Looking for some cabover camper advice

Hey guys,

I'm looking at buying a cabover camper for my 2005 Nissan Titan.  I've never had a cabover before, just a simple shell.  One, what is the best way to secure the camper to the truck?  What tie downs and turnbuckles do you suggest and how much?  Second, what is the best way to transport the kayak on top of the thing?  Any experience and suggestions would be of great help because I don't want to damage my truck and I certainly don't want to hurt my yak.

Thanks Bret

Kinda of a pain to get the yak up there. I have a 5th wheel I use an extendable ladder to slide mine up on top.

Torklift tiedowns and turnbuckles.  Pricey but way better than happijac.

Also....what's the haul rating on the titan? Load range on tires? 

Truck campers have gotten as obese as the population itself.  Most would consider a 3/4 ton truck the minimum for any hardside campers and duallies are more common...and mandatory for the mega campers with slideouts.

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Torklift tiedowns and turnbuckles.  Pricey but way better than happijac.

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Thanks!  That's the direction I've been meaning towards.  Do you know if they are easy to install?

If you can turn a ratchet you can install them.  My front tiedowns are the  old Torklift design and i had to drill through the frame to install.  Pain in the ass.  The rears are the newer bolt on design and went on in twenty minutes with a beer brake.

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And I need four of them, right?  Two won't do the job?

Yup, front and rear.  Although I've seen some guys fab up some slide-ins that slipped into the Tubing in their trailer hitch. The rear turnbuckles attach to the slide-in.

I was thinking about making my own too but the guy that sold me the camper said not to fk up a $40k truck with a $1k dollar camper cause I didn't want to spend $200 on tiedowns.....made sense to me.


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Not what you probably want to hear but after owning a cabover before my advice is buy a small toy-hauler type trailer. Then you can just shove the kayak into the back through the ramp that comes down.

I fabbed my own tie-downs. Basically modeled them after the Tork-lift style.  I then found a set of Fastguns turnbuckles on Ebay for cheap.
I'm vertically challenge so loading kayaks on top of the cabover by myself wasn't going to be fun. Possible but I wasn't going to do it.  Instead I tow a 4x8 trailer to carry them. 
Make sure your truck and tires are rated for the extra weight.
If I had the money I would of bought a pop-up cabover camper. I'd be able to load my kayaks on top easier and get better gas mileage.
I still do a lot of camping without my kayaks especially in the winter and I love my Lance.

This was my rig.







No way would I attempt to get a yak on top of that. 

 Look into  - RV.net - , in the camper forum section, might could find something with a search.

Thanks guys!  I really appreciate all the input.  The fact is I want/need a camper of some sort.  Especially for parking lot camping at NCKA events.  A trailer won't work for me, because I want to be able to tow my Whaler behind.  So right now I'm looking at a pretty cherry cabover, which I use with the family, or a used shell that will fit my truck that already has a CapRac made by TracRac on it.

And yes I don't want to ruin my truck by going with the wrong tie downs.

 

  At some point in my future I'll have a nice Lance for my Dodge.  Until  then my campershell will have to suffice.   There are some really nice campers out now!

You could always just get the camper shell and set the inside up like Mooch and Chadrock did on their pick-ups.

I'm with rockroach on the popup cabovers.  I wanted one too but they seem to be priced out of my range when I was shopping.  There's a couple really nice pop-up truck campers on craigslist right now, they're way more reasonably priced than when I was shopping for one! 

They'd probably be the best option if you plan on towing too.  Seriously look at payload capaciity and tire ratings on your truck before you buy a camper.  I know the whaler is light but you may be maxing out weight capacity by just adding the camper. 


I'll aslo second checking out rv.net.  The truck camper section is very good.   

Bear in mind that the sheet metal on the bed for the Titan and the Tundra are really , really weak. Basically for finish looks only. All tie downs must be attached to the frame somehow. We see the truck beds overloaded all the time with lumber racks and so forth. Then the metal becomes fatigued and cracks. Even some tie downs that attach to the rear bumper in the Tundra and Titans case are not a good idea in the long run.  Thule makes a rack system that has rubber blocks that expand into the stake holes on the top of the truck beds. Really? No bueno. Ive seen those almost torn in half when disassembling the rack system to replace a bedside. I think the best bet is for a nice fiberglass shell with a carpet system inside. Four clamps per side for attaching the shell. Racks mounted on top of the shell with a faux driprail bracket is good. A good used tent trailer when not taking the boat is a great way to go also. They tow easily and the weight is minimal.