Camper / Bed Alignment Products - Do they exist?

[adamis]

The last couple of trips I have taken I've noticed that my camper tends to shift to the side just an inch or two. Though not typically a problem, if the alignbment gets too far out, it can cause issues with the rear doors hitting the front jacks when opened. I've realigned the camper a couple of times but it is a pretty big hassle and yes, I do have rubber mats to help reduce slipping in the first place.

I know there are many home grown solutions to keeping the camper in the middle of the bed but I'm surprised there does not seem to be any products out there. I've thought about having brackets made up that would match the bed bolts so it can be secured directly to the bed / frame of the truck. It would be about 8" wide and run beneath the width of the camper. On each end would be a bracket that the camper side would butt up against. The tops of the bracket would be slightly angled so that when lowering the camper, it would slide / shift until it was properly aligned and then it would fit tight into the slot. The whole assembly would be sized to the camper so that it would be a good tight fit such that you wouldn't have any side to side movement. I would have two brackets, one that would take advantage of the front bed bolts and the other for the rear.

I know there are quite a few people that have done something similar out of wood or possibly metal but as far as I recall, I don't think I have seen anyone use the bed bolts to secure it to the frame of the truck. Rather they just use the sides of the bed to help keep their system in place. I'm specifically looking for a system that is frame mounted.

I have the capability to design and have such brackets made (probably out of stainless steel) but before I go through that effort, does anyone know of a company that already offers such a product?

[adamis]

gishark wrote:
I have the same shifting problem that you are having with my 2000 10.6 Bigfoot on a 2006 Ford. You stated that you are using 2 inches of foam along with the mat to clear the cab. I am using 2x6s, topped by plywood and then the mat. Your platform must be a lot lighter than mine. What type of foam are you using? Looking forward to seeing your solution.

There are a couple of threads that discuss this in more detail but to answer your question, Home Depot has 2'x2'x1" pink insulating foam squares with high enough PSI to handle the weight. I ended up stacking them 3 high, gluing them together to get a single 2'x2'x3" block. I then placed a rubber mat in my bed, then 8 of these pink foam blocks glued together and then placed another rubber mat on top of that which the camper sits on. Other threads go into some discussion on the merits of using foam over more traditional methods. Some like myself have had great luck with it while others question the rigitidy of it. I think the conclusion is the right type of foam with a high enough PSI rating is more than adequate but it is suggested you use a piece of plywood ontop of the foam to keep it from compressing in localized areas. I haven't gotten around to using plywood and have not noticed any negative effects on the camper thus far. What I like about my system is that if I take the camper off the bed of the truck, I can store my entire system inside the camper and the foam itself doesn't weigh more than 10lbs I would guess. Much lighter than trying to build a system using wood and much easier to setup / remove as needed.

Getting back to topic, it is possible that my setup may be part of why the camper is sliding around but as previously stated, the amount of movement is less than an inch (measured). This slight movement isn't a problem of itself (other than bothering my OCD) but if it goes much beyond that (it hasn't) it could cause problems of opening the rear doors on the truck.

[languiduck]

Yes, the HJ front tie down bracket has bumpers to keep the camper from shifting side to side. Installed properly there is 1/8" gap between each bumper and the camper. Personally that's enough of an alignment as I think letting the back float a little is a good thing. The tie downs will keep it right.
But if it bothers you that much you can do something similar for the back, just fabricate a couple wood spacers for each side and use some rubber bumpers that stick straight up.

[gishark]

I have the same shifting problem that you are having with my 2000 10.6 Bigfoot on a 2006 Ford. You stated that you are using 2 inches of foam along with the mat to clear the cab. I am using 2x6s, topped by plywood and then the mat. Your platform must be a lot lighter than mine. What type of foam are you using? Looking forward to seeing your solution.

[TxGearhead]

Seems someone posted a pic on here no longer than 18 months ago that showed 2x lumber mounted on edge to guide the camper and place it fairly exactly. It must have been back braced to the bed walls. The 2x was angled so that the camper would "find it" when descending and could be placed fairly snug between the "guides". It was forward of the fender wells and I don't remember if it extended between the fender wells. I guess if you had room between the fender wells you could..i.e. if the camper tub was 44" wide you could extend the 2x to there, and as far back as the camper wings started.
edit add...The top of the 2x could have been cut at an angle length wise. That would give more vertical support as opposed to the entire 2x being at an angle. I suppose covering the load side of the 2x with carpet would prevent scuffing the tub.
May be I dreamed this. It would be a neat experiment though.

[stevenal]

adamis wrote:

stevenal, I looked at the web page for the happijac Tie Downs and it isn't clear to me what exactly these things are doing to hold the Camper in place. It seems to me it is a system that is still using the camper tie down points and just integrates with the bed of the truck in a different way then the current frame tie-downs I already have. As far as I can tell, it doesn't actually hug the bottom of the camper to prevent movement in the bed physically. Do you have experience with the system by chance?

I don't own the system pictured, so others can correct me. It appears to include adjustable guides that are intended to contact the sides of the front of your camper to prevent shifting.

[TxGearhead]

I was kinda paranoid about the corrugations in my truck bed. I imagined that the bottom edge of the camper would be hanging over a low spot and not be supported. When I hauled the Bigfoot back from Maryland I had a 4x8 sheet of plywood with a Tractor Supply bed mat over that. I was thinking I was good but began reading here about the Bigfoot needing support under the wings behind the fender wells. Someone here had a pic of a plywood completely covered bed, and I did that. So I'm feeling better about supporting the floor.
I wonder if those folks that are using a bed mat only are having the camper hunting for a home in those low corrugations.
I also think the spring slack in the Fast Guns could allow the camper to move a little. Roads bumps pushing against the spring tension and pulling against the compression of opposite tie downs.
I never have measured it but plan to now.

[Freep]

adamis wrote:
For those that are saying that there camper does not shift with their given setup are you basing this by measuring or just observation?

Good point. I'm not measuring. It's not that critical for us, we have a built in spacer on the TC and I always snug the camper up to the truck bed. I have never noticed a gap. But I haven't really been looking for it either. I just assumed I would have noticed shifting.

[deltabravo]

Easiest solution (with my truck / camper) is I put 2 pieces of 2x6 stacked, but narrowed down to about 4", against the front of the truck bed - that acts a spacer.

[adamis]

For those that are saying that there camper does not shift with their given setup are you basing this by measuring or just observation? When I place my camper on my truck I'm measuring it down to a 1/4" to ensure it is in the middle. I only know the camper has shifted because when I measure again it's off by about an 1" or so. I would not be able to tell this by observation because the amount of slippage is fairly minimal.

[Freep]

I have a rubber mat in my truck bed and the camper doesn't shift.

[Kayteg1]

I think adjusting tie downs has big impact on camper movement.
On old truck I did not have any mat, yet with the holder I pictured the camper never moved on the paint.
But lately checking ebay listing, I run into camper sitting on F450.
When my front tie-downs are mounted close behind the cabin, the F450 had them like 2 feet behind, what made the fastguns holding vertically only.
Closer look show that the camper had nylon ratchet straps installed from rear camper brackets to front of the bed.

[adamis]

mkirsch, You have an interesting point, I did purchase my rubber mat from Tractor Supply last year so perhaps I do have one of those plastic ones (I'm not certain if I'd consider it actual plastic). Next time I have the camper off the bed I'll take a look at that.

stevenal, I looked at the web page for the happijac Tie Downs and it isn't clear to me what exactly these things are doing to hold the Camper in place. It seems to me it is a system that is still using the camper tie down points and just integrates with the bed of the truck in a different way then the current frame tie-downs I already have. As far as I can tell, it doesn't actually hug the bottom of the camper to prevent movement in the bed physically. Do you have experience with the system by chance?

[SidecarFlip]

Now I know why my camper never moves... I have the rubber nubber things on my HJ....lol

[stevenal]

http://happijac.com/tie-downs.html