fastguns

[brett13]

Anyone ever try fastgun turnbuckles? Just curious if they work for the ATC/FWC application?

 

[lqhikers]

another tie down solution

after breaking 3 tie down bolts at the same time in baja i had to use tie down straps hooked to the corner jack mounting brackets,which led to the way i do it now.i still use the turnbuckles inside the bed but also added turnbuckles at all four corners. its been two years and lots of offroad use problem solved! see attached pics for my solution . just another idea i thought i'd share.drive slow and enjoy "its the Journey"

 

[brett13]

lqhikers,

Thanks for sharing that. Is that "tie down strap" between the bed and cab fixed or can you remove it when the camper is not on? What is the rear one grabbing, is it the bumper?

 

[lqhikers]

answer to brett13's question

the front attachment use's mounting bolts or holes that are in bed (my truck is a 2002 tacoma 4x4 so might not work with other trucks.can be removed but as i dont remove camper it stays mounted. the rear mounting is through end of bumper.as i believe in over building i have reinforced bumper support brackets. hope this answers your question. drive slow and enjoy,"its the Journey"

 

[benburnett]

fast guns

The fasguns work with an outside tie down system on the campers. I talked to torklift awhile ago about some fastguns to replace the inside turnbuckles and they do not make anything small enough yet that will work.

We have installed the outside ones on a couple of campers now and they seem to work great.

 

[Alex]

I've fastgun on mine, they work fine.

 

[lqhikers]

questin for alex

your rig (tacoma) is the same one my wife wants. i asked stan at fwc about how camper is mounted to composite bed. i see how you have it mounted in front but curious as to how it is mounted at rear AS you can see on a previous post on this thread i have double mounted my eagle on my 02 tacoma because of unit breaking loose.i know stan is busy so have not received answer yet! any help you could throw my way would help ,thanks Les.(lqhikers) Also it was a pic of your rig that made my wife decide we had to get a double cab!

 

[Tomas Tierra]

That is one SUPREME rig!!

 

[benburnett]

Mounting

The rear of the camper is mounted the normal way, with eye bolts and turnbuckles inside the truck bed. We have never had a problem with this system so far. I would be curious to know how you managed to keep breaking yours. I have only seen one break over the years and they admited to becoming air born to do it.

 

[lqhikers]

answer to ben on breakage

our eagle shell on 4x4 tacoma was broken loose on one of our trips to baja when we were following the baja race course down not a normal trip . we did some extreme 4 wheeling ,and yes we were air born a few times. on this same trip we broke the truck frame at the air bag mounting point.so that is why i have used factory mounted turnbuckles plus added mounts at 4 corners, i know if i had slowed down and enjoyed the drive it would not of happened! "its the journey"

 

[brett13]

on this same trip we broke the truck frame
How in the world? I've never actually heard this happen in the first person (always my brother's friend's uncle knew a guy that broke the frame). Was it driveable? Was it fixed and if so, how? Just curious, thanks for sharing.

 

[lqhikers]

answer to brett13

as i stated in previous post on baja trip the area that the air bags mounts on the frame (passenger side) split at the point the bracket mounts. dont know how long it was split before i noticed it not long as i checked everything that morning when we broke camp only 1 hr or so .field repair consisted of using a 3/4 inch breaker bar chained to frame and tightend down with bolts.once we found a welder we used a jack and i beam to straighten frame then just had to patch. turned out tacoma frame (anyway my 2002) is not boxed in in this spot ,drivers side is boxed because brake fitting are mounted in this spot.after this i called tech-non support at firestone explained what happened and made suggestion to supply added bracket to kit but they just blew me off with commit that they had never heard of any problems! o'well another lesson learned.! drive slow and enjoy "its the journey"

 

[brett13]

Bummer. Was the bag mount drilled through the frame in that spot? Any idea how much weight you were carrying? I'm just curious what it takes to do that.

 

[Alex]

your rig (tacoma) is the same one my wife wants. i asked stan at fwc about how camper is mounted to composite bed. i see how you have it mounted in front but curious as to how it is mounted at rear AS you can see on a previous post on this thread i have double mounted my eagle on my 02 tacoma because of unit breaking loose.i know stan is busy so have not received answer yet! any help you could throw my way would help ,thanks Les.(lqhikers) Also it was a pic of your rig that made my wife decide we had to get a double cab!

The rear is just like what Ben said it's mounted on the bed. It did not loosen on the way to Tea Kettle junction. You are doing some hardcore off road with your rig. I don't think my setup will survive in what you experienced with you 02 Taco. The 05+ Taco are "soft" in compare to pre-05 Taco.

 

[lqhikers]

brett13 more answers!

i have found over the years no matter what type of rig we have i seem to always overload it which is one of the reasons things do break ! but to answer your questions the kit that comes with airbags uses holes that are already in frame,but the brackets put all the pressure on the inside edge of frame which is not boxed hence the weakest spot where the crack started. on that trip we were loaded with 3extra 5 gal gas cans on back 20 gals of water propane bottle,kayak (double hobie )and everything else we take on 4to6 week trips to baja,.I have started to now use a trailer i built to use on and off road to carry gear works great and has not limited where we still go plus now i can also haul our dual-sport mc.! also having something to work on and repair keeps me entertained. i did promise wife that when she gets her new double cab like you have i would treat it better,seeing how new truck has less load rating i will use trailer more to save truck! drive slow and enjoy "its the journey" maybe we will cross paths in death valley someday as we go to saline valley and that area 1st two weeks of november.

 

[lqhikers]

correction on my last post!(alex and Brett13)

referring to brett13 i meant alex in regards to type of truck wife is getting,but am kind of wondering if the tundra is built the same ? frame boxed in or ,not,also have you ran across anyone who drives a v6 tundra,wonder how they stack up against a v6 tacoma! drive slow and enjoy "its the journey"

 

[lqhikers]

brett13 more answers!

i have found over the years no matter what type of rig we have i seem to always overload it which is one of the reasons things do break ! but to answer your questions the kit that comes with airbags uses holes that are already in frame,but the brackets put all the pressure on the inside edge of frame which is not boxed hence the weakest spot where the crack started. on that trip we were loaded with 3extra 5 gal gas cans on back 20 gals of water propane bottle,kayak (double hobie )and everything else we take on 4to6 week trips to baja,.I have started to now use a trailer i built to use on and off road to carry gear works great and has not limited where we still go plus now i can also haul our dual-sport mc.! also having something to work on and repair keeps me entertained. i did promise wife that when she gets her new double cab like you have i would treat it better,seeing how new truck has less load rating i will use trailer more to save truck! drive slow and enjoy "its the journey" maybe we will cross paths in death valley someday as we go to saline valley and that area 1st two weeks of november.

 

[Alex]

referring to brett13 i meant alex in regards to type of truck wife is getting,but am kind of wondering if the tundra is built the same ? frame boxed in or ,not,also have you ran across anyone who drives a v6 tundra,wonder how they stack up against a v6 tacoma! drive slow and enjoy "its the journey"
My ATC Bobcat is pretty loaded, it weights 900lbs dry. With water, propane and all our gears (for about a week) I would think the camper weights about ~1100lbs. The V6 Taco with auto is really working hard (sometimes needs to down shift to 3rd reving at 3500+ rpm) when going over mountain pass. I've changed the shocks to Belstine 5100 and add AirLift spring. When the cross wind is really strong I can feel the truck is moving but not to the degree I'll be worry. The Taco is very comfortable on long distance travel. I got the camper and truck in April/March I've 12000 miles on it already. I'm thinking getting the rear leaf spring replace, there is a Toyota TSB on it, with a stronger one from Toyota. The stock tires from Toyota is P rated so I'm debating getting load range D 265/75/16 or load range E 235/85/16. I hope with these will help to make the Taco feel more solid.

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

One of the lessons I'm beginning to learn, LQ, is that I need to get a welder and some more steel fab equipment!

 

[brett13]

referring to brett13 i meant alex in regards to type of truck wife is getting,but am kind of wondering if the tundra is built the same ? frame boxed in or ,not,also have you ran across anyone who drives a v6 tundra,wonder how they stack up against a v6 tacoma! drive slow and enjoy "its the journey"

The 4.7L V8 version of the new Tundra is the same engine in my Landcruiser, which actually weighs a little less unloaded. I can tell you that is underpowered for hauling; even barely adequate for empty. The 06 and earlier tundra's weighed a lot less empty, so it was probably adequate. I have the 5.7L V8 and you don't even know the camper is back there. From some forums I'm on, I understand the 4.7 gets the same or worse gas mileage than the 5.7 because it has to work much harder, so I don't think there is much incentive to go with the smaller engine. Don't think you can even get a new tundra with a v6.

The new Tundras have a "triple tech" frame- fully boxed under the engine, reinforced c-channel under the cab and open c-channel under the bed. In my research, I came across someone claiming Toyota used some advanced metalurgy in this frame to make it much stronger. Some claim it is really a 3/4 (like a chevy 2500) ton truck, although Toyota rates the payload at 1650 in my doublecab and I don't think it is quite as strong as a 3/4t. It handled my load really well- so well I am going to wait a while before adding airbags, although I probably will anyway. Ask Ben about the 06 Tundra Doublecab frames, they are a little weak in the back for certain setups.