Frame mounted tie-downs on a 2017 Ram 3500 dually: Torklift or Happijac, and are FastGun turnbuckles worth the money

Jun 7, 2025 · 9:30 AM#1

2017 Ram 3500 Laramie, dually, Cummins, 8 foot bed. camper is a 2015 Host Mammoth 11.6, the triple slide. it is heavy. i weighed it at 4,980 on its own with the tanks dry, so call it 5,600 by the time we leave the house.

the guy i bought the camper from had it on bed-mounted D-ring tie-downs, four eyes bolted through the bed floor. i hate them. the rear passenger one has the bed sheet metal dished up around it now.

i want to go frame mounted. it is between Torklift and Happijac from what i can tell. and the FastGun turnbuckles are close to 600 for four, which is a lot for something that looks like a fancy bolt. anybody running either on a Ram dually?

Jun 7, 2025 · 2:10 PM#2

disclosure, i install both of these for a living in Sandpoint, so read my answer with that in mind. i make the same money either way.

on a 2017 Ram 3500 the Torklift front mounts bolt up into existing holes in the frame, no drilling, and the rears hang off the receiver hitch so the hitch still works for a trailer. Happijac also bolts on without drilling on that truck. both hold. where i see people end up happier with the Torklift on a heavy triple slide is the turnbuckle side, not the brackets.

the FastGuns have a spring and a little indicator that tells you when you are at the right tension. a camper and a truck flex differently going over a cattle guard or into a gas station apron, and a solid turnbuckle on a 5,000 plus pound camper means something gives, usually the camper's tie-down bracket or the fiberglass around it. the spring takes that. on a Mammoth i would not run solid ones. on a light pop-up i would.

if i was doing your truck in the shop it is a 3 hour job.

Jun 9, 2025 · 8:00 PM#3

i ran Happijac frame mounts for six years on an F-450 with a Lance 1181. no complaints with the brackets. what nobody tells you is to check tension after the first 50 miles, then at every fuel stop on the first trip. everything settles. the bed mat compresses, the camper squats into it, and turnbuckles that were tight in the driveway are loose at Wall Drug.

Jun 14, 2025 · 7:30 AM#4

before you order anything, get on your back under the bed with a flashlight and check how those bed eyes are backed. some installers put a steel backing plate under each one, some just used a fender washer. if the rear one has dished the bed, it may have torn the sheet metal around the bolt, and you will want to patch that before rain gets in and starts rusting the bed floor from the bottom. post a photo if you can.

Jun 18, 2025 · 6:20 PM#5

fender washers. all four. the rear passenger one has a crack about an inch long running out from the bolt hole. so that settles it, the bed eyes are coming out.

ordered the Torklift front and rear for the Ram and a set of FastGuns. wes, the crack is getting a welded patch at a shop in Canyon, 85 bucks, they will paint it too.

Jun 29, 2025 · 9:15 PM#6

one thing from experience. buy one extra turnbuckle, whatever brand, and keep it in the cabover cubby. i broke a solid one on a washboard road outside Gateway, Colorado, ninety miles from a parts store, and drove home with the camper held on by three and a ratchet strap. never again.

Jul 12, 2025 · 8:45 AM#7

installed last saturday. took me and my neighbor three and a half hours, mostly because one of the front frame bolts did not want to go in and we had to chase the threads. the instructions for the Ram were good. everything is on torklift.com by truck year if you want to read them before you buy, which i should have.

drove it to Palo Duro Canyon and back on the 4th. the clunk i used to get pulling out of my driveway is gone. checked the FastGun indicators at the canyon rim and again at home, two of them needed half a turn after the first 50 miles, like airbags said.