No more turnbuckles.

ScottBailey

ScottBailey

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Joined
Jul 22, 2008
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Location
Mesa, AZ
[thread=1822]After 8 miles, my turnbuckles came loose.[/thread] The eye-bolts were not spreading the vibrating load well enough. So I decided to bolt straight through the camper and skip turnbuckles.

I got 8 4"x4"x0.25" steel plates. I cleaned them up, and drilled 3/8" holes through the middles. On 4 of them, I filed the hole square to accept a 3/8" carrier bolt. Then painted everything.

Positioned the camper painstakingly.

Then positioned the "carrier" plates, marked, and drilled. The front plates are near the front corners, while the rear are froward of the end of the "in-step". The rear driver side might get hit by the the end of the overload spring at full compression. I can't imagine getting those springs to full compression, though, but I'll keep my eye out. Pulled the passenger side rear in a bit before drilling. Left the driver side where it was since I don't want to trip on it (see the picture).

I used 2.5" bolts for all but the risky corner. Decided to put a 2" in that corner. So, plates on the bottom, washer, lock-washer, and nut. Tighten it all up and I'll take it to work for a test spin before I try that dirt road again....

Here are the pics:
  • Hardware ready to go.
  • Driver side front (dinette still isn't done!).
  • Driver side rear. See why I left it there?
  • Underneath. Lots of room between bed and anything else.
 

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Very nice. Do you keep the camper on permanently? If not, then you have to crawl under each time to secure the bolts right?

Just wondering, Ben always told me hand tighten the turnbuckles, then 1/2 turn with a screw driver and don't overtighten. I thought not overtightening was so the camper could move independent of the truck bed a little. But bolt through eliminates an independence and makes the camper flex with the truck, which seems to be ok I guess. So, why did Ben say not to overtighten?
 
two small====== that bed is just tin

you need bigger plates welded or bolted on your truck

the camper looks ok

on the truck side your just askin for problems
 
Thanks, guys!

The camper is permanent. But I can install this hardware as quickly as the turnbuckles. Also, if I use drift pins, I suspect I can center the camper faster with this install.

Next time I take the camper off, I intend to drill the inside plates at each of the four corners and run 1/2" screws into the floor so I don't need a helper in the camper while I'm cranking underneath. I'll do something similar on the underside plates so they are permanent mounted, also... That should make camper on and off a relative breeze!
 
two small====== that bed is just tin

you need bigger plates welded or bolted on your truck

the camper looks ok

on the truck side your just askin for problems

I'm going to give this a try. But if, as you suggest, it's not sturdy enough, I'm going to c-channel across the underside of the bed. Unless someone has a better suggestion?
 
also a ford has the most flex in the bed than the other trucks

Im just refering to the ford, gm, international, and dodge 8ft beds I dont know any thing about others.

so I think you should do more home work before you put it to the test

Its your money not mine ( lock nutz on turnbuckles are cheap)
 
I looks like that is one of those Teflon lock nuts? If so it should be fine as is but if not I'd go ahead and double nut it to be safe. No comment on whether the underside pads are big enough, time will tell I guess.
 
Im not talking about lock nuts on the the though the floor and bed plates.
Im refering to the turnbuckles
 
lock nutz on turnbuckles are cheap
OK, I'm not sure where your going with this... My initial problem was bed flex at the eye bolt mount point. Doesn't matter how much lock nuts on turnbuckles are, because they can't help! If I reinforce the bed at those locations, I might have something, but that's no different than what I did.

As far as cost of repairs, I think it's likely I'll do less damage w/ bolt-through than eye-bolts. Based on my observation...

Pods, those are lock nuts. I chose lock nuts + lock washers instead of double nutting. I have at least one spare and a wrench in the camper. Just in case. I might throw another nut on later, but I'm gonna give it a trial run as is.
 
OK, I'm not sure where your going with this... My initial problem was bed flex at the eye bolt mount point. Doesn't matter how much lock nuts on turnbuckles are, because they can't help! If I reinforce the bed at those locations, I might have something, but that's no different than what I did.


What he's getting at is if you can keep the turn buckles from spinning it doesn't matter if they flex some, they won't wiggle free if they can't unscrew enough.
 
what he's getting at is if you can keep the turn buckles from spinning it doesn't matter if they flex some, they won't wiggle free if they can't unscrew enough.

yes yes yes
 
if you can keep the turn buckles from spinning it doesn't matter if they flex some, they won't wiggle free if they can't unscrew

I was ready to go with safety wire (same function as lock nut), but when I looked close I found the turnbuckles were NOT FLEXING ENOUGH and my truck bed pulled up about 1/4" where the eye bolts mount. Nutting turnbuckles won't help.

The eye bolts and turnbuckles are just fine on the freeway and gravel. The problem is wash-board roads...
 
I was ready to go with safety wire (same function as lock nut), but when I looked close I found the turnbuckles were NOT FLEXING ENOUGH and my truck bed pulled up about 1/4" where the eye bolts mount. Nutting turnbuckles won't help.

The eye bolts and turnbuckles are just fine on the freeway and gravel. The problem is wash-board roads...

? about your truck bed pulled up about a 1/4 inch-- Did you beef up your bed with metal, or did you just use a eye bolt and washers?
 
I was ready to go with safety wire (same function as lock nut), but when I looked close I found the turnbuckles were NOT FLEXING ENOUGH and my truck bed pulled up about 1/4" where the eye bolts mount. Nutting turnbuckles won't help.

The eye bolts and turnbuckles are just fine on the freeway and gravel. The problem is wash-board roads...

Not saying going to bolting through the floor won't prove to be better suited for your needs, but the bed pulling up again isn't an inherent flaw in the turnbuckles themselves rather than eye bolt placement/load distribution.
 
? about your truck bed pulled up about a 1/4 inch-- Did you beef up your bed with metal, or did you just use a eye bolt and washers?

ATC installed eye bolts and BIG washers. Not good enough. Neither washers nor bed retained shape. I expect this mounting works for 95% of ATC & FWC's customers. I am the other guy.

Why is beefing eye bolt mounts superior to bolt through? What would you suggest for beefing eye bolts? What size lower plates do you suggest for my bolt through?
 
ATC installed eye bolts and BIG washers. Not good enough. Neither washers nor bed retained shape. I expect this mounting works for 95% of ATC & FWC's customers. I am the other guy.

Why is beefing eye bolt mounts superior to bolt through? What would you suggest for beefing eye bolts? What size lower plates do you suggest for my bolt through?

I wouldn't say either is more superior, they both just need to be set up correctly. With either you are going to want to make sure the load is distributed enough to not pull up your truck bed but that is a function of how the mounts are applied to your application and not the mounting style itself. As to how much distribution is needed I don't know. Luckily I have a frame cross member right there I was able to go through.

I think what is mainly being said is if you keep the turn buckles for spinning there isn't anything inherently wrong that requires going to bolt through in the bed. But on the other hand there are other perks to doing that like wide open cubbyholes outside each turn buckle port for additional storage. :thumb:
 
Scott,
I use a 4 inch square piece of quarter inch T3. When I just used big washers in my old T100 I actually broke the corner weld.
 
I have been bolt through the floor on two different FWC. Both have been great for me. The 2001 FWC Ranger has been since 2001. It has been down the worst roads and fourwheeled. It has been airborned and corner loaded (attack of the 500 pound cow elk).

For this truck bed and camper bolt woks for me. It has clamping force so the camper can not shift or move to accelerate that causes damage. Unlike the floating action with turnbuckles.

My frame is a box frame and not much bed flex. The Ford will flex but so does the camper. Ben had a picture of a Ford going up a hill and you could see the bed flexing and the camper also flexing in the side. It was bolted.

Go with your comfort level how you will mount your camper.
 
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