Bolting Down FWC To Flatbed / Tray

[losttaco]

Hello, I am going to pick up my Slide in Fleet Shell next week and had a few questions for people who have bolted down there camper to a tray.

From my research: four bolts are used to mount the camper in the four corners.

Is there a special spot to avoid drilling into in the camper? Is there a stud/ frame to avoid?

When spreading the load underneath is there a certain size plate used commonly?

Did you place a truck mat/ rubber mat under the camper?


Thanks for your time, here is a few photos.

Please note the wholes in my tray are from the previous owners application with the tray.

 

[rando]

I have the exact same setup. Yes the FWC is bolted down with four M12 bolts with ~3" diameter 1/4" thick fender washers and nylock nuts. I used 21 mm head bolts so that you don't have to carry SAE tools for these 4 bolts and can tighten with a lug wrench. Hole position for the bolts was a bit of a trick. The back two bolts are in the cabinets under the dinette and were pretty easy. Measure very carefully to be in the wide part of the flatbed slats so the backing washers will fit, and drill from the top. The front two are in the water cabinet and propane cabinet. Again, measure very carefully! We drilled a small pilot hole first as a precaution in case the measurements were off, but got it first time.

You will also need to cut the rails off the sides of the bed, or add another stringer to the bottom of the camper to clear the rails. I didn't realize this until we went to install, so I added a 3/4" stringer in a bit of a hurry. But if you have time to plan, I would cut the rails off, so the camper sits lower. I also did not install the headache rack, it doesn't serve a purpose if you plan on leaving the camper on.

I have ~30,000 miles including some pretty rough 4WD. I have checked the bolts and mounts a few times, and they have not loosened of shifted at all.

 

[todgru]

LostTaco,

I have a Fleet slide-in and Ute flatbed on my 2014 Tacoma. I did not bolt through the floor of the Fleet. Instead, I used the existing tie down points on the Fleet and fabricated mounts that ran through the aluminum bed, down to the frame. Attached are a few photos of what I did.

FWC flatbeds (... and I assume Fleet's as well) have reinforced flooring where the bolts run through the floor (see comment #31 in this thread https://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/13599-fwc-flatbed-discussion/?p=184394).
Slide-in Fleet's mount differently than flatbed Fleets. Based on your photos of the bed, with the 4 holes, did the previous owner have a slide-in or flatbed?

I removed the 1.5 inch risers on the bottom of my Fleet, including the front, trimming camper aluminum siding. I did not remove the back riser. It hangs over the rear by a few inches.

I used the bed mats/rubber padding that came with the camper from FWC. I think it helps prevent sliding. Not sure, though, I imagine the mounting setup I have prevents sliding as well!


So far, this setup has been very solid. Heading out out to SE Oregon in a few days to really exercise the setup.

happy Taco Tuesday,
todgru

 

[losttaco]

I have the exact same setup. Yes the FWC is bolted down with four M12 bolts with ~3" diameter 1/4" thick fender washers and nylock nuts. I used 21 mm head bolts so that you don't have to carry SAE tools for these 4 bolts and can tighten with a lug wrench. Hole position for the bolts was a bit of a trick. The back two bolts are in the cabinets under the dinette and were pretty easy. Measure very carefully to be in the wide part of the flatbed slats so the backing washers will fit, and drill from the top. The front two are in the water cabinet and propane cabinet. Again, measure very carefully! We drilled a small pilot hole first as a precaution in case the measurements were off, but got it first time.

You will also need to cut the rails off the sides of the bed, or add another stringer to the bottom of the camper to clear the rails. I didn't realize this until we went to install, so I added a 3/4" stringer in a bit of a hurry. But if you have time to plan, I would cut the rails off, so the camper sits lower. I also did not install the headache rack, it doesn't serve a purpose if you plan on leaving the camper on.

I have ~30,000 miles including some pretty rough 4WD. I have checked the bolts and mounts a few times, and they have not loosened of shifted at all.

Thanks for the fast response!

Could you should a photo of the underside of the tray where it bolts to? Did you add any reinforcements like the post below?

I should not have to cut off my sides, you had the flat bed version, i am only getting the slide in!

Thanks!

 

[losttaco]

LostTaco,

I have a Fleet slide-in and Ute flatbed on my 2014 Tacoma. I did not bolt through the floor of the Fleet. Instead, I used the existing tie down points on the Fleet and fabricated mounts that ran through the aluminum bed, down to the frame. Attached are a few photos of what I did.

FWC flatbeds (... and I assume Fleet's as well) have reinforced flooring where the bolts run through the floor (see comment #31 in this thread https://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/13599-fwc-flatbed-discussion/?p=184394).
Slide-in Fleet's mount differently than flatbed Fleets. Based on your photos of the bed, with the 4 holes, did the previous owner have a slide-in or flatbed?

I removed the 1.5 inch risers on the bottom of my Fleet, including the front, trimming camper aluminum siding. I did not remove the back riser. It hangs over the rear by a few inches.

I used the bed mats/rubber padding that came with the camper from FWC. I think it helps prevent sliding. Not sure, though, I imagine the mounting setup I have prevents sliding as well!


So far, this setup has been very solid. Heading out out to SE Oregon in a few days to really exercise the setup.








happy Taco Tuesday,
todgru

Thanks for taking the time to upload the photos and break that down. Your set up is looking very ideal to what I am going for. Awesome work! I see you're only a few hours away. I rafted and camped in Maupin a week ago.

The pervious owner made a custom camper, he has a build thread on tacoma world. very cool set up, made his own bolt down points. The FWC Should lay right over his points.

Here is the build thread:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1-bored-clerks-garage-built-camper.457359/page-109

Did you make the side doors as well?

Care to share the measurements of your bolt down points? Your idea makes me think I could pre mount four eye bolts going into the frame rail like you did and use the turnbuckles that are coming with the camper.

Reason for upgrading the turnbuckles? Preference?

Is the wood in place just to help keep it centered?


Thank you again!

 

[todgru]

> Thanks for taking the time to upload the photos and break that down. Your set up is looking very ideal to what I am going for. Awesome work! I see you're only a few hours away. I rafted and camped in Maupin a week ago.

I'm sure I saw your truck along the river. We have a view of the BLM road from our house. Did you have the flatbed mounted and maybe hauling an inflatable? I'm always looking out for cool camping rigs on that road!

> The pervious owner made a custom camper, he has a build thread on tacoma world. very cool set up, made his own bolt down points. The FWC Should lay right over his points.

> Here is the build thread:

> https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1-bored-clerks-garage-built-camper.457359/page-109

That's a great build thread! a lot going on in the 109 pages over several years. Looks like he had a few iterations of camper and tray installs. I'll have to spend some time going over it. Plenty of inspiration there!

> Did you make the side doors as well?

The lower half of the side doors came with the Ute. I also have a tailgate to use when the camper is off. I extended the sides using some scrap aluminum rail road signs I picked up from my neighbor. Used an old aluminum rail road crossing arm as a bumper. lol. Very functional and secure. Function over form!

> Care to share the measurements of your bolt down points? Your idea makes me think I could pre mount four eye bolts going into the frame rail like you did and use the turnbuckles that are coming with the camper.

I don't have measurements that would help you that much. For example, I installed the Ute bed as far forward as I could. I also kept the bed as close the frame as possible and still maintain enough clearance for the tires. Looks like your bed sits a bit higher. Do you have a lift on your truck? My truck sits at stock height.

I've included some more photos of the mounts it that will help at all.

I thought about using eyelets, but I couldn't figure out how to properly transfer the forces from the turnbuckles to the frame. I think the force on the eye bolts would a vertical and horizontal. The vertical force would pull up on the frame (this is good) and the horizontal force would push/pull on the aluminum bed surface (maybe ok? not sure). This may work ok, but I don't know.

One thing I forgot to mention: I moved the rear mounts on the camper, reinstalled them about 8" towards the rear. Stock from FWC, the rear mounts sit about in the middle of the camper. Moving them back made my install a little easier to deal with.

> Reason for upgrading the turnbuckles? Preference?

The aluminum turnbuckles that came with the camper from FWC can sometimes be a bit of challenge. In my old install on the regular truck bed, it was difficult to install and tighten the turnbuckles enough so they did not vibrate loose. In the flatbed version of the install, I used the Torklift because they are very easy to install and remove. Once they are set, I don't have to adjust anything. Should make life easier removing and installing the camper.

I also added the Torklift "Basic SpringLoad" mounts in the rear. I'm not sure how much the bed will flex so the springs may help distribute/absorb some of the twisting in the rear of the truck frame. The springs might not be needed - I know a lot of camper installs that don't use them - but I'm willing to experiment to see if they help or cause issues.

> Is the wood in place just to help keep it centered?

Yep! It also helps align the camper when installing. I haven't driven this setup on any back country roads yet (except a little trail we have here in town). I want to make sure if the camper starts to move around, it can't move far. The spacers might not be needed in the rear. Its a pretty tight fit between the mounts and the tub. The front mounts have about 1.5 inches of space between the tub of the camper and the mount point. I used some 2x4 as a shim.

At this point in my building and testing, if all the mounts fail, I can still ratchet strap the camper to the frame and limp home!

Also included some photos of the wind fairing I built. The camper sits about 4 inches higher on the flatbed. The fairing helps reduce wind noise. I doubt it'll have any impact on fuel economy.

This reply turned out a lot longer than I thought! sorry. We're heading to the Owyhee for week on Friday. That part of Oregon will give us plenty of road and trail to test out the mounting system.

 

[rando]

Oops, I missed the important detail that you have a slide in.

Securing the camper to either a flatbed or truckbed has been discussed quite extensively before. In general if you plan on frequently removing the camper, then turn buckles are the easiest and possibly best option as the alignment of the camper to the bed is not that critical. However, if you plan on leaving the camper installed most or all the time, then the bolt down installation is mechanically more robust and more reliable.

If you read through the forums, you will read a bunch of posts about turn buckles loosening and the camper shifting and even falling off. Mechanically, the issue is that the turnbuckles don't provide any shear resistance on their own, they achieve this by all being in tension and pulling against each other. If one loosens, the camper can then shift towards the opposing turn buckle causing it to loosen and so on. With bolts, each bolt is resistant to shear, so even if you have one or more loosen or fail (which is unlikely) it doesn't effect the ability of the other bolts to hold the load. In 5 years I have never removed my camper, so I don't know how hard it would be to align and reinstall it, but I imagine it would be a pain, which is why a lot of people still go with turn buckles.

Thanks for the fast response!

Could you should a photo of the underside of the tray where it bolts to? Did you add any reinforcements like the post below?

I should not have to cut off my sides, you had the flat bed version, i am only getting the slide in!

Thanks!

 

[losttaco]

> Thanks for taking the time to upload the photos and break that down. Your set up is looking very ideal to what I am going for. Awesome work! I see you're only a few hours away. I rafted and camped in Maupin a week ago.

I'm sure I saw your truck along the river. We have a view of the BLM road from our house. Did you have the flatbed mounted and maybe hauling an inflatable? I'm always looking out for cool camping rigs on that road!

> The pervious owner made a custom camper, he has a build thread on tacoma world. very cool set up, made his own bolt down points. The FWC Should lay right over his points.

> Here is the build thread:

> https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1-bored-clerks-garage-built-camper.457359/page-109

That's a great build thread! a lot going on in the 109 pages over several years. Looks like he had a few iterations of camper and tray installs. I'll have to spend some time going over it. Plenty of inspiration there!

> Did you make the side doors as well?

The lower half of the side doors came with the Ute. I also have a tailgate to use when the camper is off. I extended the sides using some scrap aluminum rail road signs I picked up from my neighbor. Used an old aluminum rail road crossing arm as a bumper. lol. Very functional and secure. Function over form!

> Care to share the measurements of your bolt down points? Your idea makes me think I could pre mount four eye bolts going into the frame rail like you did and use the turnbuckles that are coming with the camper.

I don't have measurements that would help you that much. For example, I installed the Ute bed as far forward as I could. I also kept the bed as close the frame as possible and still maintain enough clearance for the tires. Looks like your bed sits a bit higher. Do you have a lift on your truck? My truck sits at stock height.

I've included some more photos of the mounts it that will help at all.

I thought about using eyelets, but I couldn't figure out how to properly transfer the forces from the turnbuckles to the frame. I think the force on the eye bolts would a vertical and horizontal. The vertical force would pull up on the frame (this is good) and the horizontal force would push/pull on the aluminum bed surface (maybe ok? not sure). This may work ok, but I don't know.

One thing I forgot to mention: I moved the rear mounts on the camper, reinstalled them about 8" towards the rear. Stock from FWC, the rear mounts sit about in the middle of the camper. Moving them back made my install a little easier to deal with.

> Reason for upgrading the turnbuckles? Preference?

The aluminum turnbuckles that came with the camper from FWC can sometimes be a bit of challenge. In my old install on the regular truck bed, it was difficult to install and tighten the turnbuckles enough so they did not vibrate loose. In the flatbed version of the install, I used the Torklift because they are very easy to install and remove. Once they are set, I don't have to adjust anything. Should make life easier removing and installing the camper.

I also added the Torklift "Basic SpringLoad" mounts in the rear. I'm not sure how much the bed will flex so the springs may help distribute/absorb some of the twisting in the rear of the truck frame. The springs might not be needed - I know a lot of camper installs that don't use them - but I'm willing to experiment to see if they help or cause issues.

> Is the wood in place just to help keep it centered?

Yep! It also helps align the camper when installing. I haven't driven this setup on any back country roads yet (except a little trail we have here in town). I want to make sure if the camper starts to move around, it can't move far. The spacers might not be needed in the rear. Its a pretty tight fit between the mounts and the tub. The front mounts have about 1.5 inches of space between the tub of the camper and the mount point. I used some 2x4 as a shim.

At this point in my building and testing, if all the mounts fail, I can still ratchet strap the camper to the frame and limp home!

Also included some photos of the wind fairing I built. The camper sits about 4 inches higher on the flatbed. The fairing helps reduce wind noise. I doubt it'll have any impact on fuel economy.

This reply turned out a lot longer than I thought! sorry. We're heading to the Owyhee for week on Friday. That part of Oregon will give us plenty of road and trail to test out the mounting system.

So much information! Thank you! I started working on my mounts this morning (copying yours!). I like how you tied into the frame and other mounting points. I ordered some shouldered lifting eye bolts that are a few days out. I sourced some at HD for mock up today and got pretty far. I like what you did with the sides, I have them as well. I figured I was going to have to get someone to fab up storage boxes. I love the idea of utilized the door.

The seller of my camper is super helpful and gave me all the measurements. Painters tape did not want to stick on my bed so laid it out with some scrap wood.

If you look in the photos you will see four white paint spots on the tray. Those are the locations of the eyebolts on the camper. to help give me an idea.


I will do some welding tomorrow and see what I can do with the back.


Thanks again for the input. This thread will help many!








uploadimage

 

[losttaco]

Also noticed you added the middle support for the flat bed! That is on my list. I was blown away it comes with just four mounting points stock.

 

[todgru]

Also noticed you added the middle support for the flat bed! That is on my list. I was blown away it comes with just four mounting points stock.

yeah, I built a 3rd rail out of scrap. I'm not really satisfied how it turned out so I ordered a 3rd rail from Ute Ltd in Seattle. Both Ute and the distributor that sold me the bed said "we only install two rails on the Tacoma".

 

[todgru]

So much information! Thank you! I started working on my mounts this morning (copying yours!). I like how you tied into the frame and other mounting points. I ordered some shouldered lifting eye bolts that are a few days out. I sourced some at HD for mock up today and got pretty far. I like what you did with the sides, I have them as well. I figured I was going to have to get someone to fab up storage boxes. I love the idea of utilized the door.

The seller of my camper is super helpful and gave me all the measurements. Painters tape did not want to stick on my bed so laid it out with some scrap wood.

If you look in the photos you will see four white paint spots on the tray. Those are the locations of the eyebolts on the camper. to help give me an idea.


I will do some welding tomorrow and see what I can do with the back.


Thanks again for the input. This thread will help many!

Looking good! Keeps us posted how it goes. I'm curious what you come up with for the mounts and sides!

 

[losttaco]

Looking good! Keeps us posted how it goes. I'm curious what you come up with for the mounts and sides!

Did you order it from randy at ute Seattle? They told me the same thing about 2 rails and I hate it.



I will take photos of everything installed tomorrow. I welded the angle iron together and tied all four mounting points to the frame. Nothing perfect but better then just fender washers straight onto the tray. It will work for my two week journey of picking it up then I will clean it up. I am in a bit of a rush. Impulse bought the camper and have to leave Saturday night. installing my airbags tomorrow.

 

[kmacafee]

I know you will have a slide in but my method will possibly work. I have a flatbed camper mounted to an aluminum flatbed and wanted an alternative to bolting through the camper. I have helped a friend try to mount one and lining up those 4 bolts with a 1000+ pound camper suspended over them was stressful and, IMHO ridiculous.

I ran Torklifts from the jack brackets directly to the flatbed. In 80,000 miles, much of it offroad, the camper has never moved. And mounting and demounting it is pretty easy.

Hope this helps.

 

[losttaco]

Picked it up and made it home safe. Excited to play with it.