FWC: Bolting straight to the truck bed

[Peak8109]

I just acquired a really old fleet model. The floor and walls are all made of wood and there is not an easy way to connect the camper to the bed of my tacoma. One of the previous owners drilled holes in the wood floor at each corner and bolted it straight to the truck bed (see pics). It seems like this might be the best option given that the wood might not be strong enough for the turnbuckle method (also not able to connect lift jacks to the corners because of this). Is there anything wrong with bolting it directly to the bed? I do plan to travel rough roads with it but nothing crazy.

 

[pvstoy]

No pictures.
Bolting through bed works.
Tacoma bed is composite, will have problems

 

[Peak8109]

Here is one of the existing holes from the previous owner and his bolt and washer setup. It's a first generation Tacoma (2002) so it has a metal bed, but the metal is quite thin. I brought it to a shop today and they said they could bolt it down and use steel brackets on the bottom. I think this is what FWC does at their shop. Is it unsafe to skip the turnbuckles?

 

[Kolockum]

I through bolted my 200 Eagle to the bed of my Dodge Dakota. I wish I could do it with my gen 3 Tacoma.

I would add a spacer (2x4 on edge) in front of the camper to prevent it from rubbing against the front of the bed. Then locate the cross supports under the truck bed and drill through those and into the floor of the camper (obviously doing the measurements to make sure it lines up). I would not worry about adding 4 more holes in the floor if it allowed me to get the bolt placement right. Then add some 4x4" plate steel on top to spread the load on the floor of the camper. I used nylon nuts to prevent them from rattling loose.

Also the fuel tank prevented me from drilling through the driver side front corner and I ended up using a turn-buckle with lock nuts on it.

 

[DavidGraves]

Hello

I think many early FWC campers were thru bolted.

I would advise that the thru bolting should be aligned with the cross-bed stiffener braces under your truck bed.

You might measure the holes locations first and see where they would locate on your truck bed.

Remember the camper front bumpers when trying to "plot" the holes on your bed.

With an older camper it might be fine to just drill new floor holes in the best locations for your bed.

Also, there is no reason not to add a third pair of thru bolts.

It is worth doing the best job you can.

FWC may have some advice for you also...or ATC.

Good luck with it.

David Graves

 

[Peak8109]

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[Kolockum]

Nice looking rig!

 

[Your Mileage May Vary]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I'd love to see what you ended up doing. I have a 1st gen Taco and I'm having ATC build me a Bobcat that will be permanently bolted in.

I've previously owned a FWC and after a couple of turnbuckles came loose – probably due to being over tightened by moi – I was always nervous about them, checking them every couple of hours. That was a lot of checking on my thru-drive from Tampa to Flagstaff, and back.

If I remember correctly, Jeff at ATC told me all (most?) the early pop tops were bolted in. The change over to the turnbuckle attachments was due to customer demand.