So you like to go on really rough roads...

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slash2

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For example Steel Pass, Lippincott Rd, Mengal Pass for those familiar with the Death Valley area. 4wd low range rock garden kind of stuff...

What extra steps, add ons, tricks, if any, do you employ to make sure your pop up camper stays securely mounted to the truck and the interior contents don't go flying around. What extra steps do you do to minimize damage and wear beyond what you should expect by going places that are rough on equipment?

I have the factory FWC rubber pads under my FWC Fleet, 6 turn buckles hopefully adjusted just right to hold the camper to my 2011 Tacoma, 2" extra lift with Firestone airbags. Inside I have bungee cords and straps/cargo nets holding coolers and loose stuff in place. In the cabinets I stuff extra roles of paper towels and cloth towels to keep the contents from shifting/bouncing around and getting disorganized.

What tricks do you use?

/2
 
I do not use elastic anything, no bungies of any sort. 1" webbing & Fastex type buckles - footman lops as needed, 1" ratchet straps, occasionally the motorcycle cam straps, and my wife found these: https://www.amazon.com/Nite-Ize-Loopable-Original-Integrated/dp/B00SHBMSDG/ which have proven incredibly handy for hanging & securing things. For instance, one of them casually wrapped around the paper towels has stopped it from unraveling. Adhesive backed Velcro is also your friend.
 
Hello slash2
Refrigerator held in place with Engle factory mounting base and 2 nylon straps. Porto potty has one nylon strap over top and one bungee across the front. Do not fill with water, only about a gallon. Some stuff on floor for travel not much. Have installed some of the netting against the walls for misc light items, very useful. Also recently have used fabric boxes behind couch.
Something like these.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/15x11x9-Fabric-Storage-Baskets-and-Bin-Organizer-for-Home-With-Handles/264304685067?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item3d89c9700b:m:mi2avSx8y84y9tMIp5VF0xw


Works well no problems so far. Also use cardboard boxes in cabinet’s this I have found to be very good at , organizing, moving in and out, searching for items I don’t remember where they are.

Russ
 
Great suggestions, thanks!

Rather than stuff the whole cabinet with towels I could just lay one towel over things and then use knoxswifts tension bars to hold stuff in place.

I have some heavy duty wire ties that I wrap around my turn buckles to keep them from loosening, but not with loops in one end like ntsqd's, those look like they would work much better.

cougarcouples fabric bags could be pretty handy too!

Does anyone do anything exotic with attaching the camper to the bed, like spring loaded turnbuckles or extra rubber pads between the bed and the camper?
 
Air Down! Seriously, this is the single most important thing you can do when driving on the types of roads you describe.

Last month I took a 4x4 driving course from Bob Wohlers at the Off-Road Safety Academy. Bob drives a Ram Power Wagon with a FWC Hawk on the back so he knows a thing or two about wheeling these heavy rigs.

I'd always aired down a bit, but was somewhat tentative about it. I'd reduce tire pressure by maybe 5-8 lbs. Bob recommends reducing pressures by 50% from normal street pressure as a starting point. With my GMC 2500HD and Hawk I reduce to 23 lbs front, 25 lbs rear. I can go even lower if needed for short stretches in deep sand or mud. I was amazed at how much more capable and comfortable my truck was off road when aired down.

Airing down has so many benefits off road. Softer tires provide a softer ride which makes it more comfortable and reduces wear and tear on the vehicle. It produces a larger contact patch for the tires so you get better traction. It also makes the tires much more resistant to puncture by sharp rocks.

Of course, when you air down you have to slow down. You can't go rolling down a dirt road at 45 mph with low pressures. However, with the kind of roads OP was asking about, 10-15 mph would be normal speeds. You'll also need on-board air or some other way to air up before you get back on the pavement.
 
My suggestions, although you probably know most of these, include

1. Reduce your tire pressure
2. Disconnect your rear sway bar if you have one.
3. Reduce your airbag pressure to something like 5 psi.

The whole idea is to allow the rear half of the truck to flex with the camper on it. Some people also loosen their turnbuckles but I don’t recommend it.

And of course the most obvious thing is to slow down ;-)
 
Airing down, definitely! I drop down to 24 front and 28 back with my KO2's once I hit the gravel. Less if it's sand or mud.

Unfortunately I can't air down my air bags. I have a bad case of "Taco Lean" and along with my water tank and two extra batteries on the drivers side in the camper, the only way I can get my truck to sit level is with 80 PSI in the drivers side air bag and 15 PSI in the passenger side. Weird I know. I don't get it, underneath every thing looks good, new HD springs, everything seems right, it just droops like melted wax to the left, even without the camper on it. I hear it's common but nobody has been able to explain to me why.
 
Slash2,

I'll second or third airing down (and definitely not loosening the turnbuckles!). However, your lean problem is extremely odd and should not be the result of the batteries and water tank. The fact that it leans without the camper strongly indicates something is up with the springs—that shouldn't happen, period. I would have them thoroughly checked out.
 
Thanks JHanson, but from what I've been able to learn, Taco Lean is a thing, a fairly common thing for 2nd Gen Tacoma's, at least according to my research on the Internet. Not enough for recalls, not enough for the service guy at Toyota to have a remedy for me other than bringing it in for full diagnostic ($$$) without assurance that they knew what it was and could fix it, but enough of thing for it to be searchable on the internet and for my mechanic and a handful of other Tacoma owners to know enough about it to say the only way they knew how to fix it was with air bags.

I replaced the rear springs, didn't fix it. The airbags fixed it, killed two birds with one stone by lifting the weight of the camper and was ultimately cheaper than taking it in to Toyota, so I'm okay with it for now..... at least till something breaks.
 
Timely for me as I drove up Steel Pass last Tuesday, as mentioned...air down, and drive slow and smart to avoid damage. I have a strip of nylon webbing with snaps on each end on my silverware drawer and on my pantry (old ice box) door that keep them secure. The few items on the floor of the camper are on carpet and don’t slide much. My turnbuckles have the commonly used star washers and wing nut to keep them secure. As mentioned, I drove up steel and out south pass a few days later, all turnbuckles remained secure. I also run King shocks with compression adjusters which I set to firm when I’m on anything rocky or off camber that really takes a lot of sway and rocking out. That’s about it, as someone told a me a long time ago, Slow is Pro.
 
Tell me about star washers and wing nuts! I'm not up on that one!

OMG, is that as simple as putting a star washer and wing nut on the eye bolt and running it down on the body thingy part? That's brilliant and so simple I feel like an idiot for not thinking about it!

I love stuff like that! Thanks!
 
SunMan said:
Timely for me as I drove up Steel Pass last Tuesday, as mentioned...
Click to expand...
Is Steel Pass doable with stock lift? Our Tacoma has E rated tires and Sumosprings, but no further upgrades. So we are stock height.
 
Regarding the lean - we have a wildland fire engine (large International) that was one of three all the same. One engine has always had a similar lean to the drivers side and no amount of head scratching during several trips back to the dealer and looked at by the San Dimas Center could figure it out. Doesn't seem to cause any issues, but it still is odd.
 
Rubberlegs, you'll probably be fine, especially if you use a spotter. With stock lift you will probably scrape bottom on the rock steps in Dedeckera Canyon, but you can always stack rocks to ease the angles a bit. Do a Youtube search for Dedeckera Canyon and you'll be able see every inch of it from every angle! Then you can decide if it's for you. The Saline Valley side of Steel pass is slow with lots of cobbles and some tight turns, but it deserves being taken slow and appreciated, the views are beautiful and there are some hidden surprises along the way if you know where to look.

/2
 
slash2 said:
slash2, on 17 Nov 2019 - 5:41 PM, said:
is that as simple as putting a star washer and wing nut on the eye bolt and running it down on the body thingy part?
Click to expand...
Yup.
 
rubberlegs said:
rubberlegs, on 17 Nov 2019 - 7:47 PM, said:
Is Steel Pass doable with stock lift? Our Tacoma has E rated tires and Sumosprings, but no further upgrades. So we are stock height.
Click to expand...
I would say yes. IF you have experience driving conditions like that.
Other considerations would be the type of Tacoma. Do you have a full double cab and longer bed, which would give you a longer wheel base? That could make it more challenging clearance wise.
 
I normally do not air down. When I do I rarely go below 35 psi (from 50 psi) and usually only go to 40 psi as I have found from experimenting that this is usually enough. It does help, but the philosophy of airing down radically came about in the days when the guiding idea for suspension was stiff everything, springs and shocks. These days much better and more supple springs & shocks are available. I firmly believe that the airing down mindset hasn't yet caught up with technology. An aired-down tire is much, much easier to cut and bruise. Add in wet and the situation gets a lot worse.

That said, were I heading over Saline Valley Rd. I would air down and take it slow. That road is too rough to drive fast in a heavy rig.

As to Steele Pass in a stock height vehicle, it's going to depend on the driver and the spotter. A poor combo of those can get an otherwise capable rig stuck and a good and experienced combo of those can easily get a stock truck up it. I would say that without a rear Traction Adding Diff of some sort that you probably shouldn't try it unless you have many years, a decade or more even, of driving similar vehicles in those conditions.
 
Pretty much why I've always figured I'll park the Dodge at Saline and take the Jeep on over. Not into beating my truck up. I have the Jeep for that.

Hmmm, maybe the other direction. Not sure towing the Jeep on a washboard road is that great an idea.
 
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