Mounting Question for FWC Ranger..

[Tomas Tierra]

Hello All,

I am Mounting my FWC Ranger model on a 2002 Tundra.

The bed of the truck is a bit wider than the camper. Should I mount my "eyebolts" towards the center of the bed??? or more towards the side of the bed?? or split the difference? not sure..

all 2 cents welcome!

Tom

 

[pvstoy]

all 2 cents welcome!

Mine is bolted to the bed.

But, I think if you went off 45 degrees and mount the eye bolts were the turn buckle falls all the way around, then you would have a even pull on the camper.

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45 degrees

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[Tomas Tierra]

Thanks Patrick..

Bolting through is the way to go I think. Worked like a charm on my old rig..having trouble bringing myself to drill holes in the floor of the new one..it sits nicely on the t-100 with the turnbuckle/eyebolt program. Hoping it will on the Tundra as well...

Thanks for the spare change!

TT

 

[jimjxsn]

Hi Tomas,
I mounted the eyelets more toward the edge. The back ones are about as far back as possible. All turnbuckles angle towards the front so the camper is really pulled toward the front wall of the truck bed. I lay a 2x4 on edge in front of the camper to keep the front of the camper from hitting the top rail of the bed as it is pulled forward. I have a spray in bed liner so the camper doesn’t move much at all. I do use some extenders for the back turnbuckles because they don’t reach. I use hooks I cut off an old set of ratcheted straps bit you could use something like quick links.

 

[Tomas Tierra]

All turnbuckles angle towards the front so the camper is really pulled toward the front wall of the truck bed. .
..

Thanx Jim,

First I've heard of this mounting alignment. Can the factory boys chime in on this? It makes sense on the camper to long for the truck bed situation. I am planning on mounting on thursday this week. Gathering info.
Thanx All..

TT

 

[jimjxsn]

Tomas,
What I did was ask the guy I bought the camper from, where his eyebolts were placed and put mine as close to his measurements as I could.

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Thanx Jim

I'm not sure if I want to fix both front and rear tunbuckles pulling forward. Seems like the rear end of the camper might want to "jump" a little. Seems like it might make sense though,as the camper is very long for the truck...

Not Sure, calling Chicali at the factory foradvice.....

TT

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Chicali recomends the way you did it Jim..Forward, forward.

Going drilling!

TT

 

[benburnett]

Mounting camper

The all forward will work but you are right. It will give the back of the camper a chance to jump up if you hit the right bump. I have seen all the turnbuckles going forward and there are some applications that they just about have too.

The best set up though is to have the front ones pulling forward and the back ones almost straight up and down or pulling a little to the rear. This will prevent the camper from moving at all in most cases. If you measure the distance from the front of the camper to the rear eye nuts, this should give a good reference on where to put the back eye bolts. Don't forget to allow for the distance that you are going to keep the camper from the front wall of the truck.

Also don't go too far back because the back of the camper flares out and you don't want your rear eye bolts to end up under that part of the camper.

As to the placement of the eye bolts, you don't want to be pulling to far sideways either. Do not go over a 45 angle to hook up your turnbuckles.

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Thanks Ben, the holes are drilled.

Airbags and Rancho 9000's tomorrow..BFG ko's went on today..mo muny, mo muny,mo muny!

 

[Tomas Tierra]

The all forward will work but you are right. It will give the back of the camper a chance to jump up if you hit the right bump.


The camper tried to jump in the back seat
The turn buckles never came loose so I'm sure the camper will jump again. I had both turnbuckles mounted pulling forward. I know when I caused the damage and it wasn't that hard of a hit.

Not bad damage, but I will definately be installing some sort of bumper/seperator between camper and truck.
JimJxsn talked about a 2x4 between camper and front wall. I've seen also rubber bump stops mounted on wood..what are others using??

A strong case for bolting through the floor.(or listening to LQ )

 

[Tomas Tierra]

the good news is...no damage to the camper!



Another shot of the minimal damage to truck.....

 

[chnlisle]

Tom,
I used to put a 2x4 between the FWC and the front of the box. The guy installed a couple of dock bumpers on my current FWC. Seemd like a good idea. I guess now we all know the proper way to mount the back eye bolts. Glad the damage was minimal.

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Hi Jay,

I had no choice on the mounting as the camper is 8 ft, and the bed is 6 ft.
I had to go forward/forward.

I'm thinking about 1 BIG master bolt through the floor just to keep it in place. Center / front I guess? Or maybe in the back to keep the back down...not sure.

How you felling Jay???

 

[kcowyo]

My top rail looks the same. Looking between the bed and cab, my top rail was bent forward enough that it was almost touching the back of the cab.

I took two 2x4's, cut em to size, nailed them together and use those as a spacer now at the front of the bed. This has prevented the camper from sliding forward into the top rail.

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

Here are a couple of pictures of the rubber bumper we have been using the past few years.

They seem to be working out well to keep the camper away from the front of the truck bed.

The lower portion, on the front wall of the truck bed (where the bottom of the truck bed attaches to the front wall of the truck bed) is much stronger than the top rail of the front wall.


.

 

[pvstoy]

Hi Jay,

I had no choice on the mounting as the camper is 8 ft, and the bed is 6 ft.
I had to go forward/forward.

I'm thinking about 1 BIG master bolt through the floor just to keep it in place. Center / front I guess? Or maybe in the back to keep the back down...not sure.
How you felling Jay???


One is not good. It will lift and pull and move and wear a bigger hole. I think it would be all four bolt through the floor or none at all.

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Patrick you make sense. Such a pain lining up those holes every time though, especially with the rubber mat sliding around.

I hate to push the camper back even a couple of inches as I am fighting the center of gravity being rear already.Every little bit counts

Stan, thanx for posting, good info. If the camper is "jumping" or tilting forward i think it still may touch even with the bumpers. Its no big deal really, its only a truck bed.

Thanx all.

TT

 

[chnlisle]

Tom,
I feel great. Pam and I just got back from a day trip to Ft. Huachuca ( I was there in '68) Bisby, Douglas and Tombstone.

Thanks to Stans pix I now know the bumpers are a FWC add on. I know what you mean about the long FWC on a short bed thats why I used the 2x4when I had the T100 and your camper. When I did a bolt through on my first FWC it was a PITA to line everything up.