Long Time lurker, need some advice for my 2017 Tacoma/Fleet shell combo

[Ceilingfan]

Hello Everyone!

I've been lurking these forums for a few months now and I love the content and interactions. You all seem like a great bunch, I'm happy to meet you all and introduce myself.

I'm a Mid 30s single guy with a job that only has me working about 15 days a month. I bought A fleet shell for my Tacoma last year, both are 2017 and I absolutely love it. I haven't been able to do too much camping but what little I've used my camper has been fantastic.

My truck is the 2017 Tacoma Double Cab long bed. Recently went to Main Line Overland (highly recommended) and got the works. The truck is solid and tall now.

Camper is fleet shell, rollover couch, 2 burner stove, and MLO put in an extra battery and 160W solar mounted.



With all of that, here's my issue:


My camper keeps shifting. Seems to always shift towards the driver side, the driver's side will lift up a hair (it gets tilted "east to west" with drivers side being higher) and sometimes it rotates a little bit.

Most of my driving is highway and I don't really drive fast (70 if I'm lucky, usually 60 to 65 MPH).


What can I do to fix or prevent this?

Recentering the camper is quite a hassle by myself, I'd rather not have to do it every week.


Thanks!

 

[XJINTX]

I will assume you have the Tacoma bed rails in it for your fleet. I have had my Hawk in my F250 since 2015. Never heard of anyone complaining about FWC slipping. There have been issues with turnbuckles loosening and even breaking. Do you have locknuts on your turnbuckles? Maybe they are coming loose allowing the shift? Please keep us posted. I too have a Tacoma and watching for a deal on a Fleet too

 

[BillTheHiker]

Mine is also a 2017 Fleet on a crew cab Tacoma with 6' bed. Camper shifted to one side on my first trip. I inserted some 2x4 s between the truck bed wall and camper wall. Did this on each side. I also strung some heavy electric wire through the turnbucklces so they cannot turn more than 1/2 turn. Have never had any shifting or a loose turnbuckle since then and have driven about 42K miles with this setup and on some very rough roads. Have read on this forum that others have done the same. There are other methods to prevent the turnbuckles from loosening but I would still insert wood spacers.

 

[Ceilingfan]

Thanks guys I'm not sure how to reply to people here, so hopefully you see this.

I did have turnbuckles break recently, on my way back from MLO. I think it was a combination of the turnbuckles being stressed from the previous shift, overtightening at the shop (they overnighted a new set for free), and going from 60F to 20F on my trip home.

I do not have locknuts, and I feel stupid for not thinking of this. My camper did shift again (50 miles since I remounted...) and there were 2 loose turnbuckles.


Anyway you can show me the pictures of your modification?

I absolutely love this set up and would only trade it for a flatbed upgrade. The shifting is just a mild inconvenience, the camper stays solid

 

[bwag]

Does your camper not have the bumpers in the front at the base to keep the front of the camper from resting up against the truck cab?? When I had my Tacoma /Swift set up (2018 model camper) it never shifted.

 

[Ceilingfan]

It does have the bumpers, so it doesn't hit the cab, it just slides back a hair on the passenger side and will move laterally to the driver side as a whole

 

[JimBow]

The Tacoma should have steel bars in the bed that center the camper. That's how a dealer installs a new camper. Does your Tacoma not have those bars? The camper should not move sideways with those bars in there.

I had a 2010 Tacoma with my Fleet in it. I now have a 2020 Ford Ranger with the camper in it. Now it will move, because the Ranger doesn't use those steel bars for mounting the camper.

 

[Ceilingfan]

I have the mounts in, I was there when they installed. This is part of why I'm confused, you can even see it when tightening the turnbuckles

 

[JimBow]

I upgraded my turnbuckles to forged stainless steel ones, and I use a single lock nut on each one. They do not loosen now. You gotta keep the turnbuckles tight. Your camper shouldn't move much on a Tacoma as long the turnbuckles are tight, but not too tight.

 

[bwag]

Really strange. I’d try different turnbuckles, seems that the only way your camper could move around was if the turnbuckles were loose enough to give the camper the wiggle room. When I had my Tacoma/Swift setup the turnbuckles were always coming loose but it never shifted around. My current F250/Hawk, I haven’t had to re-tighten them yet in the 7 months I’ve had it. Both setups using factory turnbuckles