Slide in camper over bed liner?

[Blksheep]

Can I put a slide in or truck camper in the box

of my truck without removing the factory bed liner?And can the tie downs in the box be utilized

for tying down camper? TIA

 

[dsnook]

Blksheep,

If you put down a bed mat on top of the bed liner you should be allright. I wouldn't, however use the factory tie downs. I had a Lance camper that used the Happy-Jack tie downs and they were great. You will have to drill some holes in the front of your bed, and in your bumper.

Maybe some one else will have a more creative solution.



"D"

 

[dresslered]

Absolutely not to both questions if you're talking about a drop in bedliner! What actually holds the camper into place is the frictional surface between the bed and the camper. The tie-downs merely keep the camper from hopping out.



If your camper is fairly small and flexible, you can get away with some things that would not hold up for a larger camper. My personal belief is that ALL campers (unless they are extremly light) should utilize the frame mounted tie-downs.

 

[TowPro]

I got mine on top of the dodge under the rail bed liner.



The difference is I also have 5th wheel hitch rails bolted to the frame, then I had to build a system to support the slide in camper higher then the 5th wheel rails. when I built this I made it so there is a piece of wood on both sides of the 5th wheel hitch (both rails) to keep it from moving forward and back.



Now my 5th wheel rails are sopported by about 6 washers under each bolt, and mounted on top of the bed liner. I drilled 1" holes where each bolt passes thru the bed liner so I could get the washers in for spacers. the 5th wheel system has 4 years on it, tonight I pulled it off so I could remove the bed liner and look underneath it. Looks great, no scratches or rust!



The trick is when ever I drill a hole thru my truck, I seal it with Coraless (spelled wrong) from Eastwood. That stuff is the best for preventing rust.

 

[Utah Willie]

Slide-in camper over bed

I put my Lance (2500#) camper over a drop-in bed liner on my '96 gasser and used it for years with NO problems what so ever. I currently use it on a sprayed on liner on my '99 3500 on a wood frame of 2x4s (to lift it over the fifth wheel hitch plates I'm too lazy to take out) with NO problem..... My advice..... use it on the drop-in and tie it down fore and aft. It will not go anywhere unless you attempt a slow-roll. My tie-downs are hooked to the front of the bed and the rear bumper. I have heard all sorts of comments about this set-up but after a lot of bumpy miles over dirt roads and crappy Interstates, I've never had a problem.

 

[Dane]

Nope... Might work for a while if you only drive in a straight line on smooth pavement. Any off road work and you're driving a timebomb. A rubber bed mat between the camper and the bed metal is the way to go. I would not trust the bed tiedowns for that kind of load. Use something designed for the application. My preference is for something that absorbs the shock of bumps and rocking of the camper rather than transfer the load to the camper and frame via the tie downs. I'm biased that way cause I do mostly off road camping and know from others experience that a rock solid tie down off road will show you the weak link in the system by breaking, usually many miles from help. Earth Roamer demonstrated that in his Baja road trip article. As usual, just my opinion

 

[dresslered]

Hey Dane-

Glad to see you still lurking around on the boards. When I suggested the frame mounts, I didn't mean that one should rigidly attach the camper. I personally use the Happi-Jak spring-loaded turnbuckles to attach to my frame.

 

[Blksheep]

Yes it is a drop in under the rail liner.

What happened to the days when you could tie your

camper in using special brackets that went in

the stake pockets of the truck box.

When I was a young pup my dad used these brackets

in the stake pockets to hold our camper in?I can't

believe that these newer trucks are built much

lighter than trucks of 30 years ago maybe I'm wrong. :{ Got a mixed bag of suggestions on

wheather or not to put the camper on the bedliner.

Keep them coming,isn't the TDR a great place!

 

[Dane]

Ola Amigo David! I think the frame mounts with the happi-Jaks are great idea. I would of run them myself if I hadn't bought the happi-Jak mounts first. I want to run a Reunel rear bumper, but I don't think the Happi-Jak buttons will fit the rear Reunel. If I ever ding the stock rear bumper I'm going to convert to the frame mount and Happi-Jak turnbuckles myself.

 

[JTCHess]

Truck Campers

My camper is an Elkhorn 11Z, they don't make em' any bigger. My Happy Jacks works just fine. I have an extended receiver hitch as insurance but the weight alone will keep it in the truck. BTW, I have a 93 D350 with a bedliner and it works just fine.



John

 

[JohnMcIntyre]

Frozen balls....

Originally posted by Dane

Nope... Might work for a while if you only drive in a straight line on smooth pavement. Any off road work and you're driving a timebomb. A rubber bed mat between the camper and the bed metal is the way to go.

Absolutely 100% correct!! As a matter of interest, has anyone out there had a problem with any Lance truck camper fitted with the Happijacs - more specifically with the forward stabilizing struts that connect both sides of the cab over section to fixed mounts just in front of the windshield on both sides?



I took my camper down to Austria on a snowboarding trip last December and the weather was pretty severe, with a night time low of minus 18 deg C and a daytime high of minus 2 deg C. The struts have eyes top and bottom to push fit over a spigot until a small ball bearing pops back out and prevents the strut from working loose... . in theory only as far as I'm concerned.



I can only surmise that the combination of really cold, sustained winter temperatures, plus some mountain trails thrown in for good measure to get to the good places to camp with virgin snow, must have put the fixture under more pressure than it was ever designed for. All the balls had frozen solid in their recess and could not be relied upon to prevent the strut from vibrating off, which one did. My temporary workaround in the boonies was to use tiewraps, which worked perfectly well for the 1,500 miles return trip.



Since then I bought some new units and drilled out them little ball bearings top and bottom where the strut makes contact and replaced them with stout metal P-clips, which provide the same security, albeit with a little more confidence (for me at any rate!) and a visible deterrent to cold weather-induced, premature failure.