Cabover Camper Mounting Options

I got a steal of a deal on a Skamper 072S. I’m working on gutting it for weight to be as light as possible and for more storage room. Also going to order some Firestone airbags for the rear suspension. Would like to be able to do some mild off-roading.

Are there any options for mounting a slide-in camper other than spending close to $1k for the TorkLift mounts? Will brophy mounts work with the composite bed? Is there a cheaper DIY mount option?

Seems like TorkLift has the market on lock and their pricing shows it!

 

Currently putting a camper on my truck bed too, though Torklifts for my 2015 are in the $600 price range for front and back. My camper dealership is going to try brophy's first by utilizing the rails as the "lip" and some T slot nuts. If I'm uncomfortable with how that turns out I'm going to have a fab shop build a U shaped bracket that bolts down to the bed bolts and extends up and over the bed sides. I was trying to stay away from Torklifts for clearance and branch catching issues when they're attached.

 

Please keep me updated on how it turns out. I was actually considering the same option you were talking about with the u-bolts.

 

It don't pay to skimp on tie-downs......

 

Definitely important to have quality mounts. That Tacoma pictured almost looks like there aren't any mounts on it at all, if it was indeed the carrying vehicle!

 

The Four Wheel Campers use steel mounting bars in the composite bed that the turnbuckles from the camper attach too. Hard to see in that picture.

 

I made tie down points welded to my sliders and rear bumper. This has been working great for me. Also have a rubber mat in bed to keep any sliding movement from happening. Front tie-downs are spring loaded to allow for some flex/roll. Pics on build tread.

 

Welcome! Check out my mounting solution here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2020-torklift-camper-tie-downs.669526/#post-23498842

 

I really like the idea of using custom sliders and rear bumper(or torqlifts bc I'm poor) but am too worried about catching things in the tiedowns. I live in the PNW and have beautiful branch scratches all down the sides of my rig that would've most certainly been caught on tiedowns. I'm sure its a freak incident but a local guy with exterior tiedowns caught a branch and it put a massive dent in the side of his rig since the branch twisted backwards after getting stuck under a tiedown chain.

 

Damn, how'd you get that thing back in the truck?

 

There's jacks that bolt onto the four corners but they're clearly not there. He's in deep kimchee.

 

Quick update, Brophys are definitely a no-go at least on the short bed trucks. Couldve drilled new holes in the Brophys and used T-slot nuts for the upper attachment, but the lower "leg" on the forward Brophys would have to be cut down because of the wheel well hump. If a long beds wheel wells go all the way forward you'd be in the same boat. I also took a look at how the bed rails are attached, and they're just a bolt with more or less a 1" square backing washer. Would definitely recommend if you go brophys after modifying them - to add more backing like bar stock steel to those bolts that hold the rails on. You'd also want bed stiffeners to help your bedsides last longer. I'm ultimately going with torqlifts because I'd rather not put the load of my camper on my bedsides - I'd rather have that on my truck frame. Hope this helps others looking for options!