Slide in camper tie downs?

[JRG]

4,000# Fleetwood, 3rd gen 3500 SRW 4x4 w/factory tow, 4ft stinger ext to pull 4,000# boat with only 75# tounge wt.



What would be the slickest setup, and any other recomendations PLEASE.



JRG

 

[dresslered]

Only one answer... . Tork-lift!

 

[JRG]

Can you give any details as to how they mount?



i. e. Removable when not in use.



JRG

 

[Crazy Horse]

Here is a link to Tork Lift.



Here's one worth checking out also Happijac.

 

[JRG]

I think Happijac is out, I don't want to put holes on my bumper this time.



JRG

 

[DPelletier]

- Solid frame mount front and rear with spring loaded front turnbuckles OR Torklift setup

- rubber mat to prevent sliding (no bed liners)



I custom made my mounts out of stainless steel.

I don't like any bed mount systems or any tie downs to the rear bumper.



My opinion FWIW,

Dave

 

[wcjp]

I sure love my Torklift setup.

 

[Bill Stockard]

I had Tork Lifts on my '00 3500 and had no problems. I switched to Happijac on my '03 because the Tork Lift chain interfered with the fuel door on the 3rd gen trucks. Loosening the tie down to fuel the truck is a PIA. I don't know if Tork Lift has changed their design yet.



I installed the re-designed frame mount type Happijac tie down system myself in about 3 hours and so far I'm very pleased with them.



Bill

 

[Crazy Horse]

This is what I have done rather than the rear bumper. Go into the reciever about 6" with a piece of 2" square, 1/4" thick tube. 3/8" I bolt with lock nuts and cap the end.

 

[mbaston]

I have been very happy with the happijac system. I have a 3500lb camper loaded. I have been up the haul road a few times, around the state and up and down the Alakska highway twice. I have traveled on some pretty nasty back roads with no problems whatsoever. My bed nor my bumper shows any signs of warpage or other damage.



I used the happijac system on my 2000 2500 as well as my current 03 3500. I like Crazy Horses idea for the rear not for the strength as much as for the additional clearance of the tiedowns and my dually fenders.



Crazy horse, did you drill the receiver to lock in the 2" tube?

 

[BV]

I used the HappiJac for the fronts and made my own like Crazy Horse did that slipped into the hitch. Tork Lifts are nice but were a little spendy for my wallet at the time.

 

[Bart]

A friend and I both installed Happy Jac tie down systems. For some reason his 8' cab over ripped the mount out of the bumper. I can only guess that his most have been loose. I'm running a 11' cabover and even off roaded though Death Valley with it and didn't have a problem. I broke a front chain but not the Happy Jac. Before you count the bumper mod out check it out. The post is okay in my book.

 

[Crazy Horse]

Re: Tube in the reciever.



If you do decide to go into the reciever be prepared to either file down the lip inside the reciever, or grind a groove length wise on the piece that slides in the reciever. There is a manufacturing lip that protrudes up inside the reciever just far enough to prevent you from sliding the 2" square tube in.

 

[smartineau]

Originally posted by JRG



4ft stinger ext to pull 4,000# boat with only 75# tounge wt.



Was that a typo? 4000 lb trailer with a 75 lb tongue weight, I have always been told to use about 10% of the trailer weight as a guide for the tongue weight.



steve

 

[DKlimas]

My system is custom all around with the exception of the Happijac spring-loaded turnbucles.

The front brackets are bolted directly to the frame using an existing hole and 1/2 inch hardware along with a steel plate bolted down using one of the bolts used to secure the bed to the frame. This allows the key parts of the tiedown system to be in tension rather than compression like parts of the Torklift system are.

The rear bracket is a strap that ties into the lower bumper mounting bracket - this seems to be more than strong enough for the job.

In order to clear the dually fenders and the fuel filler, I am using a 1 1/2 inch square tube bolted to the camper tiedown brackets.

These are both tied together with a set of Happijac spring-loaded turnbuckles.

 

[DPelletier]

DKlimas,

Cool idea for modifying the factory tiedown points. I may have to do the same thing. I got lots of steel tubing lying around, at least!





Dave

 

[DKlimas]

Thanks Dave, It turned out to be a rather clean solution to a lot of 'messy' alternatives. I really didn't want to use the Torklift 'shin busters', nor the Happijac 'bolt-it-to-the-bed' - as they didn't adequately address the dually fenders and fuel filler. A side benifit to the bar is that it will flex (bow) in the middle with extreme bumps or whatever.

Here is another view from the drivers side...



Dave

 

[DKlimas]

Duh...



Here is the pic.

 

[DPelletier]

Thanks,

Thats the pic I was looking for. I am attempting to load the camper for the first time this weekend (hopefully). Seeing as how we have the same truck and same series camper, perhaps you can help me out. I bought a set of happijak swing out dually brackets (can't tell what yours are). They add 4 1/2" each to the width. Without the brackets, I have 91" between the jacks. My buddy has a 3000 series on the same truck as us and suggested I needed at least 102" between to comfortably back the truck between the jacks. Any observations?



I'll show him the drivers side pic as well as he is suffering from the fuel door issue. He didn't even notice until we went to refuel on a camping trip!



Thanks again



Dave

 

[DKlimas]

Dave,



Mine are also Happijac's, 4500's on the front (with folding extension brackets) and 4150's on the rear. The inside dimension on mine with the jacks extended is 100 inches. That allows for about 2 inches per side, which seems to be adequate. There is a good view in the mirrors when backing down.

One word of caution once you get everything loaded, if you have a quadcab, the rear door will not clear the camper jack when it is in the travel position. I placed some of those clear rubber bumpers on the jack to prevent door dings .



Dave