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trail-explorer
NM
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Joined: 07/31/2008
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The fact that the camper has shifted to the side and blown out the front side of the truck bed and has caused it to not sit correctly on the floor of the truck bed is the likely result of why the bed is collapsing.
Do you have a rubber truck bed mat to help keep the camper from sliding around in the bed?
What kind of camper tiedowns are you using, Torklift frame mounted or something else?
What are you using between the camper tiedown anchors and the truck's camper tiedown points - turnbuckles or Torklift fast guns?
I've never seen the side of a truck be blow out like yours has. Id say the camper keeps shifting that way and causing the problem.
The only fix is to replace the truck bed, or the truck, and stop the camper from shifting to the right side of the truck bed so it doesn't blow out the bed side again.
Bob
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AdvancedQs
Tampa
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trail-explorer wrote:THe fact that the camper has shifted to the side and blown out the front side of the truck bed has cause it to not sit correctly on the floor of the truck bed, which is the likely result of why the bed is collapsing.
Do you have a rubber truck bed mat to help keep the camper from sliding around in the bed?
What kind of camper tiedowns are you using, Torklift frame mounted or something else?
What are you using between the camper tiedown anchors and the truck's camper tiedown points - turnbuckles or Torklift fast guns?
I've never seen the side of a truck be blow out like yours has. Id say the camper keeps shifting that way and causing the problem.
Answering your questions in order.
I have a nice sticky rubber mat same exact size as the truck bed.
I have Torklift frame mounted tiedowns with fast guns. Properly tensioned.
It’s the truck bed giving out that is causing the problem. Not the torik lift products. Also, I’m not sure if everybody else puts on the same amount of miles I do. I put on something like 15,000 miles this summer. Traveling across the country and back. A truck camper moves around when you put on that many miles over rough roads. That’s just how it is. Sometimes it can slide backward. Sometimes it can slide to the side. Mine slides to the side because the truck bed has collapsed.
But yeah. I just posted that while you were editing yours. I agree. A new truck bed. I’m just going to get a flatbed. And have it be all the way down at the frame. I’ve had enough messing with this stuff. I’m done. I won’t replace it with a standard truck bed. Not strong enough.
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Tampa
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mellow wrote:Replacing the bed isn't hard at all, I replaced the bed on my dually when I first got it since the cross bars underneath had rotted away and the bed was doing like yours with weight on it. I bought my bed from someone with a car lift so removal and install took no time, the longest time was removing the rusted bolts. The "new" bed from Texas with 0 rust is holding up great so far.
I’m glad to hear someone else had some of the same issues. At least similar. Yours sounds like it was from rust. mine is from I don’t know what. But I don’t want it to happen again. So I think it’s flatbed. I need to transfer the weight to the frame in a way that doesn’t use cheap sheet metal beams that standard truck beds use.
To me, it’s somewhat astonishing to look at what those beams are made out of. It’s a miracle they hold up at all. For anyone.
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trail-explorer
NM
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AdvancedQs wrote:....when you put on that many miles over rough roads.
Backcountry dirt roads? or paved roads?
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AdvancedQs
Tampa
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trail-explorer wrote:AdvancedQs wrote:....when you put on that many miles over rough roads.
Backcountry dirt roads? or paved roads?
Everything. Mostly highway miles like everyone else, but, secondary roads with massive holes in them everywhere, speed bumps, you name it. Lots of things have caused it to take a hit here and there. I’ve also taken it into dispersed camping in the mountains in Colorado. I don’t know if anyone here is familiar with that stuff, but you know how the roads are if you are. Pretty much jeep trails. But never got out of granny gear on that. I was trying not to scrape the axles on the rocks.
I think the majority of damage has been from really really rough roads where you are traveling about 40 or 50 miles an hour and it just all goes to hell with huge holes in the road. Those type of roads are the ones that have given the most hits.
But either way, I definitely need a much more robust platform to hold this truck camper onto the frame of this truck.
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JRscooby
Indepmo
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AdvancedQs wrote:JRscooby wrote:Do I see a dent in the right fender inside the bed. This makes me wonder if camper is moving side to side in bed. The crown in road would make it hit right side harder.
Yes. You do see a dent in that fender. The camper is definitely moving side to side. That fender is not where it should be because the bed is bending.
Well, maybe not side to side. It slowly moves over to the passenger side. Due to the crown of the road just like someone had just said.
I can go thousands of miles without it moving. But then with just the right combination of bumps and heavy crown on the road, it starts to slide over to the passenger side down the bent part of the bed.
Do you understand something no heavier than a bottle jack will dent the front of bed if it can slide back and forth less than a inch? Something as heavy as a camper sliding just a little bit is beating the bed like a pretty big hammer. No matter how you repair it, unless you solve the movement issue, it will not stay fixed.
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Tampa
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JRscooby wrote:AdvancedQs wrote:JRscooby wrote:Do I see a dent in the right fender inside the bed. This makes me wonder if camper is moving side to side in bed. The crown in road would make it hit right side harder.
Yes. You do see a dent in that fender. The camper is definitely moving side to side. That fender is not where it should be because the bed is bending.
Well, maybe not side to side. It slowly moves over to the passenger side. Due to the crown of the road just like someone had just said.
I can go thousands of miles without it moving. But then with just the right combination of bumps and heavy crown on the road, it starts to slide over to the passenger side down the bent part of the bed.
Do you understand something no heavier than a bottle jack will dent the front of bed if it can slide back and forth less than a inch? Something as heavy as a camper sliding just a little bit is beating the bed like a pretty big hammer. No matter how you repair it, unless you solve the movement issue, it will not stay fixed.
You are way off. I’m sorry. But what you’re talking about has nothing to do with the problem.
There is nothing sliding back-and-forth. Your imagination is going in the wrong direction.
The thread has convinced me to just do it right and get a flatbed. That way, everything is going to be fixed the right way to transfer the load to the frame without all of this cheap material in between.
* This post was
edited 03/21/22 04:33pm by AdvancedQs *
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Bedlam
PNW
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AdvancedQs wrote:You’d be right.
It’s an Arctic Fox 990 in a short bed. All the beefing up of the suspension makes it feel like there is no suspension at all.
Looks just like this side view picture.
![[image]](https://i.ibb.co/MDxCWBG/A0219734-F0-B6-4290-9-D9-D-CA123672-F051.jpg)
That is my short bed F250 and short bed 811 on it. Mine weighed about 4000 lbs when filled with water and loaded with gear. I ran 19.5" wheels, had the factory overloads and stabilizer, upper and lower StableLoads, and air bags used when towing a 20' enclosed trailer.
I considered going to a flat bed, but I was at 8000 lbs rear axle weight with the trailer hitched and knew the flat bed would weigh more than the factory bed. I would have little left to carry any extra weight (rims were my weakest at 4500 lb rating each).
Have you weighed your truck and camper combination to see how heavy you are verses the components you have on your truck? If you don't tow, you will be closer to 7000 lbs on the rear axle, but I don't know what you have done with rims and tires...
Chevy Sonic 1.8-Honda Passport C70B-Host Mammoth 11.5-Interstate Car Carrier 20-Joyner SandViper 250-Kawasaki Concours ZG1000-Paros 8' flatbed-Pelican Decker DLX 8.75-Ram 5500 HD
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jimh406
Western MT
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Keep in mind that the give that the factory bed has is absorbing some shock from your TC. You might end up with TC damage once you switch to the flatbed if you don't start absorbing some of that shock in other ways.
At the end of the day, we all trade off something. After hunting in a new area last year that seems to have a lot rougher roads, I've bought a rooftop tent to use on a SUV for those trips.
'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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JIMNLIN
Oklahoma
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Joined: 09/14/2003
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The short bed and sub frame is the same short bed in Dodge/Rams 2500/3500srw and 3500 drw so rear axle capacity or being over the truck mfg gvwr has nothing to do with the damage in the pictures. If the rear axle is a Dana then its a '02 or older 2nd gen Dodge 2500. The 2nd gen 2500 4wd manual tranny had the Dana 80 rear axle.
Looks like most of the TC weight is all on the TC bottom outside rails causing the crushed bed/sub frame area to take all the weight. If the TC bottom is flat all the weight is transferred equally over the beds surface. Wonder what the TC bottom frame looks like.
A nice custom bed made for a TC is a good idea.
"good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" ............ Will Rogers
'03 2500 QC Dodge/Cummins HO 3.73 6 speed manual Jacobs Westach
'97 Park Avanue 28' 5er 11200 two slides
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