Scary moment on a casual inspection

[Alex]

Great topic. On very rough roads like that to the Racetrack, or on 4WD roads in general, it is common to lower the air pressure in your tires. Is there an equivalent for what we should do with our turnbuckles? I would rather loosen them a little and have slight movement than have an absolute rigid system that might rip something out, which has happened twice to me. Until this thread I had not thought about that being a potential cause.

I would not loosen the turn buckle, that'll create too much movement of the camper. The idea of a spring loaded tie down is to pull the camper tie to the truck but has enough give to absorb the bumps. The spring in the system has the ability to take up slack or give out as the tension change on the tie-down.

 

[bajafshrman]

I'm torn between the most solid connection possible to eliminate movement or easing up a bit and giving the whole system a little flex. I've found that with my boat and trailer I've had better luck strapping that boat to the trailer the best that I can - allowing the trailer suspension to absorb the bumps, dips, and washboard. I don't like to get any separation from the boat and trailer. I think the longer spring loaded tie downs do a little of both - solid connect with just enough give to keep the camper in place.

The Bobcat is narrow on my truck so I can't get long tie downs to the frame attachment but I think I can add some Happy Jack camper tie downs to the front of the truck bed.

By the way, I've been watching my turnbuckles very closely as I drive off road every single day - no movement from my camper and the tie downs have stayed tight so far.

 

[kmacafee]

I am new to this so I don't claim to have the answer. For my 2012 Tacoma with the composite bed, FWC makes mounting plates now that have an angled side and is bolted thru the bed to the frame. The angled uprights should keep the camper from sliding side to side. But like others here, I upgraded to forged turnbuckles with lock nuts that I believe have a 1000+ load limit.

 

[craig333]

This conversation gave me an idea. I don't like the idea of external tie downs, one more thing to get snagged on but I thought about this in relation to my recent repair. We want some give but not enough to cause bounce. During my repair I sandwiched the wood between two metal plates. I'm thinking adding some rubber, something pretty hard like some chucks of tire, between the sandwich might be just enough give without making too much?

 

[Alex]

Tire might be a good choice, it has just enough give to dampen the hard hit and the rubber tire used is very stable.

 

[bajafshrman]

Lots of great suggestions!

 

[Riverrunner]

FWIW - I use the Torklift system on my Grandby with fastguns and hook them to the jack mounts on the corners. I have them so they are just snug. When going over uneven terrain I can watch the tie down chains go slack as the truck and camper flex. I've seen several reports of eyes pulling through the plywood and I think I have more flex and give with the torklifts. When I picked up the camper, FWC said this would be fine. Time will tell I guess.

 

[CALIcamperdad]

The shorter the distance between the camper tie and the truck hard point the lower the stretch and give you have in the physical tie down/turn buckle part.

This is one aspect I've always wondered about with campers that have hidden ie short turnbuckle mounts in the bed of the truck given you just have less material ie length of cable or chain on the turnbuckle to act as a shock absorber.

The shock loads transferred to the camper and truck bed with the short turnbuckle set up are going to be really high compared to the campers set up with the longer external tie systems. It would be more costly to try using an idea from the High Tech high load racing yachts used in various rigging applications but it would be interesting to see some one test the idea. Multiple things have happened in the sailing world regarding performance boats. The carbon masts are very stiff and do not flex like the old Aluminum masts, paired with low stretch halyards, and sheets we were seeing lots of major rigging failures given there was no give in the system to absorb shock loads. As a result smart sailors started incorporating more stretchy elements into their set up to improve the survivability of major stuff like say the mast. More stretchy halyards, or other elements like more stretchy rigging etc.

My idea would be a soft adjustable shackle idea where you have a line looped through your bed eye and your camper eye and your able to adjust the tension. The looped line would have some shock load absorbing ability but still carry lots of strength to keep the camper in place. Granted some inspections to check for chaff would need to happen but with smooth eye lets I would expect the rough road performance would be superior to a ridged non stretchy short turn buckle on a link or two of chain.

Interesting discussion

 

[ntsqd]

I safety wire our forged-eye turn-buckles.

I see the value in offering the system a way to deal with shock loads, but I do not think spring loaded is the way to go, not off pavement anyways. Camper inertia will not be your friend there. You want the camper to move directly with the bed. The worst possible thing that could happen would be for that shock load to accelerate the camper in an undesired direction.

 

[bajafshrman]

What do I know but that sounds right to me - it's when the shock loads are traveling in opposing directions that something might fail. I've got a plan in my head… I know, sounds scary to me, too!

 

[buckland]

Have a 2011 Eagle on a Tacoma 2001.. keep a couple spare turnbuckles in the truck but never felt good about the set up. I agree the tight bed to camper attachment is best...let the suspension do the flexing. So in that I have heard about closed loop turnbuckles and steel open ones. I think I'd like to upgrade to a strong open one with lock nuts and also use locktite ... So where does one go to find this hardware. Any specific sites or product info appreciated.

 

[Captm]

Riverrunner, I have taken my jack mounts off to get extra rear visibility and after seeing how they are attached definitely would not use them to keep my camper connected to the truck. They are for a static load only with half the lag bolts going into the end grain of plywood. If I may suggest, take one set off and see if you are comfortable with your set up.
Cheers,
Tim

Edit: It's the bottom lags that are screwed into the end grain. The other bolts are lagged into the frame.
Cheers

 

[ntsqd]

Turn-buckles:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#turnbuckles/=uusrjc

Forged eye-bolts, I'd go with the shouldered version:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#eyebolts/=uuss4z

I'll let y'all decide how big you want to go on your own. I used p/n 3001T53 and 3014T253, but I'm essentially anchored to the jack plates on our Phoenix. Which have already been load tested.

 

[srileo]

Great conversation everyone. I am learning lots.

ntsqd,
thanks for the link to the turnbuckles. It appears that the Jaw and Jaw would be the best application, right? I dont see how the closed eye can be used?

 

[BillM]

Well, I've said it before: I never liked the factory eyebolt install. On my Nissan I used a plate underneath the bed and a U-channel on top. I also upgraded to forged turnbuckles and grade 8 bolts at the camper. Have had no problem after several years and thousands of miles of rough roads.
-BillM
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[Riverrunner]

Riverrunner, I have taken my jack mounts off to get extra rear visibility and after seeing how they are attached definitely would not use them to keep my camper connected to the truck. They are for a static load only with half the lag bolts going into the end grain of plywood. If I may suggest, take one set off and see if you are comfortable with your set up.
Cheers,
Tim

Edit: It's the bottom lags that are screwed into the end grain. The other bolts are lagged into the frame.
Cheers

I'll have to take a look at it. FWC said it would be fine to use the torklifts when they mounted the camper. I think if the majority of the lags are in the frame it should work. There are 10 or 11 lags in each corner and all but the bottom should be in the frame like you said based on the ones I've seen under construction. On the front there is no lag in the bottom holes so I'm assuming because there is nothing to bite into. ???? No doubt I'm putting stress on the corners where it really wasn't intended but the torklifts have quite a bit of give which is why I choose them for the hardside and I don't cinch it down super tight. The Fastguns are like binders and I could really cinch her down if I wanted to but know better. Plus, I can and do use spring loaded turnbuckles as well. The standard tie downs to me offer no give and if you're twisted up, something is going to give at some point. I think the best way is to bolt the camper through the floor so the camper floor and truck bed are one. I figure with my rig I'm not going to do anything too extreme tho....there is only so many places I can take a dually crewcab long box.

Time will tell I guess. - Rich

 

[ntsqd]

Great conversation everyone. I am learning lots.

ntsqd,
thanks for the link to the turnbuckles. It appears that the Jaw and Jaw would be the best application, right? I dont see how the closed eye can be used?

Jaw/Jaw is what I used. I note that jam nuts are listed in that section. Measure the fit though, I have some concerns that what I used will be too long for the more typical install.

I don't take our turn-buckles to tight, I take them to snug or a little less. I've never used a prybar or a wrench on them.

 

[longhorn1]

Great conversation everyone. I am learning lots.

ntsqd,
thanks for the link to the turnbuckles. It appears that the Jaw and Jaw would be the best application, right? I dont see how the closed eye can be used?

Check out the "Open Turnbuckle thread. Jonathan Hanson uses a carabiner for the closed loop to attach to the eye bolt in the truck bed. I found one that is good to 5000 lbs.