Tie down alternatives...

I used to do this with an 8' pop-up camper. It worked fine for the 4 years I did it. Now with the 11' hard side camper I use Happi-jack turnbuckles. I can see two potential problems with ratchet straps: they stretch, they could possibly snap if the camper ever shifted suddenly. While this is probably unlikely I like the security of metal over nylon.

They flutter and make noises.

But you can stop the flutter by putting a twist in them, and I mean completely stop the flutter. I know because I have a spare ratchet strapped to the roof of my jeep. It vibrated terrible at highway speeds. Googled and low and behold one twist on each corner and now it is silent.

Straps can stretch but aren't 'elastic', So I could more easily becoming unhooked?
Mostly though not sure about the give in spring tension of a strap compared to a tiedown. Most all tiedowns/hardware are spring tensioned to allow some give. Strap 'could' quickly reach tear something out very quickly seems. Suppose weight and how much camper moves-truck flexes.
Curious what you are currently using?

I think it comes down to two things: ratchet straps may not have the necessary elasticity to allow for the flexing of the camper and truck bed when going over uneven terrain, and ratchet straps just aren't as sophisticated in looks as turnbuckles. I've used ratchet straps with no problem when I had no other alternative and was on mostly smooth surfaces. They're definitely cheaper than turnbuckles and tie down hardware, but may cost more if a tie down eye pulls out of your camper and the camper departs the truck in a crosswind.

Sorry, but nothing is as fast as the fastguns. Hook the top, open the handle, hook the bottom, close the handle. Occasionally, have to unook the bottom, give a twist or two and then rehook.

Another advantage of the fastguns is they have spring action so doesn't overstress the camper tie down points.

Yes, the cost is higher, but the benefits are well worth them.

You can also buy many tents for the price of a TC. I'm not ready to switch though. Yesterday was April 1, so who's to say if OP was serious or not. ;)

Tom/Barb wrote:
They flutter and make noises.

Birds flutter and make noises, too. You wouldn't discount them.

Ratchet straps used for camper Tiedowns are an alternative. Like what has been mentioned, stretching is a minor problem. To me, adding an inline spring of some sort would improve the non flexibility of a rigid ratchet strap setup.

I like the "outside of the box" thinking Mr Sidecar. $289 for four sounds much better than the same number for two. Design a spring system along with the ratchet straps and you will have a very unique system. You might even look into a patent, make tons of cash, and take me on a northern Michigan camping adventure.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

Lakeside

jimh425 wrote:
You can also buy many tents for the price of a TC. I'm not ready to switch though. Yesterday was April 1, so who's to say if OP was serious or not. ;)

I believe he was serious. I don't read a lot of "off the flip" ideas in his other postings.

Lakeside

I guess you could use them, and there are certainly strong enough ones made. My only problem would be that I've often found them prone to binding up and hard to release.