Getting the truck ready?

[BurbMan]

I got a set of tie downs with the camper, they do have the tension spring that Lance recommends. What I don't have are the parts that mount to the truck. Is this something I can DIY or should I have a shop do the install?

Also where in the truck bed does the pigtail socket go? Front wall or side?

[mellow]

My 2 cents, Don't just limit yourself to torklifts, I had a member on another site give me his Happyjac setup when he got a new truck, I just had to pay shipping (which wasn't exactly cheap, but saved them from the trash). I had torklifts I got used off of CL on my previous f250 and they did well, so either will work.

[BurbMan]

The camper is only 8' long, no rear overhand, so 12' should be plenty to get me back to the bumper plug. the 12v and ground wires in this harness are #10, so for that distance it's not going to cut charging by 50%. I upgraded the wiring on the TT we had since the converter was 25' from the batteries.

I only have 1 battery and 100w solar, also have a 2000w Honda that I can use for power also, so not really needing to rely on the truck for charging except when underway.

I'm pretty handy in the shop when it comes to fabricating stuff, but I only have 110v MIG, so it won't do steel plate correctly to fab a mission-critical item like this. I'm still repairing the water damage and am shooting to have this on the road by the Fall, so if I don't come across a used set of TorkLifts by them I will just buy a set.

[ajriding]

The trailer plug wiring provides 12 volt charge, but really just a light trickle that keeps it topped off, or eventually can recharge it back on long drives.

I posted a thread on this topic somewhere on here how I ran a separate charging circuit to the camper batteries.
In short, I pulled positive 12 volt power off of the truck's starter motor. It is directly connected to the truck battery and always live. The starter motor is only used for starting, so that heavy gauge wire is unused 99.999% of the time so can be used to charge the RV battery. Doing this saves from having to run yet another wire to the battery and pass it through a crowded engine bay.

From the starter motor I ran the wire into a solenoid, which I controlled via switch in the truck (but it can be turned on with the ignition if you prefer that. Because of solar I rarely needed to charge the RV from the truck, so the switch was off most of the time).

Then the wire went up through the truck bed and made as direct a route to the camper battery as possible. I made a new connection point on the camper wall for the charge wires, so this was another connection to make when loading the TC.

I used a big Anderson plug to connect the camper to the truck, but whatever works for you as long as it is safe and can carry the amps is fine.

I also did the same thing for trailer charging while I was down under the truck getting dirty. Instead of the Anderson plug I used a 2-pole trailer plug n socket (similar to the 7-pin) to connect the trailer to the heavy gauge charge wire, so the charging wires off the 7-pin were put on yet another switch so that could be turned off when the big plug was being used, or maybe they were on the same switch, I cant rember now.

[kohldad]

If you plan on boondocking (dry camping - no hookups) much and need the truck to recharge the camper battery, I would recommend against changing to the 7-pin harness for two reason. The lance plug uses #8 wire for the power feed which will help recharge the battery. Using an extension and the 7-pin in the rear will add about 16' of cable which will hamper the truck from charging the camper battery. Those both combined together will reduce the charging ability by about 50% or more.

For the tie downs, unless you are very handy fabricating, definitely go with at least the fronts from Torklift. I have access to a fab shop and decided it was cheaper/better to go with Torqlift mounts. The rear are a lot easier to fabricate, but I again went with Torqlift.

[AnEv942]

Curious on the cordset mentioned. Mostly the 12' length. Replacing umbilical, if hardwired into camper is 12' enough to reach the bumper plug? Or planning to make connection outside?
Secondly does your '15 ram disconnect/isolate trailer charge line when engine off?

[ajriding]

Torklift mounts are very nice. You will not be disappointed. They bolt up to the existing frame holes in most cases and are custom made for each make and model.

You can make some if you are handy with welding and have the steel. Do not weld on the truck frame between the axles (or behind the axles if you tow).
If you are handy then you do not need us, so guessing you will be buying. Sometimes used ones are out there if you have a truck that is a few years old, it is worth a look. I have some 2nd Gen Ram ones just sitting in a bucket unused currently, unadvertised...

The benefit of having the outlet in the bed is that it shortens the distance from the alternator to the camper battery. This helps reduce power loss. Going all the way to the bumper, then back up to the battery (usually at the front end of camper) could be another 15 feet or so. However, for just keeping the battery topped off this distance is fine, just do not expect to chearge a dead battery very fast. If you have solar then the solar would be doing the bulk of charging when in the sun.

You can modify your truck trailer plug (move to front of bed), or you can modify the TC trailer plug location. I did the TC location and put it at the back, under the camper, where the truck's outlet is. This is only for the lights (flat-5 plug, not the charge). I can load TC then plug it in. I can inspect the plug with truck loaded even. I can unplug it then plug it back in with the TC loaded also. The only benefit of having a front TC plug is to get the TC battery closer to the truck alternator, so I ran a separate plug and socket in the bed with big wires and big connections for the rare occasion I would need to charge from the alternator.

[BurbMan]

I am going to replace the 6-pin plug on the camper with this 7-pin cordset. Since I don't have a plug in the truck bed, so rather then modify the truck wiring, I can use this to plug the camper into the bumper plug. This cord has a pair of #10 wires for charge and ground, #12 for the brakes (which I don't need) and #14s for the lights.

[Freep]

I highly recommend going to the trouble of wiring 8 gauge cable to the camper. This mod solved many problems for me.

[kirkl]

i bought the frame mounted tork lift tie downs and mounted them myself on my Ram and bought the happi jack like above. the back ones go right to the mount but the front I had to use a D ring with some chain links to make them work.

[Kayteg1]

Tie-downs are vehicle-specific, so you might have to order them new.
For ties, look at the length. Usually 2 of them are spring-loaded and 2 (for the rear) are fixed. Small difference as you can see on the picture, but quite different operation.

[BurbMan]

@srschang you are a genius! I found this cable on Amazon, the one that's on the camper now has a small 6-pin plug that needs to be replaced anyway. I'll just wire this cord into the strain relied in place of the old cord and run it back to the bumper plug on the truck. Kills two birds!!

[srschang]

Yep, made an extension, and used p-clips to support it along the underside of the wing(?) to run it to the back of the camper. I could never bring myself to drill a hole for a plug in the bed of the truck. Google "7 pin extension" tons of them for sale.

[BurbMan]

Ok thanks. How did you plug into the 7-pin on the bumper? Did you make an extension? My umbilical comes out of the camper up front on the street side.

[dwrat]

1. DIY
2. Side wall