Camper tie down?

[AKsmoker]

Does anyone have an 03 dually with a happijack tie down for a slide in? Ive heard they wont fit right on the bumper hold down with the rear fenders. A dealer told me they have a new 03 kit that works but most people tell me to go with torklift. Ive also heard that torklift requires a single drilled hole in the frame. DC says that this will will void the warranty. Anyone got any ideas on this or experience would appreciate the help. to

 

[JIMMMDOG]

Originally posted by AKsmoker

Does anyone have an 03 dually with a happijack tie down for a slide in? Ive heard they wont fit right on the bumper hold down with the rear fenders. A dealer told me they have a new 03 kit that works but most people tell me to go with torklift. Ive also heard that torklift requires a single drilled hole in the frame. DC says that this will will void the warranty. Anyone got any ideas on this or experience would appreciate the help. to

I have hauled a slide-in on both a 93 3/4 ton and now a 02 Dually and don't like happijack tie down products that attach to the bumper or the truck bed. If you read past posts you will hear how they can cause damage. You should attach to the frame. A bar going entire width works well. I have seen some type of tie downs that attach to the frame that may not involve drilling. Good luck in your search for the right product, and check on any warrenty issues before installation. This is not the time to try and save money with a cheap install.

Jimmmdog.

 

[Dieselnerd]

If you have a hitch on your truck, some people have made square bars that slide into the sides of their hitch to attach the tie downs.

 

[NETim]

Torklifts

There was an earlier thread that discussed this very thing. If I remember right, the newest version of the Torklift system does not need any holes to be drilled.



Try a search and see what you come up with.



Tim

 

[Bill Stockard]

I had Torklift tiedowns on my '00 3500 after using the Happijac system for many years. I too didn't like the rear bumper location; however, I never had a problem with any damage to the bumper. On an earlier Ford truck the rear tiedown bolt was in the rear fender panel and no problems there either. If you overtighten the rear turnbuckle, you can damage the bumper. The rear tiedown is only to keep the camper from bouncing on the back so the rear turnbuckle needs to only be snug.



On my '03 truck I have decided to go back with the Happijacs again since the '00 Torklifts won't fit the '03 truck. The fuel door on the '03 truck interferes with the Torklift tiedown chains.



My '03 Lance is set up to use the Happijacs and has no rubber bumper on the front to keep the camper off the front of the bed. The Happijacs have the bumper built in along with a front centering guide. There is a vertical hard plastic reinforcement strip on the front of the camper where the Happijac bumpers contact the camper. On prior Lance campers with the rubber bumpers there could be a problem of tearing off the rubber bumpers on the Happijac crossbar when raising the camper to unload it.



Bill

 

[AKsmoker]

Bill, what size camper in do u have and did you have to adjust the rear the camper tie down so as not to interfere with the wheel wells? do you have clearence from the truck bed? I have also heard of the torklift rear chain being a problem.

 

[Bill Stockard]

AKsmoker,



We have a '03 1121 which is 11'6". Yes, on our '00 3500 DRW, the chains on the rear tie downs touched the black trim on the rear dually fender. I "padded" the chains with plastic split wire loom held in place with electrical tape. Our previously owned Lance 1140 (11'6") camper, the chains came close, but didn't touch the rear fenders using the Torklift.



Our new '03 is still in the QC hold up at the rail yard so I haven't installed the Happijacs and hauled the Lance on it yet. The Happijacs are in a box in my shop along with boxes of other "goodies" waiting for the truck.



Bill

 

[dewdo]

I would like to take this opportunity to toss in my two cents worth since I have used every kind of tie down ever made in my 35 plus years of RV'ng.



When I purchased my current Arctic Fox the dealer used the Happijacks that attached to the front of the bed and the rear bumper. I started on a cross country trip and about 300 miles into the trip it dawned on me I could not safely haul a 5,000 plus slide in with that system.



I had seen some posts about Torklift frame tie down system on this site and while debating with my spouse about turning around and going back home, I called the Torklift factory in Auburn, WA who put me in contact with a dealer in Kalispell, MT that had a set of the Torklifts in stock. I had them installed and finished our cross country trip with no more problems of rocking and rolling and swaying back and forth.



The only problem that remained was loading and unloading the slide in since my truck is a 4 X 4 which required me to extend the jacks slightly past the redline which made for a real hairy situation. My wife would nearly have a nervous breakdown when we attempted it. She said to just leave it on the truck which we couldn't do since we also pull a fiver when not using the slide in and pulling the boat.



While sitting in a campground in MT. a couple pulled in a site behind me and I noticed a strange setup he was using that had pipes down the side of his rig. I figured I would go over and talk to him about it later.



I went into the camper to have my wife look at the system the fellow had, and by the time we got back outside he had the camper off the truck and was gone. I walked over to his site to look at it and got the phone number off the side and called the company to get a brochure. They did better than that and sent me a video of their system.



After watching the video I decided to buy his system. It took me two years to scrape up the money, but I had the "Stable Lift" system installed this past Oct. Now loading and unloading is a breeze, and my wife no longer has conniptions when I load and unload, and no longer have to bother with turnbuckles, chains etc and the rig is even more stable than it was with the Torklift.



Sorry about the long post, but I get a bit windy on the safety of something that makes hauling a slide in so much safer.



No I don't work for Stable Lift, but just an enthusiastic user of their system. It's something that's not for everyone, but it sure was for me.



Dewdo in the other Washington

 

[AKsmoker]

Bill, I too am waiting for my 03 to get out of the Kent WA rail yard and on the next boat north. Still haven't made up my mind on what system to use. Looked the other day at a buddy's torklift on a new ford diesel dually and front chains run in front of the fuel door but looks like it clears in the back.



02 9. 5 Summerwind w/slider

03 QC HO 6spd 4X4 dually SLT Flame Red everything but the leather.



Still lookin

 

[Bill Stockard]

AKsmoker,



I finally gave up waiting on my original truck that is still tied up in the QC at the rail yard since the middle of March. I re-ordered another one today. I may luck out and get a new truck yet!!



Bill