Hey everyone, my dad and I just got a small lightweight cab over camper and I have a few questions regarding tie downs. We both have Dodge Ram trucks and want to use the tie downs on both trucks. His is a '96 and mines a '01. The Torklift ones are nice but expensive and the happijacs cant really move from truck to truck. Has anyone used a belly bar along with the happijac spring loaded tie downs. For the rear we could just fab some square tubing to slide into the hitch and then mount from there. Has anyone tried this. The main idea is to use the mounts for both trucks. Thanks for the help. Bryan.

I haven't tried that, but I have thought about it. I have a rubber bed mat that keeps my camper right where I put it. With that, I don't think the rear mounts do a whole lot. The front mounts are the one that seem to matter the most. The hitch isn't a good idea in my mind since it would twist very readily and not provide much holding power. I would attach two sleeves to the frame and use a one-piece bar under the truck. The sleeves could be slightly oversized and would only need one pin to keep them from sliding out. The tube should be 2-inch 1/4 wall or better thought.

What is your reason for moving the mounts from one truck to the other? How big is the camper? If it is 9 1/2 feet or smaller I would go with the Happy Jac. I am not fond of the belly bar. They tend to be weak and poorly designed. Most of the ones I have seen were welded to the frame. You can get a HappyJac setup for $200 with the stabilizer bar (that's how much we sell them for).

If you decide to go with the belly bar, you can put the "button" hold downs on the back probbably for less than it would cost you to fab something up.

I want the set up to work for my dad's truck and mine as well. That's why I want something that is somewhat interchangeable. The camper is only 8ft and weighs about 800pounds so it's pretty small. I also don't want to drill holes in my bumper and truck bed. Thanks for the info. I'll let you know how it turns out. Bryan.

get a hold of RE:Todd ,he had a cool set up...looked like it was easily changed

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