How do you guys have your camper shell attached?

So I've had my camper shell for awhile now and it is attached in way that I wish it wasn't. It is secured however but want it actually secured. How do you guys have yours attached?
The problem with mine is that there is about a 3 inch lip (as shown by the red line) or 2.5 inches of just the flat piece (blue line) so the clamps I bought on ebay do not go around them. For the back ones I drilled through the lip but it still shy of the bottom clamp and had completely stripped the metal to get the screws in.
The front I was frustrated and just attached the bottom pieces through the lip.
There has to be a better way.





Also it is a Brahama brand.
Would these work? http://www.amazon.com/API-KH1P4-LDTT150P-Mounting-Clamps-Topper/dp/B002S4MJR8

 

I have very similar looking aluminum clamps and I have no issue?? They work great

 

My old camper shell on my '94 toyota had 4 regular bolts on each corner. The holes were drilled and bolts installed by previous owner. And I never took it off so no problems.

 

Really? My ledge is the longest one I've seen. So the bottom clamp doesn't reach all the way around the bottom of the ledge. Also the lip on the ledge as shown in the first picture is right where I would drill a hole so it makes it impossible to get a straight fit with these

I would do that if my camper was permanent, but I do take it off when I load my motorcycle, and also don't really want to drill through my truck rails haha

 

It doesn't seem like the ones I was looking at would work. I can't find any that wrap around the whole 3 inches! Maybe just cut out some notches in the lip/ledge thing?

 

found this website that has opened up some options for different types

http://www.socalcamperparts.com/G4-Camper-Shell-Clamp-4-piece-kit-TTLG4.htm

 

http://www.apiclamps.com/shop/?p=productsList&iCategory=6
They have clamps that fit every angle and cheap. I found mine on ebay, 6 pack for $35.

 

Thanks dude! Ill check it out

 

I just put on a soft top and just drilled holes through the top of the bed rail and bolted it.

 

I am not sure in your neck of the woods, but in California if you have a camper shell which " I never took it off" like you said, you can have the truck listed as a camper and save $80.00 a year in registration fees.

 

I marked 6 spots for bolt holes on my camper and drilled them for 5/8 bolts. Then I lined it up on the bed and sharpied the holes, center punched them, and staged up drill bits until I got to 5/8". Realigned the camper and installed my bolts with washers and nyloc lock nuts. The shell wasn't 100% square so I used one of those bed bars for hold gear in place to jack it straight the last 1/4" or so. It's solid now.

 

I have a Brahma canopy very similar to yours and quite possibly the same thing. The difference is that I don't have the slippery drop in bed liner to deal with.

That being said, Home depot has a small 4" deep throat Irwin c-clamp That will grab that narrow outboard aluminum rail inside the canopy where your red line touches(2nd pic). The bottom of the c clamp can then reach up inside the rolled lip of the bed and make solid contact. The thumb screw on the clamp faces down, not up, so as not to snag any load and to be able to really crank those clamp screws down. 3 years? now I think and not a millimeter of movement out of the canopy. I do have single sticky sided canopy tape applied to the bed. I only used 4 clamps.

Searched the world over for alum clamps that I liked and would do the trick. Bought some,,and took them back. Home Depot for the win.

You could probably cut slots in your bedliner, to be able to have the room for the c-clamp to reach in far enough to grab inside that rolled bed lip.

 

I bought my shell used and it came with these clamps:

 

I wanted to keep my bed liner with the shell so I cut about a 3''x2'' hole for the clamp to go through.

 

Looks great too! Love your truck. I may end up drilling into the bed but don't want to because it was only a $40 camper to me and not a really nice one!

Awesome!! I will definitely check that out since you have the same thing basically. Happen to have a picture? I'm glad it's not just me with this super wide lip. It does make a great 'desk' for phones and wallets when camping though

I never have seen those before this thread. I may go to those if the first suggestion doesn't work. Are they stronger than they look?

Yeah I have some holes in my bed liner that I notched out. Can't really tell by the pictures though, I made mine a bit too big too

 

I personally don't trust a set of aluminum clamps.

 

And since I am a cheap ass,,the other quick clamp you see grabs the piston rod on the lift strut once opened,,so the canopy door doesn't fall down on my head.. They stay extended when warm outside. Poor dirty beat down truck,,but it's my favorite junk.

The small lip is much more sturdy than that wide lip since it is square tube, and it allows you to really tighten down the clamps. The wide lip has to much flex and you start to pull the inner structure apart by using that one. Last Brahma I had on my "85" didn't last to long due to using that wide lip. It does make a nice bungie tray.

Irwin 225123 2"x3.5" deep throat c-clamp x 4,,or 6 of them, depending on how hard you wheel. 4 allows for a bit of flex and give. I think 6 of them would strain it unnecessarily but I have never tried that. Had it down some real hairball trails and blown out logging roads and it has never moved. Seen a few more fitment problems on here and I am fairly certain these would have fixed those. About $6 per locally. It looks to narrow,,but once you snake the screw up under the bed lip and then snag the square tube with the other leg, it tightens down to about 1" closed. Canopy has to be square to the bed, so you have even grab and clamp gaps on both sides.

There ya go Josh,,cheers.

 

They are steel, plenty strong. The shell is a Snugtop, so likely Snugtop clamps.

 

Here's a shot of an extra one I have:

There are 3 on each side of the shell.

 

i had this same exact problem. completely and easily fixable. first off, don't attach any kind of clamp to the "lip" closest to the side wall of the top. that is a wire chase and won't stand up to the pressure over time. a couple of good off road bumps and the chases can collapse/crunch and then you're not secured anymore. i didn't want to drill into my truck so i went and found two long pieces of 1 1/2" solid aluminum bars. i could have cut them up so that they were only under the clamps but i chose to have them run the entire length of the bed for two main reasons:
1) more support / no chance of them sliding out from under the clamps
2) i travel / sleep in my truck sometimes and i wanted the bar to hang accessories off of.
so, the bars sat down in the track and then i backed off of the screws on each part of the clamps until i found a setting that worked.
i'll try to dig up some pictures. if not, i'll take new ones when i get home.