Happijac bumper tie downs

[1handyhubby]

Lots of questions when you get a new truck. Just purchased a 2001 Ford F350 crew cab 4x4 dually. I have a 2001 F250 super duty with Tork Lifts and fast guns which I was hoping to swap out. Nope. The new truck has a Happyjac anchor on the front of the bed which will be fine. The rear has an anchor button on the bumper which will require a bracket. The question is " Has anyone with this model truck used these?" I looked on line and found a place that sells just the bracket but claims it is not for this kind of vehicle. This bumper appears to be rock solid so not sure why it wouldn't work. I'll check with Happijac tomorrow but thought someone here might know. Thanks.

[Scott_Julie]

I have a Lance 981 on a 2001 F250 with maybe 25,000 - 30,000 miles on the combo. Happyjack tie downs have held up fine.

[Steve_in_29]

MORSNOW wrote:

Steve_in_29 wrote:
As long as you don't intend to take your rig over twisty trails the Happijac rears will work okay. Lots of off-road use would result in the stock rear bumper turning into a smile. I have seen it on a friends truck that even had the reinforcements added to the bumper.

The Happijac rear button and slip-on bracket are NOT vehicle specific.

For a large camper the Torklift setup is a much more secure tie-down method.

I have you looked at jefe4x4's pictures on here? Happijac tie downs on trails most would never consider. I have a modern truck with Happijac front and rear and go off road every camping trip without any bending of my bumper. No getting under the truck to install, no rusting brackets, and no loss of ground clearance for me like the Torklifts. I have a few Torklift products and love the quality, but my Happijac's have also been great.

I went to Baja with jefe's brother and his back bumper was permanently smiling at me the whole trip. I have had BOTH types of tie-downs on my Outfitter and currently run Happijacs but my truck's rear bumper is a Buckstop so no bending worrys at all. It took a Lexus SUV going 60mph to bend my front bumper.

[meleavingsoon]

For the OP....I can't speak from experience since I am going thru the same learning process on my new TC, but when I purchased my camper it came with two of the bumper buttons from the PO.

And when I looked at how the buttons were deformed from the original shape and the holes where the turnbuckles attached were elongated it was an easy decision for me personally to decide against using them with our large camper.

Now I am sure they have served many people well over the years but I didn't feel comfortable trusting one bolt on a bumper to hold a little house on the rear of my truck driving down the road at 60 mph...heck I am still nervous at the thought of any tie down system working in a safe manner, but I guess I will overcome that as I try this out 🙂

[MORSNOW]

Steve_in_29 wrote:
As long as you don't intend to take your rig over twisty trails the Happijac rears will work okay. Lots of off-road use would result in the stock rear bumper turning into a smile. I have seen it on a friends truck that even had the reinforcements added to the bumper.

The Happijac rear button and slip-on bracket are NOT vehicle specific.

For a large camper the Torklift setup is a much more secure tie-down method.

I have you looked at jefe4x4's pictures on here? Happijac tie downs on trails most would never consider. I have a modern truck with Happijac front and rear and go off road every camping trip without any bending of my bumper. No getting under the truck to install, no rusting brackets, and no loss of ground clearance for me like the Torklifts. I have a few Torklift products and love the quality, but my Happijac's have also been great.

[Steve_in_29]

As long as you don't intend to take your rig over twisty trails the Happijac rears will work okay. Lots of off-road use would result in the stock rear bumper turning into a smile. I have seen it on a friends truck that even had the reinforcements added to the bumper.

The Happijac rear button and slip-on bracket are NOT vehicle specific.

For a large camper the Torklift setup is a much more secure tie-down method.

[1handyhubby]

Getpower1 - I guess I should have been more specific. The Torklifts won't swap out in the rear. In my F250 they slide into the existing hitch. My F350 has a different bumper and hitch so it will require a different set of Torklifts. The front will swap out fine. I wasn't going to swap it because the happijac is bolted to the bed and looks pretty secure. The rear happijac button would require the bracket but having looked behind the bumper there is only a fender washer. It's a pretty beefy bumper but..... I'll have to check prices and make a decision on which is more cost effective AND safe. It will probably be a wash. New rear Torklifts or 2 anchor brackets and new replacements for my Fast guns. Thanks.

[getpower1]

If you have the torklifts, and they can be swapped over, then that would be the best piece of mind for you. Personally, I have installed the happijac system on two of my trucks and I don't see a problem with their system. My whole family has used their passed versions that didn't have the frame tie in bar and never had a problem. Your mileage and opinion may vary. If installed correctly, it seems to do just what it's supposed to do...hold the camper in the truck.

If your camper is on the bigger side, then maybe you want to get the torklift system to swap over. Do what you feel is safe. You know how you drive. If one system makes you nervous for some reason, then use your best judgement.

[Grit_dog]

I would swap over the torklifts if that was an option. Jmo.

[HMS_Beagle]

I had a '99 F350 dually, I would not call the Happijac buttons, or the bumper they attach too, "sturdy". The word I would use is "flimsy". For the rear, the Torklift work pretty well.

[RWDIII]

I had the same problem when I went from a F150
to F250.
I bought new TL for the front with fastguns and used the HJ buttons on the back
that were on the F150.
both are mounted to the frame,not to the bed.

[getpower1]

You're question doesn't make sense. I'll get to why in a second.

But first, why can't you pull the forklift stuff off of the other truck and use it? It's the same truck in every way, except for the suspension.

Now, you're question...what bracket are you talking about? The reason I ask is because on that truck, you could be talking about two different things. That is the generation of truck that needs brackets on the inside of the bumper that makes the bumper sturdier because they were flimsier than previous years from the factory. The brackets strengthen the bumper for the button type tie downs.

The second type of bracket you could be talking about is the bracket that slides over the buttons so you can attach your turn buckles and tie the camper down. If the truck has happijac front tie downs, I would assume that the buttons are also from happijac and you can get the brackets from them.

I believe this is what you need. And I believe they only have ever made one size. It's not vehicle specific.

[FireGuard]

I'm using TL on the front and HJ buttons on the rear bumper. Will take the first test drive tomorrow.
My 16 bumper doesn't seem as strong as my 03 but no problems on the 03 with big campers. Yours should be fine.
I got mine from Amazon for around $30.