dakonthemountain
Crestline, California
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garryk6 wrote:username taken wrote:Rbertalotto wrote:BTW....One of the strongest point on these TC are the camper jack attachment points. These four point mounts usually have a piece of steel running up the corner of the camper tying the side into the front and the back panel.
Any reason why you can attach the tiedown to these points?
I've always wondered that myself. Why aren't the tiedowns integrated with the jacks?
Some campers are, like those that use Reese Titan jacks.
![[image]](http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d92/garryk6/Anchorage%20Thanksgiving%202011/DSC07013.jpg)
Gary, I think he meant mechanically integrated, not frozen together with ice!! ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/wink.gif "wink") ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
Dak
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Rbertalotto
Massachusetts
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But the Titan jack mounts "pull" on the same area as the others. A VERY week point. I had to reinforce this area on all four mounting points on my TC.
The corner mounted jacks spreads the forces out into the whole corner of the camper. A very strong, if not the strongest, area of the camper.
RoyB
Dartmouth, MA
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ticki2
NH
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sleepy wrote:Reddog1 wrote:Is there anyone that think there would have been a better outcome if the TC would have stayed attached to the Truck? Think about it, the truck would have been on its side, kids and all.
I do offer a disclaimer, I have a stable lift. By design, the lower hoop sandwiches the truck bed and frame between the lower hoop and TC. Tie-downs other than the Stable-Lift are not used, although they could be. I do not have a Wolf Creek TC. I have owned numerous TCs, since about 1972. My point is, I have nothing to defend, gain or loose in this discussion.
Wayne
I agree with you completely about the camper seperation.
-----------------
And,
I'd like to say that I have repaired or helped repair severl Truck Camper tie down systems over the years.
In each case the problem was the attachment bracket attached to the camper wings.
The damage incured was what I call Speed Bump Damage.
If you hit a speed bump hard enough for your camper to start bouncing or porporsing it can tear the tiedown bracket off the wings of the camper.
IT makes no difference what kind of tiedowns that you use.
If it isn't immediately apparent and you have a stress related incident later like wind, rough roads, hard braking, etc you'llthink that the latest incident caused all of the problem.
If I remember correctly... the OP's campers attachment bracket probably failed first... possibly starting the chain of events that we see in the pictures upside down in the road.
It had nothing to do with the tie downs them selves... no matter what type tie downs the failure started in the campers attachment bracket tear out.
My thoughts run along the same lines as the above quotes . It must have been some kind of special sheer wind to just catch the top of the camper and hardly feel it in the truck . With that kind of leverage it might have taken the truck with it if the mounts didn't fail . Keep in mind the tiedowns are only rated for about 300# each , not a lot for a 4000# load . It seems like you experienced the " Perfect Storm " . Glad to hear all are OK .
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Reddog1
El Dorado, CA
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Joined: 03/09/2004
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sleepy wrote:... I'd like to say that I have repaired or helped repair severl Truck Camper tie down systems over the years.
In each case the problem was the attachment bracket attached to the camper wings.
The damage incured was what I call Speed Bump Damage.
If you hit a speed bump hard enough for your camper to start bouncing or porporsing it can tear the tiedown bracket off the wings of the camper.
IT makes no difference what kind of tiedowns that you use.
If it isn't immediately apparent and you have a stress related incident later like wind, rough roads, hard braking, etc you'll think that the latest incident caused all of the problem.
If I remember correctly... the OP's campers attachment bracket probably failed first... possibly starting the chain of events that we see in the pictures upside down in the road.
It had nothing to do with the tie downs them selves... no matter what type tie downs the failure started in the campers attachment bracket tear out.
It is my understanding the reason most the tie-downs now have springs or rubber cushions built in. Then greatly reduce the stress on the TC mounting brackets. If overtightened, you loose the ability of tie-downs to absorb the shock.
Back in the seventies (and a bit later), we only had turn buckles for tie-downs. It was common practice to loosen the rear ones, when driving on washboard type roads. This allowed some movement of the TC with reduced stress on the tie-down mounting.
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Mello Mike
Golden Valley, AZ
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Joined: 05/14/2003
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sleepy wrote:Reddog1 wrote:Is there anyone that think there would have been a better outcome if the TC would have stayed attached to the Truck? Think about it, the truck would have been on its side, kids and all.
I do offer a disclaimer, I have a stable lift. By design, the lower hoop sandwiches the truck bed and frame between the lower hoop and TC. Tie-downs other than the Stable-Lift are not used, although they could be. I do not have a Wolf Creek TC. I have owned numerous TCs, since about 1972. My point is, I have nothing to defend, gain or loose in this discussion.
Wayne
I agree with you completely about the camper seperation.
-----------------
And,
I'd like to say that I have repaired or helped repair severl Truck Camper tie down systems over the years.
In each case the problem was the attachment bracket attached to the camper wings.
The damage incured was what I call Speed Bump Damage.
If you hit a speed bump hard enough for your camper to start bouncing or porporsing it can tear the tiedown bracket off the wings of the camper.
IT makes no difference what kind of tiedowns that you use.
If it isn't immediately apparent and you have a stress related incident later like wind, rough roads, hard braking, etc you'llthink that the latest incident caused all of the problem.
If I remember correctly... the OP's campers attachment bracket probably failed first... possibly starting the chain of events that we see in the pictures upside down in the road.
It had nothing to do with the tie downs them selves... no matter what type tie downs the failure started in the campers attachment bracket tear out.
I understand what you're saying and agree with your thoughts on the attachment bracket failure possibly being caused by a prior incident, but in this case the rear Happijac tie down to the bumper also failed. The rear bracket on that side of the camper was completely intact, while his bumper was twisted from the incident. So in this case a frame-mounted tie down on the rear probably would have saved this camper from going airborne.
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BradW
Mayor of Flat Rock
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Mello Mike wrote: So in this case a frame-mounted tie down on the rear probably would have saved this camper from going airborne.
Maybe. Or maybe the rear camper tie-down eyelet may have failed.
Regardless, I wasn’t there and I ain’t go no video evidence, but I don’t find it credible that a violent camper ejection like this was all cause by a crosswind while driving at only 25 mph. JMO.
Brad
Wake Up America
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jmtandem
western nevada
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Quote:So in this case a frame-mounted tie down on the rear probably would have saved this camper from going airborne.
If this is correct then our friends at HappiJac are possibly incorrect. A contributing factor is a HJ issue due to thier attachment points on the weak bumper that is not strong enough and should not have been used as an attachment point. Culability is shared and it perhaps is not totally a Northwood issue after all. If Sleepy is correct, and he likely is, then having the camper tie downs too tight when going over a bump but not necessarily too tight standing still, could also contribute to the tie down failing in the camper. I still maintain it is the combination of a chain of events that basically was the perfect storm in this case. Torklift tiedowns might well have saved the day. In my mind a bumper attachment because that bumper attaches to the frame is not a frame mounted tie down. I have had both HJ and TL and hands down TL is a far superior and much stronger tie down system. All four corners go directly into the frame of the truck.
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sleepy
Oak Ridge,Tennessee
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Joined: 04/07/2003
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Reddog1 wrote:sleepy wrote:... I'd like to say that I have repaired or helped repair severl Truck Camper tie down systems over the years.
In each case the problem was the attachment bracket attached to the camper wings.
The damage incured was what I call Speed Bump Damage.
If you hit a speed bump hard enough for your camper to start bouncing or porporsing it can tear the tiedown bracket off the wings of the camper.
IT makes no difference what kind of tiedowns that you use.
If it isn't immediately apparent and you have a stress related incident later like wind, rough roads, hard braking, etc you'll think that the latest incident caused all of the problem.
If I remember correctly... the OP's campers attachment bracket probably failed first... possibly starting the chain of events that we see in the pictures upside down in the road.
It had nothing to do with the tie downs them selves... no matter what type tie downs the failure started in the campers attachment bracket tear out.
It is my understanding the reason most the tie-downs now have springs or rubber cushions built in. Then greatly reduce the stress on the TC mounting brackets. If overtightened, you loose the ability of tie-downs to absorb the shock.
Back in the seventies (and a bit later), we only had turn buckles for tie-downs. It was common practice to loosen the rear ones, when driving on washboard type roads. This allowed some movement of the TC with reduced stress on the tie-down mounting.
And I'm in agreement with Reddog1 again:
and again I'd like to add:
Lance camper has their patented dampers that attach to the front of the TC cabover
They slow down violent actions, like porporsing, side winds, etc
They make it very comfotable to drive a truck with a large camper
there is no problem when a truck or bus passes, nor wind gusts
People seem to forget them, probably because they work so well.
If there isn't any give and take that is when things break
when things turn over
You are invited to drive my truck and camper... you'd see...
Janet loves to drive it... and she was terrorfied of driving my old camper with belly bands... it felt like it would turn over turning a corner or when a bus passed.
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12V Cummins
PA
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I don't think cab over struts would have done anything in this circumstance. If a camper has a good COG it does not need struts and you do not get "porporsing". If i recall the cog of a 850 is pretty good especially on a long bed.
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sleepy
Oak Ridge,Tennessee
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12V Cummins wrote:I don't think cab over struts would have done anything in this circumstance. If a camper has a good COG it does not need struts and you do not get "porporsing". If i recall the cog of a 850 is pretty good especially on a long bed.
These are actually oil filled piston dampers (strutts are rigid)
Have you ever driven a truck and Lance Truck Camper with the dampers?
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