Jump to content


Photo
- - - - -

Mounting an 80's Fleet

Fleet Ram 1500 Mounting Truck bed brackets drilling FWC

  • Please log in to reply
7 replies to this topic

#1 snowfirenryan

snowfirenryan

    Newbie

  • Members
  • Pip
  • 6 posts
  • LocationCanada

Posted 29 August 2017 - 04:17 AM

Hey there folks,

 

As a soon to be owner of a new to me FWC, an 80's Fleet (looks like it from the photos) and the owner of a 2014 Ram 1500, I am in need of some help.

How would you go about mounting the camper to the truck? 

Should I be drilling out holes in the bed?

Are the factor cargo tie downs good enough for short term usage?

What are some issues that you can foresee coming my way, and how can I be ready for them?

 

Thanks, and stoked to be a part of the community!

 


  • 0

#2 longhorn1

longhorn1

    Ouch, that stings!

  • Members
  • 2,826 posts
  • LocationCarmel, Indiana

Posted 29 August 2017 - 10:37 AM

Where are you located? If close to a FWC Dealer, I would contact them. I wouldn't use the truck tie-downs. If you do you should also use straps and drive slowly. The dealer can also run the electrical from camper to truck battery to charge the camper while driving. jd
  • 0

http://texaslonghorns01.blogspot.com/

 

Ford F-250 Long bed, 2014 Grandby

 


#3 Living The Dream

Living The Dream

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • 464 posts
  • LocationFront Range, Colorado

Posted 29 August 2017 - 05:16 PM

I limped home using the tucks tie downs when I first bought my 80s fleet. Only about 30 miles and kept it pretty slow.

 

I would suggest some custom bars that bolt to the bed bolt.  Post 3 from my build page shows the ones built for Tacoma (by FWC).  Any fabricator could make a similar piece that fits your truck quite easily.

 

http://www.wanderthe...tacoma-project/

 

Also, your fleet probably only has 3 tie down mount points.  I would up it to four like I did. I also have photos of that on my build page.

 

Best of luck with the new (to you) camper.


  • 0

My youtube channel about my Four Wheel Camper - https://www.youtube.com/c/timmorrissey

All about my camper - https://www.tgmorrissey.com/camper

Item I used in my build- http://bit.ly/TGMorrisseyParts


#4 snowfirenryan

snowfirenryan

    Newbie

  • Members
  • Pip
  • 6 posts
  • LocationCanada

Posted 26 September 2017 - 10:22 PM


  • 0

#5 philos65

philos65

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • 107 posts
  • LocationLaramie Wyoming

Posted 27 September 2017 - 01:03 AM

I live in Laramie Wyoming and got my 80s Keystone from a guy in Clifton, AZ - in the southeast part of the state.  I used 2" fairly lightweight nylon strapping material and a truckers hitch to attach the existing eyebolts in the frame of the Keystone to the frame underneath the 1999 Silverado 1500 z71 8' bed.  Tires were P265-70-17 - load range 113.  I just replaced the shocks, and the original equipment ones were pretty shot.  I picked up some Kumho Venture AT51 tires from TireRack in Denver yesterday.  

 

I weighed the truck and camper, and then the camper, and the camper came in around 1250 lbs.  

 

I was so trepedatious about this setup.  The previous owner said he'd hauled it this way a for a year.  

 

I drove really, really slowly for a couple hours.  The truck handled well around fairly tight turns, and braking was good.  I drove school bus back in the 1970s and driving the truck/camper combo felt similar.  It's a style of driving.  I slowly gained confidence that driving it like a school bus was working and I felt safer.  

 

I got on I-25 and dropping down into Colorado the west wind hit me.  It wasn't until I got to southern Denver that it abated from a constant 25  mph with gusts of 40 mph.  By that time I felt comfortable driving at 75 mph.  The side gusts rocked the rig and that was when I felt the sense of "float" and slowed down to 65 and 60 sometimes.  

 

When I checked the camper, it had moved a couple inches backwards.  No biggie, but I decided nylon straps could be improved.  I got some turnbuckles off craigslist and will put those on.  After the shakedown cruise, I'm not to concerned about losing the camper.  The straps were about as minimum as I could get and they performed well in sketchy conditions.  I think part of the success of straps was the low profile of the camper.  

 

Jeff


  • 0

2006 Dodge Ram 2500 HD, 4x4 with 80s FWC Keystone


#6 snowfirenryan

snowfirenryan

    Newbie

  • Members
  • Pip
  • 6 posts
  • LocationCanada

Posted 27 September 2017 - 01:18 AM

Hey there guys!

My post did not seem to go through, or at least I am unable to view it. However I wanted to say that the rigging I've got going right now has been working quite well. Seems to stay tight and snug in there, which is great! 

 

Thank you guys TONS for the beta, I will definitely be putting it to good use!

 

Cheers!

 

Ryan

 


  • 0

#7 pollux

pollux

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • 169 posts
  • LocationLos Angeles

Posted 27 September 2017 - 05:59 AM

Hey there folks,

 

As a soon to be owner of a new to me FWC, an 80's Fleet (looks like it from the photos) and the owner of a 2014 Ram 1500, I am in need of some help.

How would you go about mounting the camper to the truck? 

Should I be drilling out holes in the bed?

Are the factor cargo tie downs good enough for short term usage?

What are some issues that you can foresee coming my way, and how can I be ready for them?

 

Thanks, and stoked to be a part of the community!

you need to drill four holes and install four eye bolts.

then tie the eye bolts to the four metal holes of the camper with turn-buckles not using tie downs.

 

please watch this FWC videos:

 

https://youtu.be/ft-y-ezrqVc

 

https://youtu.be/BUNeVnxHRuU


  • 0

2015 FWC Eagle, 2016 Tacoma 4wd


#8 snowfirenryan

snowfirenryan

    Newbie

  • Members
  • Pip
  • 6 posts
  • LocationCanada

Posted 28 September 2017 - 01:31 AM

Hey there Pollux,

 

Thanks for the advice! No metal holes on the camper, just four eye bolts which I secured to the steel truck bed with chain and turn-buckles. Wanted to make sure load security was down before moving on to anything else!

 

Cheers

 


  • 0





Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: Fleet, Ram 1500, Mounting, Truck bed, brackets, drilling, FWC

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users