Our trip

[Sheriff]

I'm also interested by what people use to tie the camper down with. Some say that ratchet straps are best, because they have some give, while others that the metal screw type are better, because ratchet straps can be over tightened too easily. I have seen in the states some springs that go on the mounting pots so as to avoid sudden stresses overloading the mountings.

Are these the springs you are talking about, 'Torklift basic springload' kit? http://www.torklift.com/index.php/produ ... springload

I've pondered on this before and It looks like it may be possible to use the spring load 'canister' in a European-style turnbuckle setup, though there may not be enough space. I've not been able to find an economic way of getting hold of any though.

[Tony&Kika]

Hi all, thanks for your replies. The red polarity light comes on only when the supply is wired wrongly, and yes it was only when connected for several days that the charge transformer failed. Can anyone suggest a supplier of a replacement charger rather than go to Niche marketing for a genuine USA model?
Interesting that I'm not the only one to have issues with the Northstar mounts.Yes 2x 10mm bolts in each corner through the ply don't seem very adequate for holding £12k worth of kit on the truck!
Thanks again. Tony &Kika

[Toshbins]

Are these the springs you are talking about, 'Torklift basic springload' kit? http://www.torklift.com/index.php/produ ... springload

I've pondered on this before and It looks like it may be possible to use the spring load 'canister' in a European-style turnbuckle setup, though there may not be enough space. I've not been able to find an economic way of getting hold of any though.[/quote]

Yes those were the things. Given plenty of space the lever action ones look good, but the Americans favour tying down outside the pickup tub. That may be part of the issue with the Northstar. The one we looked at new at Niche had built-in mounts for the external style tie-downs. Perhaps the coach bolts are a retro-fit? Still not good enough to just bolt them through the wood with no reinforcement though.

[Gary W]

Are these the springs you are talking about, 'Torklift basic springload' kit? http://www.torklift.com/index.php/produ ... springload

I've pondered on this before and It looks like it may be possible to use the spring load 'canister' in a European-style turnbuckle setup, though there may not be enough space. I've not been able to find an economic way of getting hold of any though.

Yes those were the things. Given plenty of space the lever action ones look good, but the Americans favour tying down outside the pickup tub. That may be part of the issue with the Northstar. The one we looked at new at Niche had built-in mounts for the external style tie-downs. Perhaps the coach bolts are a retro-fit? Still not good enough to just bolt them through the wood with no reinforcement though.[/quote]


These spring mounts are used primarily to take up the movement you get between chassis when clamping the body to those outriggers so common in the US. There is always some slight movement between the chassis and the tub and the outriggers magnify it significantly. Under those circumstances there is an argument for engineering some 'give' into the system.

However, with the smaller campers and trucks we have over here we almost always secure the body to or through the tub and there is very little movement to concern us. Absolutely the very last thing you want with this type of mounting is any kind of slop hammering away at the mountings. Inertia is the enemy, spring or not!

Best wishes

Gary

[sabconsulting]

...However, with the smaller campers and trucks we have over here we almost always secure the body to or through the tub and there is very little movement to concern us. Absolutely the very last thing you want with this type of mounting is any kind of slop hammering away at the mountings. Inertia is the enemy, spring or not!

Best wishes

Gary

I'm 100% with Gary here. This is why I was moved away from ratchet straps. They had no stretch at the tensions I dared to use and I found that offroad the camper would move slightly causing one strap to become loose - i.e. causing the slop that Gary mentions. Once that slop was there any movement would result in the camper's inertia slamming it against the non-giving ratchet straps. I say non-giving, but there is a risk that the hammer blows do cause something to give, bend or tighten up further which just results in more slop and more inertia building up on the next cycle.

If you have some sort of sprung system you want that to be under tension so that it allows some movement but arrests it gently without the damaging hammer blows thus keeping the forces on the tie-downs more reasonable. I.e. without the damaging slop.

However, I will happily secure heavy things in the load bed using ratchet straps, because I will tighten them up until you can play a tune on them. But my camper is made of thin plywood and the mounting points are on the wings cantilevered out over the side - so all relatively week. If I tightened the ratchet straps to the amount I would want to hold nearly a ton of payload down enough to guarantee no movement, they would probably destroy my camper

Steve.

[Sheriff]

Absolutely the very last thing you want with this type of mounting is any kind of slop hammering away at the mountings. Inertia is the enemy, spring or not!

OK, I'll forget the springs then! Thanks for the advice Gary.