11 replies to this topic

[nevaska]

I through-bolted my Eagle to a first-gen Tundra on advice directly from FWC for my application (rarely removing camper and using for off-road field work). Probably more hassle than its worth lining up bolt holes if you are going to take the camper off or you stay on the highway, but so far its worked for me. 3 3/4" x 3/8" bolts with large thick washers on both sides and nylon lock nuts. 

[roverjohn]

From a structural standpoint a camper bolted in place will allow both the camper and the truck's bed to be much more flexible. Doing so loads the tub in a completely different manner changing a lot of the compression loads to tension. There is not a lot of mass above the tub on a FWC so I wouldn't worry about  bolting it in cause other stresses to show up as long as, and this is important,  FWC designs their campers in a way that allows bolting. Only they can tell you that.

 

A previous poster suggested welding some sort of plate to a Taco chassis. I would seriously not do that especially to a new truck. A lot of new trucks use hydro formed spring steel to make the chassis. It's done as it allows fairly complex shapes and they can save quite a lot of weight while making the chassis stronger. I would contact Toyota before welding because it could cause stress risers in the frame which could lead to cracks. It's hard for me to imaging that it wouldn't be possible to bolt something to the frame and then tie your camper down to whatever that might be.