quick truck camper mounts

[sasq40]

hey all, I'm going to look at a camper this weekend and hoping to pick it up. Now my tow truck is down waiting for parts, and I'll be passing through were the camper is with my work truck. I'm looking for some pointers on some quick mounts I can make for my work truck to be able to get the camper home on a 500km highway trip. My work truck is a crew cab long box 2015 gmc 3500. Can i just make a belly bar for the front and rear or do you have any other suggestions?

[sasq40]

Now I just need to get it rigged up, wanna add my second battery, the 2 40w solar panels from my tent trailer,wanna add a a/c and a inventor to it as well

[Buzzcut1]

congratulations on the new rig

[SidecarFlip]

Nice looking TC btw....

[sasq40]

Well got the unit home. The trailer I brought had a bumper I didn't notice at first so. It wouldn't fit. Luckily he had a belly bar I could use. Had a few hiccups but we got it home. Chained the front and ratchet strapped the rear.

[mkirsch]

500Km = 310 miles, one way...

If you can pick it up that day and save driving 600+ miles, wouldn't you?

If you can make a belly bar work then go for it. I've seen far hinkier ways to temporarily secure a camper in a truck bed.

In fact I've used one: I used some stake pocket tiedowns I found on Craigslist the day before I went to get it, and threw 2" ratchet straps over the top of the camper because I didn't have anything short enough to go from the tiedown points. Drove extra-careful, avoided potholes, and still using the camper almost 7 years later.

[SidecarFlip]

burningman wrote:
It's tough to get a camper onto an equipment trailer, the fenders are usually too wide.
I'd grab a set of Brophy clamp on camper tiedown brackets or do a belly bar if you can make that happen. Ratchet straps will work fine to hold it down and get it home.

You are correct, I did not take into account fender wells. You are also correct in using Brophy mounts. While not ideal, they will 'secure' the unit for limited transportation. When thinking of a trailer, I envisioned my tandem axle beaver tail gooseneck which has it's wheels under the deck (rub rails at 96" width).

On my truck, a 'belly bar' would not be possible, between the fuel tank skid plates and driveline, there is no really clear space where a belly bar could run between the frame rails unobstructed.

I still consider a cash deposit and later pickup when the truck is properly equipped, to be the best alternative. A deposit is earnest money showing intent to purchase, if the seller is uncomfortable with that, payment in full could be made with pickup later....

In lieu of the Brobhy mounts, the OP could actually use nylon straps around the outer shell of the camper to secure it (with scrap carpet on the corners of the roof to prevent deformation and rubbing when strapped on) and the straps don't have to be 'fiddle string' tight, just enough to secure it from a rocking motion as he goes down the road, with some caution I might add.

[burningman]

It's tough to get a camper onto an equipment trailer, the fenders are usually too wide.
I'd grab a set of Brophy clamp on camper tiedown brackets or do a belly bar if you can make that happen. Ratchet straps will work fine to hold it down and get it home.

[burningman]

It's tough to get a camper onto an equipment trailer, the fenders are usually too wide.
I'd grab a set of Brophy clamp on camper tiedown brackets or do a belly bar if you can make that happen. Ratchet straps will work fine to hold it down and get it home.

[SidecarFlip]

+1...

Flat bed equipment trailer and ratchet straps or make a deposit and wait until you get the truck outfitted properly. I lean toward the second alternative myself.

[Kayteg1]

I pickup up my 4300 lb dry weight camper with flatbed and no ties.
But the camper had strong jacks and no problem to mount hooks on flatbed, so I used lot of nylon straps to hold it against the headache bar.
That said after about 200 miles the camper shifted on steel deck and I had to reposition it, putting the straps in X-patter now and that made 2000 miles trip home with no future problems.
For longer bed you will need to figure out solid front stops.
GET RUBBER MAT if you have steel bed.
Lot of strong ties in all possible directions.
Straps are cheap, picking up dropped camper from the middle of highway is not.

[Hemi_Joel]

sasq40 wrote:
im either thinking to make a belly bar out of 1.5 square tubing, mounting it to an existing hole in the frame, and making a rear bar that's inserted into the hitch.

That's exactly what I did. On the rear, I was able to stick some tubing into the open outboard ends of the transverse tube of the receiver hitch. A little grinding was needed for it to fit. On the front belly bar, there was stuff in the way of putting it in the ideal location, it had to go too far back. So I put a couple ratchet straps from the bumper of the camper to the bumper of the truck to make sure it didn't slide rearward.

Good luck, I hope it works out!

[996Pilot]

I looked at my camper 750 miles away. It looked like exactly what I wanted. Gave the guy a deposit and told him I'd be back in two weeks with my truck to pick it up. Why not just do that?

[slickrock_steve]

Take your trailer....the camper MAY be to short for the cab on your truck, so you would have to boost it up to clear anyway.

[sasq40]

im either thinking to make a belly bar out of 1.5 square tubing, mounting it to an existing hole in the frame, and making a rear bar that's inserted into the hitch. Or my other option is to drive down with my works bobcat trailer and haul it home that way.