AWCO
Member
I've got a dilemma with my tie-down situation and I'm wondering if anyone has some thoughts or advice to offer.
I have an older Fleet with a 7.5' base length that I need to tie down to my 2014 long-bed (~6') Tacoma. When in the truck with the tailgate down, the camper comes to rest about 1" in from the edge of the tailgate. I ordered a Tacoma tie-down kit from FWC, as it's necessary with the composite beds on the 2nd-gen Tacomas. However, the metal bars from the tie-down kit are made to fit the front (closest to cab) and middle sets of bolts that secure the bed to the truck frame, but not the rear set of bolts. The tie-downs also need to angle in toward each other to their mounting points on the camper. This means that, if I mount the bars where they're designed to fit (at the front and middle bolt sets in the bed), I'll have all the tie-down force located on the front ~4' of the camper and will have an additional ~3.5' of camper (between the middle set of bolts and the end of the tailgate) that's just sort of hanging out. This strikes me as less than ideal. I'd prefer to be able to use the front and rear sets of bed bolts (rather than the front and middle), but to do so I guess I'd have to drill new holes in the tie-down bars, which I'm not currently equipped to do.
Do folks think I'd be safe to mount the camper at the usual front and middle bolt sets? (In the short term, I've thought about doing this and then using a heavy-duty ratchet strap around the rear (tailgate side) of the camper while I'm driving, just for extra security and peace of mind.)
Or, do folks think I should find a way to drill new holes in the mounting bars and then use the rear set of bolts instead of the middle bolts?
Any other thoughts? I'd appreciate any insight I can get. Not trying to have this thing come off on the highway....
I have an older Fleet with a 7.5' base length that I need to tie down to my 2014 long-bed (~6') Tacoma. When in the truck with the tailgate down, the camper comes to rest about 1" in from the edge of the tailgate. I ordered a Tacoma tie-down kit from FWC, as it's necessary with the composite beds on the 2nd-gen Tacomas. However, the metal bars from the tie-down kit are made to fit the front (closest to cab) and middle sets of bolts that secure the bed to the truck frame, but not the rear set of bolts. The tie-downs also need to angle in toward each other to their mounting points on the camper. This means that, if I mount the bars where they're designed to fit (at the front and middle bolt sets in the bed), I'll have all the tie-down force located on the front ~4' of the camper and will have an additional ~3.5' of camper (between the middle set of bolts and the end of the tailgate) that's just sort of hanging out. This strikes me as less than ideal. I'd prefer to be able to use the front and rear sets of bed bolts (rather than the front and middle), but to do so I guess I'd have to drill new holes in the tie-down bars, which I'm not currently equipped to do.
Do folks think I'd be safe to mount the camper at the usual front and middle bolt sets? (In the short term, I've thought about doing this and then using a heavy-duty ratchet strap around the rear (tailgate side) of the camper while I'm driving, just for extra security and peace of mind.)
Or, do folks think I should find a way to drill new holes in the mounting bars and then use the rear set of bolts instead of the middle bolts?
Any other thoughts? I'd appreciate any insight I can get. Not trying to have this thing come off on the highway....