OK since lot of people have Chevy 1500 , well I do , I thought it would be nice to share my install, please pardon the sentence and English errors. i went to camping world in ansterdam ny for a price in happyjacks tiedowns, well they were crazy $997 total install.that was with a electrical plug in the bed.( i 'm not sure if that price was with tie down turnbuckles ) .any way price was like this happyjack parts $472,install $297 lance plug $49 , wiring $197 total 998.89 plus tax...ouch ok thats way too much money. plus i hate the idea drilling into my bed and the bumper buttons on the rear were not high on my list. if i stand on the edge of the bumper it moves up and down, i,m not light 245 pounds. so after reading on here about how tie downs i went to ebay. found a seller , brand new shiped to my door. $369 that's a great price. so this is the install
first i had the rear's to do because i had a helper.you loosen up the trailer hitch, all bolts. it slides under the hitch and then you tighten them all up.
but i think one thing is missing from the kit. washers
example is that you slide the mount under the hitch but (tork-lift ) it's held on by 2 bolts on the frame (hitch is 3 bolts) so you have a 1/4 inch gap on the last bolt of the hitch, the bolt pattern is spaced like every six inches, so i did not want to bend the trailer hitch end tab but tightening it up without a washer in their to make up the gap.
English and sentence structure not my strong points.
onto the front
the driver side was easy to a point. my problem was the you move the emergency cable to put in a bolt.well i had mine on, so it was tight and could not move it over. so i t took me awhile to figure that one out. then it bolted into place was a tight fit and that what you want right... on to the passenger side. i had problems. the mount was too wide and would not side into place. on my frame the gusset for the bed mount was 3 1/2 inches wide at the bottom and 4 inches at the top. called tork-lift ,
torklift mount is 4 inches wide top to bottom.
they said to send them pictures of the problem. i also called them about the rear install. they were very nice, and called me back within 20 minuets after i sent the the pictures of my troubles with the install. so i had to use a angle grinder to make the mount fit.
this is passenger side frame that was 3 1/2 inches at the bottom
top to passenger frame.
grinding of torklift mount, I'm a hack wish i had an end mill to use because my hands are not to steady. also i should of used a layout line. ( i had to borrow i angle grinder from one of the neighbors )
red was the only rustoleum paint i had.
ok this is it on the truck
in this picture you can see that it's held on with 4 bolts ,1 on the side and 3 up top
sorry about the writing I'm not good with sentence structure. if any one has Q's fell free to ask me.
PS i also bought torklift fastguns from eBay $315 shipped to my door
very nice polished stainless steel ones
I also bought air bags online , Firestone ride-rite 240 shipped to my door. I chose these over air-lifts because they lift the axle and frame together in the center, were the air-lifts go behind the axle on the spring, I think it would stress the spring over time. I still need to install the air bags.
PS #2 i still don't have a camper but i need this stuff first.
pictures of finished they are in travel mode, they have 2 holes in the receiver tubes .
When I did mine, the fronts were very tight. I put a bottle jack under them and once I got beyond the initial resistance they went right in place. For the rears I found a 2" pipe coupler would just slide into the end of the factory hitch pipe. I used a die grinder to clean them up but they fit perfectly. Then I treaded a nipple an elbow, another nipple, another elbow,and a 12" stub out the side. This was all 2" black pipe. Once I got it all lined up I drilled a 1/2 inch pin through the factory pipe and the coupler. Once I was happy with the whole set up I drilled a hole in the end for the fast gun chain. I also welded the whole assembly so the pipes would not rotate. Its very strong, not too heavy works great! I have about 50$ in parts
kenny,
Nice job. Do you know which camper you plan to buy?
You might want to wait on the airbag purchase until you get your camper. I have the same truck and my 1500# pop-up TC doesn't weigh enough to squat the truck level. I have Firestone airbags, but they're not needed. The new leaf springs on the 2007+ 1/2T's appear to be stiffer than the older ones.
fishfinder wrote: kenny,
Nice job. Do you know which camper you plan to buy?
You might want to wait on the airbag purchase until you get your camper. I have the same truck and my 1500# pop-up TC doesn't weigh enough to squat the truck level. I have Firestone airbags, but they're not needed. The new leaf springs on the 2007+ 1/2T's appear to be stiffer than the older ones.
I think it too, when I loaded my apache 865ws for the first time (1800lbs), the leaf spring remained bowed well, the silverado was horizontal. I added the air bag to be more safe and comfortable.
this is what i'm thinking of. i like the idea of the cassette toilet,
seems on my travel trailer i can go for 2 weeks on the black tank,so the 4,5 gal should do fine. at one time i was against a thinking it be a pain to dump. anyone have one and hate it let me know.
PS i'm in the middle of the air bag install, 4 hours yesterday 1.5 today,, i'm slow lots of breaks. still thinking about were to put the vales.
camper that i'm saving up for is this. http://www.northstarcampers.com/Freedom2.asp
The Northstar Freedom features an extended style wrap-around
rear end that allows it fit all short-bed half-ton trucks including
the Toyota Tundra, F-150, Dodge Ram 1500 and Dodge Mega
Cab, and the newer Chevy 1500 Silverado.
In addition to the swivel cassette toilet and interior shower,
the insulated windows and extended cabover are some
of the standard features that set the Northstar Freedom
ahead of the competition.
Also standard on the Freedom is a 3.7 cubic foot refrigerator, 2-
burner stove, single sink, 16,000 BTU furnace, interior battery
storage, innerspring mattress, 4-corner jacks, rubber roof with
a rear ladder, LED tail lights, push button latches on all
cabinet doors and much more.
I like it alot. Notice the turret toilet. What type of material is that on the inside of the shower walls. I think you will get some flak from the everpresent WP but that should work fine on a 1/2. The Northstars people have a good fan base on this and other RV sites. We lost our local dealer in the economic meltdown. We lost the Lance dealer too. Lance now sends me to a Chicago suburb 150 miles away for parts ect. Sorry I got a little off track, nice rig.
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