new ford f150 camper eyebolts install question

[hank]

Hi,
I just purchased a 04 hawk camper for my '15 ford f150. I called fwc to ask about the eyebolt install in the aluminum bed and used their guidelines for the eyebolt installation. While tightening the front turn buckles, the corners of the bed started lifting up. This definitely can't be right. I stalled the eyebolts about 3" from the front with 3"x5"x 3/16" thick aluminum backer plates underneath. Has anybody else installed a fwc on a new ford? how do I install the eyebolts properly??

Thanks for any input.

 

[kmacafee]

You should check in with FWC and see if they plan developing a mounting bracket similar to the one used for composite beds on Tacoma's. That bracket bolts thru the bed into the frame and is rock solid.

 

[hank]

Thanks for the reply! Do you happen to know what the toyota bracket looks like? Maybe I could get one welded up myself. I've got the front tied into the factory tie downs right now. It's a little worrysome. Hopefully it holds for the 1000km trip home.


Kootenay Livin...

 

[K7MDL]

I have a 2016 with a 2013 Hawk, just installed it March 31st, hit the road driving Seattle to Florida so far April 2 to now, retuning next month. So far no issues the way I have done it.

I used about the same size backing plates as you. I drilled my holes about 1/2" from the outer box beam flange edge. They are aluminum also with a pink isolation pad between the steel chassis and box beam. The idea is to clamp the backing plate to as much flange as possible.

I went further. I used 7/16" dia shank lifting eyebolts and isolated them from the aluminum by using white hard nylon flat washers and bushings cut to fit so there is no direct steel and aluminum contact. Used fender and regular SS washers on the top side of the bed stacked on the nylon washer. Seems to be super sturdy. Have not been off road yet, but plenty of solid road construction hits, enough to bust a boat motor bracket. The turnbuckles have remained tight., no visible warpage.

I had called FWC and they have not done anything special for our aluminum body trucks so far. We discussed the concern for dissimilar metal corrosion and they may look at altering their process a bit to isolate the eyebolt.

 

[hank]

Hmm... The flange you're talking about, is it right at the front of the bed or further back towards the wheel well? Also, what is a shank lifting eyebolt? Haha, so many questions..sorry.


Kootenay Livin...

 

[kmacafee]

Here's a link to the discussion with pictures.
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/3288-mounting-a-four-wheel-on-a-composite-tacoma/?p=35609

 

[hank]

Thanks for that link. Those are quite the brackets! I didn't realize it was mounted in the bed like that. I'd rather have something mounted underneath i think. I'll keep digging...I'll try calling fwc again. Last week they said there was no other specific mounting options for the new fords aluminum beds.

 

[K7MDL]

If you look underneath the bed, you will see U shaped channels that cross side to side to support the bed floor. The truck bed assembly as a whole rest on these channels. I call them box beams, since they are essentially square and long and support a load. The u shape is in contact with the steel chassis frame running perpendicular. The top of these box beams have a flange on each side about 1/2" wide and look like they have a spot weld of some sort to attach them to the bed floor.

You want the backing plate to distribute the loads to the box beam, and "clamping" the bed and flange is one way to do that. So I locate the holes as necessary to be within 1/2" of the box beam flange so the backing plate can reach it fully. The hole is also located in a bed valley or corrugation bottom channel. You do not want to crush the bed floor. You can use plastic hole plugs to cover unused bed floor holes.

The shank is the threaded portion under the round eye flange. You want one with threads all the way up close to the flange. The holes near the flanges are close enough to the FWC recommended hole locations to work fine. I believe my front holes are closer to 7 inches back from the front wall and about 6 inches from the back of the wheel well. When you study the channel locations under the bed it becomes more clear.

I can see an ultimate solution fabricating steel brackets bolted to the chassis bed supports and using bushings to prevent crushing emulating the way the bed bolts work. I did not have time for that.

I have pictures but they are at home 3500 miles away.

The Tacoma was a composite bed so no issues with metal to metal contact and bed corrosion.

 

[hank]

Holy moly, thanks so much for taking the time to explain all that! I literally just got home from picking up my hawk. It's too late to look at it some more, but I will this week. Surprisingly, the factory tie downs didn't budge and none of the turn buckles loosened! Thanks again!


Kootenay Livin...

 

[ntsqd]

FWIW the Galvanic potential between stainless steel and aluminum is higher than it is between carbon steel and aluminum. This is why mariners will tell you to never use stainless in bare aluminum. Looking at a galvanic potential chart, zinc plated steel is so close to aluminum that it should work fine.

Be aware that some polymers exhibit a "cold flow" tendency. Put them under a constant loading and over time they will squirm out from under it. Teflon is one of the worst for this, not sure about nylon.

 

[hank]

That is looking up at the first hole I drilled where it pulled the bed up as I was tightening the turn buckle
You're saying to overlap that front flange and drill through it as well?



Kootenay Livin...

 

[hank]

Hey K7MDL, how did you run your wiring from the battery to the truck bed?
thanks.

 

[K7MDL]

Marine rated breaker on the firewall near the battery then wire down over the fender and over body mount and inside the chassis (Has many holes in the side) then out and through a square tube under the transmission and out the other side and along the top of the chassis to where it needed to turn up into the truck bed front right corner. Down side of this route is if a repair ever requires the transmission to be dropped, the wire will prevent full removal of the support cross bar. I plan to put a connector in later for a run into my cab for ham radio power which should solve that problem. An ACR will also go in the cab there and I will bypass the isolator in the camper then. 3 wires, 2x6GA for power and 16GA for the marker lights, inside of split tube.