Many photos on my build thread
pivoting frames and mounting campers
- Thread starter lehel1
- Start date
Many photos on my build thread
rruff
Explorer
This will have to do for now. Basically where you want pivoting to occur the isolators need to be in a line. Can do 3 point or 4 point easily enough. These are the soft Energy Suspension universal body mount bushings, cost ~$20 each now. Though I was told these would take a static load of 800 lbs each, that might be optimistic.
stever1000
Member
Interesting - simple and effective
rruff
Explorer
I originally thought to have 2 isolators side by side in the rear (that's why the rear fore-aft tube is wide enough to accommodate 2) but it was a lot stiffer and I was concerned that the poly would get over stressed. A single row has very little resistance to tilting, even with far more tilt than shown in the photo.
A 4 point arrangement would have centerline isolators at the front and rear, with outboard isolators near the middle (fore-aft). The outboard ones could be grouped in pairs easily, or maybe more, since I think they only provide compliance for chassis flex along the length, which would be much less than the twist. One advantage of 4 point is that your tire clearance is less effected, and it can accommodate more twist. If you want a passthrough though, it seems like 3 point with the "fixed" position in the front is best if your box is not too long.
Though I was told that a static load of 800 lbs each was ok, I'd suggest about half that. If you are suspending 10,000 lbs that would be 25 of them... but you just need to drill the appropriate size holes, so not a tough thing to manage.
A 4 point arrangement would have centerline isolators at the front and rear, with outboard isolators near the middle (fore-aft). The outboard ones could be grouped in pairs easily, or maybe more, since I think they only provide compliance for chassis flex along the length, which would be much less than the twist. One advantage of 4 point is that your tire clearance is less effected, and it can accommodate more twist. If you want a passthrough though, it seems like 3 point with the "fixed" position in the front is best if your box is not too long.
Though I was told that a static load of 800 lbs each was ok, I'd suggest about half that. If you are suspending 10,000 lbs that would be 25 of them... but you just need to drill the appropriate size holes, so not a tough thing to manage.
stever1000
Member
I don't have a composite camper (just a traditional slide-in) and I wonder if mounting the flatbed that is laid out like the factory bed and installed using those universal body mount bushings at each bed mount (8 locations) would allow some flexibility and spread the load/flex out more
rruff
Explorer
It would allow a little, but not enough for a C-channel frame. You really want wide spaced mounts in front and all the rest on a center line. Or you could simulate a 4 point arrangement if that works better for you.
If you mount a stiff flatbed to a flexible chassis, then the flex will just get transferred to the part that is still able. In that case the biggest stress concentration will be at the forward mounts. A lot of people seem to get away with this, but I've heard of failures also.
If the camper stays on the truck all the time, then the "flatbed" can be a pretty simple and light frame that reinforces and mounts to the camper, and allows pivoting.
stever1000
Member
Yes I am working on a simple "flatbed" which will replicate the stock bed rails/bed and support the camper on the 4'wide x 8' base, be secured with torklift mounts to the flatbed, and the sides will be home made boxes and fold down sides (similar to sherptek). In the future I would love a custom camper, so if I can incorporate some flexible mounts now, it could save later.
stever1000
Member
the future custom camper would be a flatbed configuration with the same dimensions as my current slide in camper. So, ideally, the only change would be the mounting method and points to the flatbed
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