Installation tie down points

[Jollyrogers]

I am getting ready to install into my new truck and haven’t had much luck sourcing forged bolts locally. I haven’t made the drive to home depot yet, so that is an option. Was thinking of buying these and some aluminum flat
stock to create giant washers under the bed of my Ram. Any opinions or helpful ideas?


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00029NA5G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_79NUEbKCCFDGX

 

[Oilbrnr]

Use the factory tie-down points with these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073H6NCST/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'd also bought those anchor points, and sent them back. OEM points are fine. Assuming you're talking about a FWC...

 

[jimjxsn]

You might check with FWC for what they recommend. There is also that sort of hardware on rigging sites like here - https://www.e-rigging.com/half-inch-x-one-and-one-half-inch-stainless-shoulder-eye-bolt

I have an ATC and what you linked to look very much like what they installed on my Tundra and they used large fender washer on the back side. I remember my old Tundra (with a FWC) did have larger backing plates as I recall.

 

[rando]

I have had pretty spotty luck with hardware on Amazon. For non-structural stuff it is likely fine, but some of the stuff I have ordered that was supposedly 316 SS ended up rusting. From the reviews, those look like they are not well passivated and will corrode quickly.

McMaster has a huge variety of eye bolts and hoist rings, may be a good place to start. Also if you can get metric, you won't need to carry a special wrench just for your tie downs: https://www.mcmaster.com/eyebolts/eyebolts-for-lifting-6/system-of-measurement~metric/

 

[TrapperMike]

^^^ I second rando's recommendation of McMaster-Carr. That's where I sourced my forged eye bolts and other stuff for installing the FWC in my newer truck. Their stuff is quality.

 

[Fishyhead]

I bought some Chicago (USA Made) forged 1/2 Eye Bolts for my install. The problem for me was that 6", 1/2" turnbuckles are pretty long. The front ones are nearly bottomed out to work. In hindsight, I should have gone with 5/16" ones for my truck.

 

[Jollyrogers]

Thanks I forgot about mcmaster-carr.

So here is another link for these. They are zinc coated, breaking strength of 2600lbs, and working load of 866.

I am looking at them specifically because I can remove the eyebolt whenever not wanted. Also they got great reviews, and one (c eastman) said he used them for his camper. It is for a FWC, I about puked when I heard the install kit price, so not going that route. I am not running electric.

Someone mentioned going to the tie downs in the bed of the truck with turnbuckles. Really? How long have you run like this and over what kind of roads.


http://usaprogrip.com/products/ratchets-3-2/bar-handle-2-2-4-2-2/

 

[Vic Harder]

Those are cool anchor points. Not sure I would want to try those... never fun being the first.

Same thing with the factory tie downs. As far as I know, those are not rated for the kinds of loads the camper will put on them.

 

[Jollyrogers]

Those are cool anchor points. Not sure I would want to try those... never fun being the first.

Same thing with the factory tie downs. As far as I know, those are not rated for the kinds of loads the camper will put on them.

So these are not rated for the loads the camper will put on them? Or are you saying the factory tie downs aren’t either. What kind of loads will be put on the bolts and the bed of my truck? I really am looking for help here, a direct link to what I should get. I go to a website to order forged shoulder bolts and it’s sort of overwhelming.

The ones I linked at progrip have been used by someone with a camper, but I don’t know details.

Would these be more appropriate? The “vertical capacity” is 2600lbs, not sure if that’s operating load or breakage?


https://www.mcmaster.com/8891t53-8891T53

 

[Vic Harder]

those bolts look fine, although I bet someone will point out that stainless steel isn't as strong as forged steel. What I like about those is the flare at the bottom where it would sit on a washer or supporting structure. Have you seen the mounting video?

I have 1/4" x 3" x 6" chunks of aluminum under by truck bed for each mounting bolt. Just using fender washers is not enough.

 

[m.r.h.]

I know it was mentioned about ordering from FWC but I am curious what the "install kit" all included and how much it was. The eyebolts in some of those links seem to be 10-40 a piece.

A few months ago I bought hardware to add to my camper and truck, see photo below, through FWC and it was like $100-150.

 

[Jollyrogers]

I don’t want to order from FWC.

So what are the loads these bolts, turn buckles, and truck beds are exposed to?

I imagine the turnbuckles I got when the camper was installed don’t come near being able to withstand what either bolts I listed can manage.

 

[Oilbrnr]

Again, the factory FCA RAM tie-downs (assuming gen 3 or newer) are more than sufficient, and significantly stronger than the FWC kitted turnbuckles (with open hook ends and no jam nut or locking device to prevent loosing). If you hit something on or off-road that is sufficient enough to break one or multiple factory points, you've got bigger issues to worry about than the camper in your bed.

I have thousands of off-road dirt miles with zero loosing or other issues. Many of these miles would be considered 'extreme' off-roading by normal FWC owner's experiences.

Remember, your truck bed is designed to carry a load with downward forces, not pulling upwards on the sheetmetal. There was a post here recently showing just that on a Titan. All four corners of the bed floor were bent upwards even with large backing plates. To be fair, I got the impression that the guy was more of an off-roader like myself, and I'd be willing to bet money that his turnbuckles loosened and was the true cause of the issue. Once a buckle gets some slack, they will continue to loosen as the truck rocks and rolls over obstacles.

 

[rando]

If you are thinking of installing new tie downs in your truck bed and therefore aren't afraid of drilling some new holes, have you considered directly bolting the camper to the bed and getting rid of the turnbuckles all together? That is how our camper is secured to the flatbed, and we have had no issue in 25,000 miles, some of it quite rough. I have checked the bolts a few times, but they have never needed tightening.

While I understand why turnbuckles are used to leverage existing mounting points, they are not really a great solution. If one or two loosen, then the camper can shift slightly and loosen the remaining turn buckles. With through bolting, the hard ware is easy (we used M12 10.9 bolts with nylock nuts) and each connection is independent. If one bolt loosens, it is independent of the other 3.

The only other downside to bolting is aligning the camper if you remove/install it a lot, but there are options for this as well.

 

[PaulT]

There is another, possible, downside in Oregon to directly bolting the camper to the truck. It converts the unit from a truck carrying a slide-in camper to a motorhome for licensing, insurance, and could raise other issues due to the change of status.

Paul

 

[Jollyrogers]

Thanks all, good discussions.

Oilbrnr, I am running a 2018 Ram 2500, with a 2015 Hawk loaded out, that is going into the bed. So you have been running yours using only connections to the stock tie downs using the turn buckles you listed earlier. I guess that is an option, but everything I read suggests otherwise, and one of the reasons I was asking about forces being placed in the truck and the mounts.


Permanently mounting is not really what I want to do. I pull the camper off between july-aug and nov-april usually. The truck is driven mostly by my wife, and rather not have it there if not being used.

However, the truck does have mounts for a 5th wheel. Wonder if I could devise a way to connect to those somehow?