Torklift or Happi Jac on the rear?

[Stereo]

We purchased an 80's circa slide-in, pop-top Skamper for our 4wd extended-cab 6 cyl Tacoma. I know there's been discussion about whether the Tacoma can handle this kind of load, but having talked with several people who have carried similar pop-tops on their Tacoma's, I feel comfortable it will be OK. We'll be taking the combo up forest roads which can get squirrely but we don't intend to go on any challenging 4wd roads.

I have decided to install Torklift for the front hold downs of the camper, but I'm wondering if I can get away with Happi Jacs for the rear. The Happi Jac bolts into the bumper. That would save weight and allow some flex which I've read is a good thing, but I don't want to rip my bumper up.

I was also considering getting a hitch with open-tube side arms and sliding extension arms into those so they extend beyond the sides of the bed, then securing the camper to the extensions. However, the manufacturer says not to do it (of course), and a dealer didn't advice it either. Your thoughts?

In addition to the camper hold downs, we'll be installing Firestone Ride Rites and Bilstein 5100 shocks plus put on C or D grade tires.

This is my first 4WD so we're very excited to get deeper into the forests of Colorado!

 

[SLO_F-250]

Congrats on the Skamper! Mine has treated me well. There are plenty of people on here who use Happyjacks on the rear bolted to the bumper, assuming its steel and not plastic. As long as you are not doing any crazy 4x4'n you should be fine.

The ride rites and shocks should also help out plenty. Throw some picts up wehn you get a chance! Looking forward to seeing the new setup!
Cheers! :elkgrin:

Paul

 

[Stereo]

The flat, top portion of the bumper is plastic. The rest of it is metal. Does that constitute a strong enough bumper?

I'll definitely post pics once the camper's on the truck, but that will be awhile since the truck needs the add-ons.

Thank you!

 

[phird05]

I would be more concerned with the brackets that hold the bumper to the truck, rather than the bumper itself. My friends camper (not a Skamper), also on a small pickup actually had the bumper pull up and dent the truck body after driving on a rough road. This is most likely from over tightening the tie downs, driving on rough roads shifting the weight of the camper, putting a lot of upward force on the bumper. I notice when I am tightening my rear tie downs I could actually tighten them until the bumper moves upward, narrowing the gap between the truck and the top of the bumper. I am very careful not to over-tighten the tie downs too much, especially if I know I am going to be traveling over rough roads. I also have the torklifts on the front.

Good Camping!

 

[bob91yj]

I didn't look in to camper tie downs at all when I got mine. Took my camper down to the local RV place, told them I needed tie downs, they installed the Happy-Jack system. It's never given me a moments trouble, never really even thought about it till I came here.

 

[cnynrat]

I have decided to install Torklift for the front hold downs of the camper, but I'm wondering if I can get away with Happi Jacs for the rear. The Happi Jac bolts into the bumper. That would save weight and allow some flex which I've read is a good thing, but I don't want to rip my bumper up.

My understanding is you should always have a spring in your tie down system, even with the Torklifts. I use Torklift's springload mounts on mine. These allow the camper to sway a bit which takes some stress off the tie down point on the camper.

Many bumpers aren't really structurally strong enough to serve as a tie down point for a camper. If the bumper is what you're counting on to put some flex in your tie down system you are probably better off with the Torklifts in the rear as well.

 

[Regcabguy]

I've used the Happijac frame mounted system on both of my Dodges w/the same Northstar. No problems to date. The Happijac spring loaded turnbuckles are a must. The Happijac front setup provides centering guides to control the camper. They offer a rear centering guide setup but it involves drilling into the bed.

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

We nornally use our own system of inturnal camper tie downs on the four wheel pop-up campers.

But sometimes we do use the external tie downs for our pop-ups.

(see attached pictures below)

We have always use the external tie downs on our Six-Pac Camper cabover campers.

Putting the tork-lift tie downs in the front, and the stainless steel happijack buttons in the rear truck bumber seems to work well on most small camper & truck combos.

We have not had any problems doing this over the years for our campers.

Hope this helps a little.

Happy Camping !





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[Stereo]

My Decision

Thank you for all the feedback! I decided to go with Torklift on the front, Happi Jacs on the bumper and Torklift's new AnchorGuard hold downs all around. They're intended for Happi Jacs but Torklift assured me they'll work fine with the frame-mounted Torklift in the front; I'll just need some chain to reach. Lots of people rave about the Fastguns but they're too expensive for me. I considered making up my own tie downs but as some of you advised, the spring loading in the front provides some give. The rear tie downs are cushioned.

Spring weather has me itching to get my Skamper on so I can start venturing out. The Colorado mountains are still locked in snow so I think my first trip will be to the Pawnee Grasslands for bird watching.

Before that happens, I'll be tapping into your expertise on some stuff I need to fix on the camper. Special thanks to SLO_F250 for his advice to date.

 

[rockandroll]

Putting the tork-lift tie downs in the front, and the stainless steel happijack buttons in the rear truck bumber seems to work well on most small camper & truck combos.

We have not had any problems doing this over the years for our campers.

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I use this system (Tork-lift front and happijac button rear w/ torklift spring loaded turnbuckles) on my 2003 Tundra and 2007 Palomino Bronco. My camper initially came with the happijac system and stationary turnbuckles. Swapping out the front tie-downs to tork-lift made a world of difference in how the camper handled.