Got to it yesterday and mounted the hardware for the tie-downs. I've never been a fan of bolting eyebolts into the bed, they always seem to pull up and dimple the truck bed - they don't make them like they used to! So, I bolted in some 2" angle iron across the front to distribute the pressure on the contact points. It will also keep the camper back off the front of the bed so hopefully it won't bow out. I used some big backing plates for the rear eyebolts and they ended up being very close to a cross support for the bed. Since we do a lot of off road and washboard I want the camper to stay nice and tight.
Then I added some 2x with some foam pads glued on to help the front from bouncing around.
Next step was to get this thing up onto the truck. The previous owner didn't add jacks to it and they wouldn't have been wide enough anyway. All I had available are this busted up old jacks. Talk about a nail biting experience! We got the camper up high enough in the front to back under a little. I put a 1.5" dowel under it and we lifted from the rear and slid it into place. Sounds easy enough, right... thankfully, it went well - that thing was sky high and sketchy!
Here she is sitting proud. I am really stoked that I found a Bobcat, the smaller camper fits really well on my Tundra. It doesn't hang over the side rail very much and the over cab is closer to the roof. It's a smaller camper with fewer bells and whistles but it will suit our needs perfectly.
Can't wait to put her to good use.
Next up is to modify the interior and add a new roof rack...
