DIY Truck Camper

Dude, cmon. For someone who spent so much time crafting this thing (which looks cool btw) you clearly didn't think the rest of it through well.

 

I couldn't tell you if it's going to make wind noise, if it's going to create drag, or lift. These may be important factors for the truck, mpg, ect... But nothing is more important than saftey in this case.

Those D rings aren't rated very high. You may be right or close on the specs. The bed cleats can't hold much either. That's a massive, and heavy object. Projectile if there was to be any type of accident or quick maneuver that needed to be performed to avoid some type of accident. I'm concerned not only for the OP and his passengers, but others as well, more so because they have no control over this monstrosity.

I'm in no form bashing him or his creation. I simply have a huge and legitament safety concern for him and others. I would hate to log in one day or be watching the news and see a tragedy caused from this or anything alike. It's always better to be safe than sorry. Things can be replaced but people can't. Those d ring bolts will sheer, or the D ring will break. The cleats will easy snap and break with that kind of weight and force if anything were to ever happen.

 

now that you mention it I think that 70lbs was for the bed cleat not the tie downs. But can't see the tie downs being much higher.

 

Everyone can chill. I've put a lot of thought into all of this. It's not like I'm strapping it to one hook. I'm using 8 hooks in the bed as well as connecting it to the frame. I appreciate all of your safety concerns but I'm very confident in my plan. It will be safe. There isn't much drag. I drove around last night and was getting 18mpg. It didn't feel tippy on corners and I was still able to stop on a dime.

 

Even if all the tie downs at 70lb max there are 8 of them. That means there's 560lb capacity for all the hooks working together. They will never need to support the full weight of the camper since they are simply just keeping it from sliding back.

 

Looks better that I thought it would. I agree with some of the other posts here, it looks very heavy. It will be tons cheaper than buying a camper shell, however a camper comes with electricity, a toilet, and many times a shower. This is really one step up from a tent.

It's a cool project, but no way I would want to spend three months in that thing. Maybe a used 15 foot RV, that you can turn around and sell when done with it, and recoup most of your money. A good 5-10 year old one in good condition can be purchased reasonably inexpensive. Meanwhile, you will have A/C, shower, heat, stove, TV, queen bed, and on and on and on.

 

I'm thinking of my course for certification on hoisting and rigging which on jobsites is not taken lightly, if something fails and the investigation rules it was your fault you're on the line for all the fines and possible death if anyone was killed.

Your tiedown points should be rated for the full weight. Think of it this way, average guy weighs around 190lbs, if he was to fall by the time he gets to the full length of his lanyard(6ft) he'll be going fast enough to apply up to 1500lbs of force to wherever he is tied off too.
All tie off points are rated for minimum 2500lbs. Your tie downs combined might be rated for 560lbs which is nowhere near enough for the load that would be applied in the event of a sudden stop, or accident.
Ever hear Newtons law of inertia? An object in motion is going to want to stay in motion. Very reason when you hit the brakes you go forward. Same thing is going to happen with your camper, and if your anchor points are not rated it could come loose.

Seriously look into what your working load limit is of your tie downs and the straps you plan on using for anchoring to it.
DO NOT look at breaking strength, you want safe working load. I've seen what can happen if something isn't anchored properly. Watched a flatbed load up over 9000lbs of wire and didn't tie it down properly, He made it 5 feet out of the gate before needing to turn and the chain broke. Wasn't going fast or anything just too much weight for the one chain he used. Whatever you tie to make sure there is 0 play. Any movement could cause an issue. Most campers bolt directly to the frame.

 

Nice job. I'm like you- very DIY, so I know the love and sweat you must have put into that. Enjoy it.

My .02¢ is that you should have used more aluminum and less wood. Would have saved a lot of weight.
Maybe version 2.0?

 

just an idea, maybe look into buying a proper camper mounting bracket and retrofit it?
Most of them bolt to the frame, then just use the straps and fit it to holding your camper.
Maybe a decent sized 1/2 bolt right through a reinforced point (used in multiple points) to anchor the tie down points on the camper then tie that and the frame brackets together. Camper weighs 700lbs on its own what about once you start adding some weight to it with gear?

 

I am guessing the OP doesn't want to drill holes into truck that is why he is going this route. God help us

 

My brother-in-law totaled his truck because a guy didn't think the solid wood desk he was hauling, needed that extra strap. It's amazing there aren't more things flying out of pickups on the highway,

 

you wouldn't need to drill though?
Most bolt around the frame like the RCI sliders do.
You don't have to drill anything.

 

Wish i had the link but NBC news just did a story about all the things that are flying off and out of vehicles on the road and it was disturbing to seem some of the videos of how bad it could be. Better to be safe than sorry especially when the consequence's are high like this.

anyways OP camper looks great for being homemade. congrats

 

True, you're right. My bad.

 

No worries.
It might cost OP a bit more money to buy the mounts but it would be much safer.

I really wonder what the liability is in this case. I mean everything usually has a CSA/UL rating to be legal. OP isn't an engineer and likely isn't getting an engineer signing off on this. Not trying to scare him or anything but really wonder what would the legal repercussions be if something did go wrong?

 

I was moving a Bobcat skid steer 3 miles from where I borrowed it from, to my house. The owner didn't tell me the brakes don't work when you shut it off. I strapped it down with the wide yellow straps instead of chains, because, you know, I'm only going 3 miles. It broke the straps, jumped the wheel chock, and rolled to the back or the trailer, lifting my rear wheels off the ground. I did $9K in damage to a six month old truck, going 19 miles per hour. Over secure your load.

 

Nice. LOL. my story is similar my dad and i were moving a shed that fit perfectly in the back of a full size chevy. We were staying in the neighborhood literally driving down the block so we did not secure it at all. It took 4 guys to pick it up so we thought it was heavy enough but a gust of wind picked it up out of the bed of the truck and one big back flip of the shed and it landed sitting right side up in the middle of the road. thankfully we were in a neighborhood and no one else was on the road. I will never not over secure a load ever again to the point where my friends now make fun of me for how many straps i use for anything that is not inside the truck.