Slide in camper setup.

Hi everyone, a little advice would be appreciated. I’ve purchased a slide in camper for my 2020 taco DCLB. The camper was previously in a 2nd Gen DCLB with airbags. I plan on going a similar route.

I was hoping to tie it down to some heavy duty d-rings to the frame box bolts as that seems easiest.

My question is, what are these flat bars called? Do I need them? The seller said they were made by Four wheel campers for their campers specifically, however I can’t find any info on them.

 

Not sure on the name, but you may want to verify it'll work. I believe the 3rd gen box sides are taller than the 2nd gen.

 

Ah shit, hadn’t considered that. I’ll measure up. Not a deal breaker, can always space it higher, which I will have to do to clear the shark fin anyway.

 

I was actually going to say the same thing as well. Glad you're ahead of it! If I had to guess, those flat bars are some sort of bed stiffener system just to add strength to the box. Not sure if you need them or not, but at minimum you should be running regular bed stiffeners.

 

my Alu-Cab came with very similar brackets. They bolt to the bed (really through the bed) and into the frame. The camper is than attached to them via turn buckles or some other attachment. A slide in camper shouldn’t need bed stiffeners unless it’s not what I’m imagining. My slide in doesn’t contact the outside of the bed one bit... pics of the camper may help however.


My camper connects to a very similar bracket at the very front of the bed the rear of mine goes to a hitch mounted attachment but the long bed setup has a matching rear bracket like yours.

 

Interesting I’ll check out Alu cab mounts. Thanks for that!

This camper was originally for a Ford ranger so it’s actually narrower. The height shouldn’t be much of an issue as the bed floor to top of shark fin is the same or very close, to a 2nd Gen (I measured this am).

I think I’ll build a 4x4 pressure treated frame for it to keep it centered in the bed.

In addition, I’ll be using turnbuckles to heavy duty D-rings in my bed frame bolts and also I need to get spacers for the jacks to make it not so scary tight loading.

Should that fastening be adequate? Or should I take the plunge and get belly bars instead?

Pics on his vehicle:

 

For context I’ll be putting it on this rig. I’ve got a fair amount of suspension work done already but it’s going back in for a leaf swap on warranty (OME squeaking bs) and I’ll get air bags installed then.

Hoping to also get my shocks and coil over bodies and resis swapped at the same time as they rusted all to hell in 10 months.

 

So I really couldn’t offer you advice on mounting. I went 100% with the factory equipment since I do a good deal of backcountry stuff and certainly wouldn’t want to lose it. I actually read an article a few years back about a guy who dropped his 4WC off his Tacoma (or similar) while off-roading. It wasn’t great, i think they ended up getting like 10 or 12 guys to lift it back onto the truck while out on a California trail. His attachments points came loose so be careful!

anyway I just went in my garage and took the best pics I could. It’s cramped space in there but you get the idea. The bars I have bolt down to the bed than Stainless hardware attaches a long I bolt (6”) to that, and finally that eye bolt pokes through a reinforced hole in the camper and a lock but is fastened to that. E-rigging online would have any and all of that stuff you need, once you decide how you’re doing it. Here’s a few pics I hope it helps. Good luck!



I will say I have seen several truck campers lately that attach via ratchet straps to the bed D-rings, Kimbo as well as the new Cirrus 1/2 ton truck camper both use ratchet straps without issue. I follows SpaceHover on IG with his Kimbo, and if the straps held on for him they must be strong enough, good luck.

https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/off-road/adventures/the-camper-that-fell-off/

Edit, read this article, this is the one where a FWC slides right off due to failed mounts.

 

You may want to look at adding aftermarket bump stops to prevent the rear from bottoming out. Before our Tacoma I used our other vehicle (Honda Pilot 4wd) for carrying a lot of camping gear and towing a fishing boat. The suv used to squat like crazy, so I went with Timbren bump stops from Timbren-Industries. It worked like a charm. Still use the Pilot for stuff, today I will install rear Timbren (waiting for my fronts to come) and I expect a nice, controlled, squat free performance once again. No I'm not sponsored by Timbren but I love their products. If you choose to go that route watch for weight capacity (don't exceed the factory recommended) but Timbren offers two kinds. The heavy duty is for loads and stuff (

$220 TORTUN4 Suspension Enhancement System

TORTUN4 rear, TOFTUN4 front). They offer an Offroad version with new u bolts and stuff but reduced capacity. Beautiful product that's been imitated by a few other manufacturers. One last word of caution, Amazon sells knockoff made in china, those are fakes. True, original Timbren is made in Canada by Timbren-Industries.
Enjoy your truck safely!

 

Thanks for the pics that helps a lot.

Few odds and ends to figure out, but this should be a nice cheap intro to a camper. Maybe I’ll love it and order a GFC, Alu-Cab or 4WC later.

Everything works in this unit, no leaks, and it was only $5750 CDN.

 

Thanks for the advice. I have Duro bumps already. They are in a pic above. I don’t think they are heavy duty, more for off road performance.

I had never really planned on a camper but the gf badgered me into it finally.

 

Looks awesome! You won’t like a GFC after having that big guy. You’ll enjoy the confronts and space too much!