Dumb question about truck camper tie downs

[pratmaster]

OK, so looking at all types of truck camper pictures, both on and off trucks I have noticed that most all truck campers are "tied" down to truck with the same type frame mounted system from various manufacturers, but basically the same concept.

I am referring to the type like the Torklift systems.

Every picture I see of a camper on a truck with this system, the mounting parts, happyjack, turn buckles etc. are all vertical. Straight up/down from the mounting point on the truck and camper.

So what keeps the camper from sliding out the back of the truck on steep inclines or any other situation where the truck would be pitched to where something would slide out the back.

With the "ties" vertical, there would be, what about 2 foot of room for them to slide backwards (away from the cab). The front of the bed keeps it from moving forward(toward the cab) but what keeps it from moving out the back?

Again, just looking at pictures it looks to me if you pulled off a little hard on a incline, the thing would slide back a few feet. So tell me why it wont.

[Butch50]

Mello Mike wrote:
Here's a view of my tie down angles along with a pic of my new truck.

Thanks for the pictures Mike, your setup looks great. I like that color it is really nice. :C Have you found it hard to keep clean?

Those Ram beds are a little bit shorter than the Ford beds are.

[Mello_Mike]

Here's a view of my tie down angles along with a pic of my new truck.

[Butch50]

pratmaster,

I'm going to have to eat crow as I didn't think Ford was still making the fully manual hubs. I went to the Ford page and looked at the owners manual and it does show that Ford does still offer manual hubs. I also prefer the fully manual hubs but I like a little bit of the luxury also so I get the higher packages and they are not offered with that option of manual hubs.

My bad, no need to post pictures I have already seen it and read it for myself. 😮

[sabconsulting]

pratmaster wrote:

IS that a home made traction plate on the side of your truck under the camper?

And what is with that shovel handle, it looks like a wavy/crooked home made handle.. I assume its just the way it looks in the picture, but it looks odd...

Yes, it is a form of sand ladder - actually I think it is recycled flooring.

Yes, the shovel handle looks crooked, but I think it is just the picture.

I also have rubber matting (horse stall matting) - it gives extra grip and a bit of isolation and spring between the camper and the load bed; plus it lifts the camper to clear the cab roof - modern trucks often have higher cabs than older truck campers were designed for.

Dadwolf: Yes, they were home made tie-downs. The front ones don't have any built in spring, but I found that the steel mountings gave enough flex anyway. The rear mountings are shorter and don't flex so I built spring units. You are right about getting the correct spring rate. If I can feel something in my hands I tend to know what strength etc. I need for it. In this case the spring was from a car door - I considered an engine valve spring but that would have been too stiff - I don't like too much tension.

This is the write-up I did covering the entire evolution - you have to follow the various pages

I also ended up adapting the front tiedowns into a form of belly bar. I found offroad the front mountings tended to flex too much, so I welded some re-bar between them to cross-brace them.

Steve.

[pratmaster]

I do not know how to post pictures, or I would post the front of my truck and the lock out hub.

Again, I was not trying to get you riled up or anything. Also I do not own a truck camper, never have and know no one that does. I have never been up close to a truck camper, unless passing on the interstate counts and I have never st foot in one.
So I know nothing of them except what I have read over the last few months and looking at pictures. I was making a comment on how it looks in a photo, look at your photo and think in the terms of never being up close to a camper and you might see my point of view..

Again ,I did not mean anything by my comment..

[pratmaster]

Butch50 wrote:



My 2013 truck is rated for 14,000# GVWR and the camper on it loaded ready to go camping the total GW is 12,200#. I am under my GVWR by 1800#. My rear axle rating is 9750# and with the camper on it the rear axle weighs 7140#. So this means my rear axle is under by 2610#.

If this truck can't handle this load I think that almost everybody on here better stop varying their campers because most are over their GVWR on here. This truck has the same GVWR as the 2011 to 2014 Ford F450 so which bigger truck would you recommend????

You are looking at a camper that has a dry weight of 1500# and going to put it on a 3/4 ton that has a probably a max GVWR of 10,000# My camper only weighs 3,000# and my Ram has over 4,000# more capacity than your 3/4 ton.

I really hope you are kidding me because if you are not you need to do a little more studying to figure out what truck have what ratings. Also what truck are you getting that has manual hubs on the front for a 4X4. If is a new truck there is none that have manual hubs anymore.

My truck is a 2014 F-250 ext cab/super cab 4x4 gas. According to Ford, the towing specs is 12,500lbs and the cargo is 2,6xxlbs ( I'm wrong, mine is 3,360-3,460). The f-350 is the same as mine, the 450 is 18k. The GWV is 9900-10k on the 250, 350 is up to 14k and the 450 ain't even listed...


Ford Super Duty is the last and only trucks that make a lock out hub and manual/ mechanical 4x4 shifting. I almost bought a truck like yours, a single rear wheel. But wanted a Ford due to the lock out hubs, and the Dodge dealer would not budge after I found one just like there's in TX for 10k less...

[Wagonqueen_Truc]

Sorry damn small keyboard. It is a dually not dialog.

[Wagonqueen_Truc]

Led 67 wrote:

Wagonqueen Truckster wrote:
I plan using belly bars mounted to the frame to hold down my behemouth. I think I would feel better if I had a secondary tie down system for safety. What would you advise?

Well not to detract from the OP but you did not say what truck you have, Year, Make, and Model. Otherwise have you looked into Torklift or Happijacor maybe a set of custom or homebuilt tiedowns such as thse found in the TCU thread here.

Sorry I am using a tiny iPod to type today. Anyways I have a 76 amerigo TC that weighs approx 2700 dry . I have hauled it once (16 hours home) on a triton v 10 Ford dialog 3500. Already on my truck are 2 belly bars ,frame mounted. The tie downs attached to the belly bars are connected to the actual jacks mounted to the TC. There are additional eye hooks on the rig that were used to tie down, that I could use to tie in to a secondary system. I don't know why... Maybe because I am new to baling a TC... I just feel the need for a backup for safety sake.

[pratmaster]

Butch50 wrote:

pratmaster wrote:

Butch50 wrote:




I really hope you are kidding me because if you are not you need to do a little more studying to figure out what truck have what ratings. Also what truck are you getting that has manual hubs on the front for a 4X4. If is a new truck there is none that have manual hubs anymore.

No no, I know your truck and camper combo is fine anyway you look at it, I was just talking about the shear size looking at it in a photo. the camper looks almost the same size per say then your truck.

I in no way was saying that your truck was not qualified for the job, I was just starting that my over killness (is that a word?)would want to use a 6x6 military truck or something...

So in short, yes I was kidding and poking fun at myself for being such that would want something so ridiculous big to haul that camper, it would be like needing a ton truck to haul a bicycle.

[Butch50]

Mello Mike wrote:

Butch50 wrote:
As you can see from my rig the fronts are slanted back and the ones on the rear slanted forward. I also have a rubber matt under the camper. I have never had the camper slide forward or backs but I have had it move slightly side to side.

That sure is a nice looking rig, Butch.

Mike, thanks for the compliment. When are you going to post a picture of your new truck with the camper loaded on it? Looking forward to seeing your new rig loaded up and ready to go. If you have and I didn't see it let me know where to look for it. 🙂

[jimh406]

pratmaster wrote:
I know I am going to catch flack, but that camper is way to big.

Here is your flack. You could be the only one that has this figured out, but maybe you need to read more on this forum. 😉

[mkirsch]

That's not even close to the biggest camper... That's only about a 9-1/2' floor model. They make them 11-1/2'.

I'm not sure what pictures you were finding, but I rarely see a picture where the tiedowns run perfectly vertical. The fronts always lean back to prevent rearward movement, and the rears generally lean forward to prevent forward movement.

I only run front tiedowns with my camper. I have a frame in the bed of the truck that prevents sideways and forward movement. The tiedowns hold the camper down and forward, preventing rearward and upward movement.

In three years of travel, I have not had the camper move a fraction. Maybe I'm lucky, but the physics of the situation support what I'm doing. I'd have to experience some really extreme conditions to lose the camper the way its secured.

Before people get on my case, I am adding rear tiedowns this spring.

[Butch50]

pratmaster wrote:

Butch50 wrote:

I know I am going to catch flack, but that camper is way to big.
I know that 1 ton dully Dodge is fine for a camper that size, but to me I would have to have something like a 2 1/2 ton truck to haul it.

But again, I think in over kill terms and that camper dwarfs your tuck to the point I would be afraid that it would just fall over.

Again this is just my opinion, so don't fire into me over it.

I have a 3/4 ton truck and I have been looking at campers at or under 1500 lbs dry or less... But then again I could had gotten away with a 1/2 ton truck, except no one makes a 1/2 ton with lock out hubs, I'm old school when it comes to my 4x4..

My 2013 truck is rated for 14,000# GVWR and the camper on it loaded ready to go camping the total GW is 12,200#. I am under my GVWR by 1800#. My rear axle rating is 9750# and with the camper on it the rear axle weighs 7140#. So this means my rear axle is under by 2610#.

This is a Northern Lite and as such is one of the lighter campers out there and it is only a 10'. If this truck can't handle this camper than I better stay at home. There are no zip zilch suspension mods on this truck to handle the camper. The camper just squats the truck a little, not even enough to require Stable Loads on the overloads as the front one overload just barely touches the overload pad and the rear doesn't even touch.

If this truck can't handle this load I think that almost everybody on here better stop carrying their campers because most are over their GVWR on here. This truck has the same GVWR as the 2011 to 2014 Ford F450 so which bigger truck would you recommend????

You are looking at a camper that has a dry weight of 1500# and going to put it on a 3/4 ton that has a probably a max GVWR of 10,000# My camper only weighs 3,000# and my Ram has over 4,000# more capacity than your 3/4 ton.

I really hope you are kidding me because if you are not you need to do a little more studying to figure out what truck have what ratings. Also what truck are you getting that has manual hubs on the front for a 4X4.

[pratmaster]

Butch50 wrote:

I know I am going to catch flack, but that camper is way to big.
I know that 1 ton dully Dodge is fine for a camper that size, but to me I would have to have something like a 2 1/2 ton truck to haul it.

But again, I think in over kill terms and that camper dwarfs your tuck to the point I would be afraid that it would just fall over.

Again this is just my opinion, so don't fire into me over it.

I have a 3/4 ton truck and I have been looking at campers at or under 1500 lbs dry or less... But then again I could had gotten away with a 1/2 ton truck, except no one makes a 1/2 ton with lock out hubs, I'm old school when it comes to my 4x4..

[Led_67]

Wagonqueen Truckster wrote:
I plan using belly bars mounted to the frame to hold down my behemouth. I think I would feel better if I had a secondary tie down system for safety. What would you advise?

Well not to detract from the OP but you did not say what truck you have, Year, Make, and Model. Otherwise have you looked into Torklift or Happijacor maybe a set of custom or homebuilt tiedowns such as thse found in the TCU thread here.