Torklift Tie Down Install Notes

[Ranger_Tim]

Tonight I got home and the Brown Truck had dropped off three boxes. Inside were the Torklift tie downs, so I immediately got to work installing them on my 2006 Ford F350.

The rear ones mated right into the factory hitch ends. I did need to use a file to clean the inside of the hitch tubes before they allowed the tie down mounting tube to seat properly. Time for rear: ten minutes.

The passenger front side mounting plate went on in less than ten minutes as well. Piece of cake.

The driver's side frame mount was evil incarnate. Of the three large bolts used, one must be fished between the fuel tank and the frame. It has a metal plate and large star washer on it to make things even more interesting. The fish wire provided by TorkLift is an ingenious device that I shall keep, but I cursed it tonight.

If there were no other truck parts in the way it would have been pretty easy. However behind the frame (or inside it really) runs a wiring harness and two aluminum (brake?) lines. This took me about 3-4 hours to get the bolt to slide by. Many coarse words were uttered and my arms and neck are completely worn out. Eventually I was able to leverage the wires and lines out of the way to allow that fool-headed star washer to pass by and let the bolt seat properly. A telescoping magnet helped me recover all the hardware when it got lost in the frame periodically. It is VERY tight around the frame and fuel tank in that location.

Then I was able to finagle the mounting plate into position only to find that the bolt holes were slightly off, so I had to file some metal away for a tight fit. Getting that plate in there without pushing the fished bolt back into truck frame neverland was tricky. I ended up with several flat washers extra but I have no idea where they go. I now understand why TL keeps the driver's side front mount last in the assembly sequence. If most people ran into that much trouble first thing there would be a large amount of returns!

Anyway, it is now installed and I look forward to camper delivery next week. Next time I might just pay the exorbitant shop fee -- lesson learned. I do appreciate the heavy build and apparent strength of the system. It is no wonder they hold campers so securely. This stuff is really strong. Heavy too. I will not be worried after torquing down the bolts to 40 ft-lbs. If something tries to take the camper off the truck it will definitely be the camper that gives out first.

I will receive my StableLoads early next week. I ordered both upper and lower models. We'll see how easily they go on and I will follow-up with a review of the entire TorkLift system after we load the camper and drive back from Boise. It's a 4 hour trip so we will both get a chance to check it out. It will be a good test of interstate roads and windy areas. In a couple months I should have enough data to comment on how it handles the Idaho forest service roads.

[Ranger_Tim]

You know, that was probably fuel line I encountered. Is there two? The entire time I was under the truck I was contemplating fuel tank removal/adjustment, but I won out in the end.

For the stable loads I will try jacking up the hitch to get extra space in the spring pack. So far the directions have been above average. I appreciate the advice immensely.

[pcoplin]

For that bolt that they want you to fish through the holes, just use a jack to support the front of the fuel tank, and remove the forward tank strap. That'll give you inch or more once you drop the tank a bit and push it over. You can put it in by hand then.

Dumb to have you "fish it though" when 2 bolts and a floor jack saves you the headache.

Given that, my 2005 had more **** on the inside of the frame, much more than my 2001 did. Still had to unclip the fuel line a little.

[Fisher_Bill]

At least you guys had holes, on the GM I had to drill my own and while I did have to work around the brake line it went fairly smooth and yes, those fisher wires are cool.

A comment on the installation of the Stable loads, not sure of Ford but my GM overload spring is on the bottom of the pack and I found that jacking up the bumper (or superhitch in my case) also worked well to spread the leafs a bit to install.

At least those went in easy but I did have to adjust my tail pipe to not rub on the stable loads.

Buzzcut1 wrote:
when installing tbe lower stableloads pre assemble the wedge stacks. jack up one wheel at a time ( no camper in the bed). use the leaf shackle as the jack point not the axle, this will spread the lower overload leaf enough to give you clearance to just drop the mounting bolts into the holes.

[Buzzcut1]

when installing tbe lower stableloads pre assemble the wedge stacks. jack up one wheel at a time ( no camper in the bed). use the leaf shackle as the jack point not the axle, this will spread the lower overload leaf enough to give you clearance to just drop the mounting bolts into the holes.

[meleavingsoon]

Thanks...I think 🙂 ...I am in the middle of making a decision of tie down choice. But it does sound like the best solution.

[Steve_in_29]

Sorry to hear of the problems. When I installed the Torklifts on my 04 and later moved to my 06 and then 07 F350 things went much smoother then your experience. The bracket holes lined up perfectly with the frame and while I had to be careful the bolt fished though fairly easily and I had the same stuff in my frame as yours.

I did later switch to the Happijacs on the 07 but not due to any problems with the Torklifts themselves. It was simply that the bed mounted Happijacs were easier on the camper when I was flexing the truck off-road.

[DOITHARD]

Wow...to say the least! Glad to see you still had a sense of humor after the install.