pictures would be worth a few thousand words.

[TxGearhead]

Bradymydog wrote:
I have a 2018 GMC 3500 and a Bigfoot 25 c 94. I had to raise the camper 1" to avoid hitting the radius at the bottom of the tailgate opening. When loaded I have about 5/8" per side. In order to avoid hitting the side of the truck either loading or from shifting. I made front and rear guide blocks. The front ones are attached to full width, doubled up 2x4's ripped down to prevent camper from sliding forward ( I do not trust the two rubber bummers as the point load could damage the camper or truck bed). In the rear, the wedge guide blocks mount on a full width 1" board. The wedge blocks are 5" tall tapered for 2 1/2" to "guide" the camper into the exact centered position. Makes loading painless and no shifting during traveling.

How do you place the rear wedge blocks? What secures them? Are they placed against the sides of the bed?

[TxGearhead]

Thanks Marcela. I need to look at my jacks again to refresh my thoughts on the fender clearance issue. I question my thoughts about extending the jacks out by adding something between the camper and the jack. Not sure about bending forces on a longer bolt, assuming using square tubing. Also if I have wood backing issues like you, it may go downhill. I guess I could just bolt the tubing to the camper and then bolt the jack to the other side of tubing. It's getting a bit convoluted when I could just be very very carefull when loading.

[Marcela]

That second picture showing the gap at the port side of the tailgate opening is what you want to shoot for.

I find lining everything up to start, then creeping back slowly, I can look through the rear window along the top of the bed and that gap is what I try to maintain, knowing the distance.

Stop to check every once in a while and it works pretty good. Dropping it down you can lean into the camper before it sets and make up small measurements if you want to move it a bit.

Bigfoot does a good job on the finish detail for sure.

TxGearhead--I have had the jacks off my 10.4. I had a little scuff on a rear corner so pulled it. I found the attaching screws they use were a might big for the holes in the braces, they were cutting threads into the braces and the braces were the limiting factor when the screws were threaded in, not pulling the braces tight against camper. So pulled all the jack braces and redrilled the holes bigger so the screws could pull the brace tight against the camper.

There is wood behind the fiberglass. On the front underneath there are three vertical screws, the rear most on mine had no backing as the wood didn't extend far enough back, likely a vertical piece not thick enough. On the rear the bottom screw on the brace had no backing, likely the wood didn't extend far enough down.

I like the results of reattachment. Pretty strong and solid. I did email Gary at Bigfoot and he understood what I was describing and was going to look into it.

Correction: On the underside of the front brackets there are four vertical fasteners, the inside rear did not have any backing, so there are three fasteners holding the bracket on the underside.

[skyhammer]

When you say you are keeping the rig in Oregon to avoid taxes, are talking about the camper truck or both?
California won't know you bought a camper,so there are no taxes on the camper.
If you bought the truck in Oregon and license it it California, you will be taxed big time.
On the other hand, if you bought the truck in Oregon, you should have Oregon's temporary license and you could take the truck and camper into California and avoid the taxes on the truck until you go back to Oregon next month.

[markowwes]

Don't worry about it Camp woof, after a while it will be easier to load and unload, a scratch here and there is part of the experience.. life goes on.
It's a great package you have there.. enjoy it.

Happy Camping
Wes

[Camp_woof]

Yeah, I'm not yet a fan of that taper at the tailgate.

I see some guide blocks/shims in my future. Peter, the size of your blocks seems about perfect. Brad, I'll think about the eyebolts.

Taylor D did a youtube video, take him under 5 min to put on the regular Torklifts, under 1 for the fastguns. Perhaps not having fastguns not a big deal, considering the clearance issues they present. (and $$).

I get a week trip July 4th, but will probably wait till when I'm "free!" 1st of August to get the guides in place.

Re: Happijac rear tie downs, as a newbie I don't like that there is not 1 set tension to adjust for. The threads are tight anyway (will try grease), so I don't like tightening till "snug" plus 1 turn. Using Torklift, tighten till 1/4" gap from body to o-ring, I'm comfortable with that!
Thanks,
Dave

[TxGearhead]

Clearance is an issue. I'm using a 2x8 all the way across the front of the bed. I backfill that in the front bed wall recess with 2 pieces if scrap chipboard 12x1x4. I needed that to open the truck rear doors. I attached to the 2x8 2 joist hangers so I can run a guide rearward on both sides against the fender well. I put a short (8"?) piece of 1x4 on both sides of the tailgate opening with a shorter piece of 2x4 screwed to it so that it is captured behind the tailgate opening. I wrapped the guide boards and the tailggate spacers with astroturf. I needed the tailgate spacers to keep the camper off the truck. I use the rear bumper plug and wanted to be sure I didn't crush the power cord in the tailgate opening if the camper moved. I have my entire bed covered with 5/8" plywood. I use a full coverage rubber bed mat on top of the plywood. So far I haven't seen much movement from the camper.
The jacks are an issue I don't think I can solve, or at least it may not be worth the effort. They have maybe 3/4" clearance with the fenders when loading. It's a pretty high pucker factor. It's a foot or so when backing up that it gets so close. I just go slow slow. I have looked at ways to extend the dually swing outs. If I just use plate aluminum sandwiched over the attaching bolts of the swing out bracket and the jack I won't be able to open the truck rear doors when they are swung in. I suppose I could just swing them out whenever I need to open the truck doors but... I have looked at maybe using square tubing between the jack and the camper to extend the jacks out and not interfere with the doors. If I do that I will have to talk to Bigfoot about what the jacks are screwed in to. Not sure if it's a wood block or a piece of steel.
There is an opportunity here for Bigfoot to step up and offer a solution to mount the jacks farther out.
The Torklift tiedowns. When I bought the Camper, the previous owner threw in the Fastguns. I mounted the Torklift tiedowns to the truck I owned at the time....2016 RAM 3500 SRW. The front tiedowns were a beast using the fish wire and a bolt that should have been longer. Needle nose Vise Grips saved me. When I bought the 2018 dually I assumed I would need different rear tiedowns, but no, I needed new front ones. Thankfully they didn't require a fish wire.
Fastguns...they will rub the fenders without some kind of modification. I talked to Bigfoot about using machinery eyebolts in the Bigfoot tiedown anchors. They were fine with that, so that's what I'm using. They pushed the Fastguns out about an inch. I also talked to Torklift and they said it was OK to drill another hole in the frame tiedown extensions. I drilled a hole about an inch farther "in" on the extensions so that extends them out some more.
Hope that helps. Keep us posted,

[towpro]

SidecarFlip wrote:
I won't run the TL rear tiedowns (or the front) for that matter. Where we go, anything hanging down and out the the sides of the bed is an invitation to snag a log or rock. HJ's don't hang down or out.

mine is a 2wd pavement queen. off road to me is my stone driveway. no problem here.

[Bradymydog]

I have a 2018 GMC 3500 and a Bigfoot 25 c 94. I had to raise the camper 1" to avoid hitting the radius at the bottom of the tailgate opening. When loaded I have about 5/8" per side. In order to avoid hitting the side of the truck either loading or from shifting. I made front and rear guide blocks. The front ones are attached to full width, doubled up 2x4's ripped down to prevent camper from sliding forward ( I do not trust the two rubber bummers as the point load could damage the camper or truck bed). In the rear, the wedge guide blocks mount on a full width 1" board. The wedge blocks are 5" tall tapered for 2 1/2" to "guide" the camper into the exact centered position. Makes loading painless and no shifting during traveling.

[SidecarFlip]

I won't run the TL rear tiedowns (or the front) for that matter. Where we go, anything hanging down and out the the sides of the bed is an invitation to snag a log or rock. HJ's don't hang down or out.

[towpro]

See that taper in on the lower 1/2 of your tailgate opening? that started in end of model year 2015 duallys.
I think its to stop the bed cracking at bottom corner of that opening with the weight of the dualey fenders added to bed.

My AF 990 is also tight here. but on the AF they put aluminum angle on the front corners, and if your not careful it can hook on that button at top that is for tailgate lock. And yes my camper moves every time I put it in bed of truck, even with rubber mat and torque lift fastguns that are set correct.

one trick to get it off the edge is to jack up the camper so the weight is off the bed, than and lower the close side first until it starts to put weight on bed, than lower other side to level. (it also helps if you can have someone push on corner of camper to move the needed direction as you lower it :).

I been meaning to measure the space so I can put a board in between wheel well and camper to force camper over some. but once I load the camper, it seems to stay loaded until fall.

I have to mess with this every time I load/unload since I don't have a level space I own.