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Topic: How does a truck camper fit into a truck bed?
Posted By: livemusic on 08/18/16 10:51am

Sorry for the ignorance. How does a truck camper 'work?' Say a TC's length is 6.5' and a truck bed is 5.5'. Obviously, the tailgate cannot be up. Do you remove the tailgate or just lay it down? If you do remove it, why? Will a 6.5' TC fit into a 5.5' bed?

Secondly, how do you 'tie down' a TC? Whatever it takes, does that come with the TC or do you have to buy something?

Is there any electrical wiring that needs to be hooked up to the truck? They don't have brake lights on them, just reflectors, right?

Thanks!

Posted By: jimh406 on 08/18/16 11:07am

Tailgates add minimal support for most brands of campers. I believe Alaskan is the only brand that designs to leave the tailgate down. So, we remove our tailgates. They come off fairly easily and protects from rocks/road debris by being off and remove a bit of weight. Some campers cover the truck tail lights. Those have a hookup similar to a fifth wheel and some have proprietary connectors in the bed. To hold campers down, campers have tiedown mounts that attach to frame, bumper, or bed and tiedowns.

If you mention the model you are considering and your truck, we can give more specific information. You could also take a look at some youtube videos or brand videos.

'10 Ford F-450, 6.4, 4.30, 4x4, 14,500 GVWR, '06 Host Rainer 950 DS, Torklift Talon tiedowns, Glow Steps, and Fastguns. Bilstein 4600s, Firestone Bags, Toyo M655 Gs, Curt front hitch, Energy Suspension bump stops.

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Posted By: MudChucker on 08/18/16 11:07am

while Im sure you will get a miriad of replies, here are mine

1.) tailgate down or off depends on the TC, some need it off, some dont
2.) tie down kits are available, pipes that hook to the frame under the box and cables or turnbuckels come up the side of the body to hook into the over hanging bit of the camper.
3.) nearly all truck campers have lights of some sort, side markers etc etc, they simply plug into the trucks trailer socket.

2017 Cougar
2015 Ram 3500 Megacab 6.7 Cummins Aisin transmission


Posted By: RWDIII on 08/18/16 01:05pm

livemusic wrote:

Sorry for the ignorance. How does a truck camper 'work?' Say a TC's length is 6.5' and a truck bed is 5.5'. Obviously, the tailgate cannot be up. Do you remove the tailgate or just lay it down? If you do remove it, why? Will a 6.5' TC fit into a 5.5' bed?

Secondly, how do you 'tie down' a TC? Whatever it takes, does that come with the TC or do you have to buy something?

Is there any electrical wiring that needs to be hooked up to the truck? They don't have brake lights on them, just reflectors, right?

Thanks!


[image]

This is a pic of my 8 ft Palomino on a 6ft9in Ford F250
Yes you need tie downs
The tailgate is off
You need the 7 pin plug in for running lights and to charge the batt
and the return ground

OLD 2006 F150 4wd 7200gvw,Lt275-65-18,Scan Guage,Garmin,flowmaster,load levelers,Firestone work rites Bronco 800

NEW 2015 F250 Scab 4wd 10000 gvw, 6.2 Scan guage,Garmin,work rites,3200 lb load,1800lb Palomino Backpack SS1200

Posted By: livemusic on 08/18/16 01:12pm

Sir, at the rear, you have it attached to the bumper? Where is it attached at the front?

Do all TC's use 4 tie downs like that, and attached to the outside of the truck somewhere?

My truck has four of these, one in each corner of the bed...

[image]

Can I tie to these somehow?

So, I guess a 6.5' TC would fit in a 5.5' truck bed.

Do you remove the tailgate simply to save weight? Do you have to remove it?

Thanks to all for replies.

* This post was edited 08/18/16 01:19pm by livemusic *

Posted By: Ed-N-Dani on 08/18/16 01:25pm

I'm new at this but I didn't want to cut corners and or be drilling holes in the side of my truck. I went with these. Cost a few bucks but they are made real well. The ones for my truck were a pretty nice fit. There are fronts and backs. The first of each take an hour to put in, the second takes ten minutes. Its a learning curve thing.My curve is bigger then it may be for others. [emoticon]

Torklift

Ed

Please BUY AMERICAN MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS!


Posted By: TxGearhead on 08/18/16 01:49pm

livemusic wrote:

Sir, at the rear, you have it attached to the bumper? Where is it attached at the front?

Do all TC's use 4 tie downs like that, and attached to the outside of the truck somewhere?

My truck has four of these, one in each corner of the bed...

[image]

Can I tie to these somehow?

So, I guess a 6.5' TC would fit in a 5.5' truck bed.



Do you remove the tailgate simply to save weight? Do you have to remove it?

Thanks to all for replies.

Question #1: I can't tell in that picture. TORKLIFT tiedowns are popular and attach to the truck frame. http://www.torklift.com/
Question #2: Yes, all I have seen have 4 tiedowns.
Question #3: NO.
Question #4: Maybe, maybe not.
Question #5: No, it is required for most campers to fit in the truck.

2018 Ram 3500 CC LB DRW 4X4 Cummins Aisin Laramie Pearl White
2018 Landmark Oshkosh
2008 Bigfoot 25C9.4
2014 NauticStar 21 ShallowBay 150HP Yamaha
2016 GoDevil 18X44 35HP Surface Drive

Posted By: RWDIII on 08/18/16 01:52pm

livemusic wrote:

Sir, at the rear, you have it attached to the bumper? Where is it attached at the front?

Do all TC's use 4 tie downs like that, and attached to the outside of the truck somewhere?

My truck has four of these, one in each corner of the bed...

[image]

Can I tie to these somehow?

So, I guess a 6.5' TC would fit in a 5.5' truck bed.

I like torklifts tie downs.
the fronts are bolted to the frame
The rear bumper on the F250 is heavy enough for the cheaper HJs
I replaced the front HJs because one broke
I would not tie down the camper to the bed

Do you remove the tailgate simply to save weight? Do you have to remove it?
No,it is just better I still4x4 and tailgate is not needed
Thanks to all for replies.
Posted By: trail-explorer on 08/18/16 01:53pm

Remove tailgate so it will not get damaged by flying debris, or from the truck camper. Tailgates are not very good "weight bearing" devioces like trucks from the 70s. Thinner sheetmetal, means lighter which, which translates to "flimsy".

Bob

Posted By: trail-explorer on 08/18/16 01:55pm

Those little brackets are not going to be heavy duty enough to hold a truck camper in place.

Go here for all your tiedown needs: www.torklift.com

Posted By: time2roll on 08/18/16 01:58pm

Do one-ton trucks come with a 5.5' bed?

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Posted By: Steve_in_29 on 08/18/16 03:35pm

livemusic wrote:

Sir, at the rear, you have it attached to the bumper? Where is it attached at the front?

Do all TC's use 4 tie downs like that, and attached to the outside of the truck somewhere?

My truck has four of these, one in each corner of the bed...

[image]

Can I tie to these somehow?

So, I guess a 6.5' TC would fit in a 5.5' truck bed.

Do you remove the tailgate simply to save weight? Do you have to remove it?

Thanks to all for replies.

What truck do you have?

A 5.5' Nissan is NOT a good candidate to put a TC on.

2007 F350,SC,LB,4x4,6.0/Auto,35" tires,16.5 Warn,Buckstop bumpers
2007 Outfitter Apex9.5,270W solar,SolarBoost2000e,2 H2K's,2KW inverter,2 20lb LP on slide out tray,4 Lifeline AGM bats,Tundra fridge
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Posted By: livemusic on 08/18/16 03:39pm

I have Nissan Titan crew cab with 2,000 total payload capacity, it has a bed 5'7". Seems a pop up around 1,000 lb could work?

Posted By: GeoBoy on 08/18/16 08:58pm

livemusic wrote:

I have Nissan Titan crew cab with 2,000 total payload capacity, it has a bed 5'7". Seems a pop up around 1,000 lb could work?

Look for a Four Wheeler truck camper, they are one of the lightest and very well built.

Posted By: Grit dog on 08/19/16 02:00am

trail-explorer wrote:

Remove tailgate so it will not get damaged by flying debris, or from the truck camper. Tailgates are not very good "weight bearing" devioces like trucks from the 70s. Thinner sheetmetal, means lighter which, which translates to "flimsy".


I'd disagree on both counts.
I've hauled my HEAVY AF 860 camper both ways on my 07 Dodge. First trip was 2400 mi up the Alcan hwy from Seattle to Anchorage. Left tailgate on cause I needed it when I got (moved) to AK. Combined with thousands of miles, many gravel roads and no rock chips and I'm pretty sure the tailgate was taking some real weight as the camper dented the inside of it a little.
By the same token I've put a lot of weight on most every model of Fprd and Ram and a couple GMs in the last 15-20 years. Construction loads like half a pallet of grout and the only tailgate that's been damaged was a re pop tailgate and it folded like a beer can when I jumped down onto it with about 50 lbs of tool bags and a sack of cement on my shoulder.

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2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold

Posted By: Grit dog on 08/19/16 02:02am

livemusic wrote:

I have Nissan Titan crew cab with 2,000 total payload capacity, it has a bed 5'7". Seems a pop up around 1,000 lb could work?


It's not the ideal camper hauler, but with a little help for the rear suspension and some good LT tires you can easily haul a camper up to about 7' long and a ton or less total loaded weight.

Posted By: Grit dog on 08/19/16 02:06am

trail-explorer wrote:

Those little brackets are not going to be heavy duty enough to hold a truck camper in place.

Go here for all your tiedown needs: www.torklift.com


This I do agree with. Besides those brackets posted are the in- bed tiedowns in the corners. Your camper will not attach to those and the bumper mount tie downs are suspect on newer trucks as most bumpers are not stout enough to take a great deal of up lift.

To the op, I'd suggest looking at a couple TCs set up on trucks so you have a visual as it seems tube never seen a truck camper on a truck up close.

Posted By: Ranger Tim on 08/19/16 07:42am

As a side note, Four Wheel Campers attach through the interior of the camper to a proprietary hold down bolted to the bed. They are usually installed with purchase for a moderate fee.

Ranger Tim
2006 F-350 Super Crew King Ranch SRW Bulletproofed
2016 Wolf Creek 840
Upper and Lower StableLoads

Posted By: 1mtnman on 08/19/16 07:56am

[image] [image]]Tiedown
Here is my setup with Torklift Tiedowns and Happijacks.




Posted By: Ed-N-Dani on 08/19/16 08:21am

Ranger Tim wrote:

As a side note, Four Wheel Campers attach through the interior of the camper to a proprietary hold down bolted to the bed. They are usually installed with purchase for a moderate fee.


These look really neat but apparently no one at 4 wheel uses the bathroom.

Is this common in the popup s or just some of the manufactures skip this step?

Kindest regards
Ed

Posted By: Ranger Tim on 08/19/16 01:59pm

Pop-ups often are designed to exclude a toilet and/or shower to enhance weight savings or off-road ability. Most manufacturers do provide models to accommodate either preference. You will find that Four Wheel, Hallmark and Northstar (some of the premier brands) do offer pop-ups that utilize cassette toilets, built-ins and even showers. It all depends upon your needs and likes. I am particularly enamored with the aforementioned brands, but most others do have similar options.

I wish my brand (Wolf Creek) had a cassette option, as I feel this is the most flexible and versatile toilet available. Dump virtually anywhere and capacity is not a problem. I always fill up with gray water long before the black tank gets full. Being able to trundle a cassette over to a pit toilet to dump would be a big bonus for us.

I enjoy a good shower, indoors or out. The pop-ups are somewhat compromised regarding shower ergonomics for large, tall individuals like me (6'4" and 250 lbs.). I would prefer to use an outdoor hookup in that case. My camper has a fully self contained shower and it is totally soaked after I am done thrashing around in it. I would not want to try that inside a camper with only curtains!

Indoor showers also fill the gray tank faster than anything else, so having an outdoor option would be the way to circumvent that. Many just opt for the drywall bucket shower/sponge bath or use a sun shower bag. These are viable options too -- depends on your comfort level with roughing it. You will pay for the full service indoor bath with dollars, added weight and extra tank capacity requirements. And don't forget the water heater either.

Is it any wonder that popups often have no bath then? Not really. It is nice to have options and to have choices. Different strokes for different folks. Me? I'm spoiled. Give me a camper with an indoor AND an outdoor shower and I have the best of both worlds.

If you are interested in a pop-up that is minimal weight then it will be difficult to find one with a full bath. Consider one that provides a cassette toilet, they are so much nicer than a port-potti. But the shower part is going to be a heavier option. Again, the truck will dictate what is available for your purposes.

Posted By: Ed-N-Dani on 08/19/16 07:48pm

Thanks RT!

Kindest regards
Ed

Posted By: GeoBoy on 08/19/16 07:56pm

In a 6.5' camper you have to make sacrifices. The Four Wheel camper recommends a Raven with an optional porta potti, to fit your truck.

* This post was edited 08/19/16 08:10pm by GeoBoy *

Posted By: Dirtpig on 08/20/16 05:45pm

Have a look at this video I made, it will probably answer most of your questions and you can see how it's done! How to load a truck camper onto a pickup truck

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