> 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.