Topper Build

[MT_Flyfisher]

Unlike in the older days, I believe that most Ford pickup trucks, at least the higher trim level ones, have had a torsion bar lift assist built into the tailgate at the factory. I’ve owned F150’s, and an F250, F350 and F450 trucks during the past 12 years or so, and none of them had tailgates that were particularly hard to close, even with them loaded with things like built in steps and backup cameras. And several years ago I took off the tailgate that was on my 2012 F350 dually by myself and carried it about 50‘ before putting a truck camper on the truck and I can tell you that tailgate was HEAVY!

 

[iveofione]

It says on the page that I linked to that it fits.
View attachment 25509
In either case, I'll know soon enough. One is on its way to me.

Okay, I missed that part. Are you putting it on a late model Ram? If so let me know how it goes and send pics of the actual installation. I'm doing fine with the present tailgate but if I get much older that thing will probably get a lot heavier!

 

[Buzzy]

It says on the page that I linked to that it fits.
View attachment 25509
In either case, I'll know soon enough. One is on its way to me.

Thanks for this Wayne - I haven't ordered mine yet. I did fill out the order form and I get the same mark for my 2016 Ram 1500. I have a back up camera and electrically locking tailgate with a wiring harness that goes from under the bed into the tailgate, that does concern me............ like Ive says, take a few pictures, please.

 

[_WW_]

I'll be sure and log in the process. Does your 2016 tailgate have the large access panel on the inside? If so that might be where you unhook that stuff. I pulled my panel off a couple months ago to clean and lube up my locking mechanism. I have no wiring harness in mine tho...
Could check youtube also.

 

[_WW_]

Okay, I missed that part. Are you putting it on a late model Ram? If so let me know how it goes and send pics of the actual installation. I'm doing fine with the present tailgate but if I get much older that thing will probably get a lot heavier!

2014 Ram Tradesman is what I have.

 

[iveofione]

2014 Ram Tradesman is what I have.

Same here......

 

[_WW_]

etrailer sent me an email, they want pictures too! LOL!

 

[Buzzy]

I'll be sure and log in the process. Does your 2016 tailgate have the large access panel on the inside? If so that might be where you unhook that stuff. I pulled my panel off a couple months ago to clean and lube up my locking mechanism. I have no wiring harness in mine tho...
Could check youtube also.

My truck has a panel as well. In looking at some of the pictures of this torsion bar in place, it looks to me like bar could come in contact with the wiring harness. I'm going to wait for your epic production/photo essay.

 

[Whitewater]

Re: memory foam and cold weather camping. Some memory foam I used ( years back) turned into a rock when cold. Don't know if that's true or not with the newer memory foams.

 

[iveofione]

I think it still turns hard in cold weather. It is hot in warm weather and brick-like in cold. It compresses easily. And it usually smells bad for months. I'm not sure what the attraction of that stuff is.

 

[Old406Kid]

And it usually smells bad for months. I'm not sure what the attraction of that stuff is.

The memory part is that you remember the memories of the beans, etc. from your last trip.

 

[MT_Flyfisher]

Re: memory foam and cold weather camping. Some memory foam I used ( years back) turned into a rock when cold. Don't know if that's true or not with the newer memory foams.

Good point.

I haven’t used this in cold weather yet, but this foam is supposed to stay pliable in cold weather.

HEST Memory Foam vs. HOME Mattress Memory Foam

At the end of the day, don’t you prefer a clean sleeping surface to lay your head down on rather than a dirty pillow case that has been exposed to dirt, germs, grim and other natural elements? Leave your home pillow on your home bed and take the HEST Pillow on your next trip!

hest.com

As far as the smell, you know what they say about skunks not being able to smell themselves. I also use 2 sleeping bags, with one of them kept under me, so I’m not sleeping on the mattress itself.

 

[_WW_]

OK...I put in the easy lift this morning. Took about ten minutes after reading the directions.
It comes with a template that the bar is fastened to. In my case the bar was fastened incorrectly but it is clearly marked as to which end is which so it wasn't a problem.






Not mentioned in the instructions, but something I did was turn the rubber bumper upward to give me better access to get the template in place. Just simply grab it and rotate.




Next I drilled the hole in the truck, and then with some help removed the tailgate and drilled it.



It fits under the hinge point on that end and up near the top on the other.



One thing that I read about, but am not concerned with is the position of the gate when it is down. It is elevated a few inches and I have no idea if it will "wear in" and not do this in the future. However I can see where this would help some if trying to close it from the inside. I put a couple pounds of weight on the gate and will leave it open for a few days and see what happens.

 

[Buzzy]

OK...I put in the easy lift this morning. Took about ten minutes after reading the directions.
It comes with a template that the bar is fastened to. In my case the bar was fastened incorrectly but it is clearly marked as to which end is which so it wasn't a problem.
View attachment 26276

View attachment 26279

View attachment 26280

Not mentioned in the instructions, but something I did was turn the rubber bumper upward to give me better access to get the template in place. Just simply grab it and rotate.
View attachment 26281

View attachment 26282

Next I drilled the hole in the truck, and then with some help removed the tailgate and drilled it.

View attachment 26283

It fits under the hinge point on that end and up near the top on the other.

View attachment 26284

One thing that I read about, but am not concerned with is the position of the gate when it is down. It is elevated a few inches and I have no idea if it will "wear in" and not do this in the future. However I can see where this would help some if trying to close it from the inside. I put a couple pounds of weight on the gate and will leave it open for a few days and see what happens.

View attachment 26285

Thanks, Wayne!

 

[Old406Kid]

it will also have a power tailgate that can be lowered and lifted automatically using the key fob.

That's no fair!!!

 

[Old406Kid]

Well, I wrote a lengthy 'ramble' and somehow hit a key that erased it all so here's the Reader's Digest Condensed Version.
I had a couple of 83 watt panels that I wasn't using at my cabin so brought them home and mounted them to my Yakima racks with some aluminum angle and u-bolts. I plan on using them to keep a charge in my 576 Watt Hour Ecoflow Max solar generator. The two panels in parallel will put out about 9.5 amps at 18vdc, or around 165 watts when the sun is at it's highest.

This is a shot of the sun when it's almost parallel to the panels so I was only getting 10-13 watts.

A shot of the Ecoflow showing 10 watts.
I'm tied to a chemo pump for the next three days and have another CT scan Friday but I'm still anxious to test it some more in full sun tomorrow.

 

[Old406Kid]

I just might have another winner for my topper build.
Back in July, when we were having 100 degree temps, I bought this heated pad for my sleeping bag but hadn't tested it until yesterday morning.

https://www.amazon.com/Mantuole-Sleeping-Supported-Operated-Included/dp/B08MWS95QG?th=1

Hooked to the USB port of my Ecoflow River Max solar generator it showed a draw of only 8 watts continuous on the highest setting, of three, and an estimated run time of 51 hours. The medium and low settings also use 8 watts but intermittently.
I put a thermometer in my sleeping bag and it read 61 degrees at the start. To my surprise, this is the temperature reading without any body heat one hour later.

I'll be doing an overnight trip Saturday with nighttime temps in the low 40's so I'm anxious to see how it really performs at lower temps.
Speaking from experience, I don't think that there can be a longer night than one spent shivering in a sleeping bag so I hope this is truly a winner for these old bones.

 

[Old406Kid]

The heated sleeping bag pad that I mentioned above got it's first real test Saturday night.

I started it on high in a cold sleeping bag that is nothing special as far as insulation. I meant to turn it down but fell asleep and woke up hot several hours later so put it on the low setting.
I slept comfortably all night and the outdoor temp was 42 when I got up. It only used 12% of the power stored on my 576 kwh EcoFlow which my solar panels recharged in short order.
Long story short, I'm happy with the performance of something that's 'somewhat thermostatically controlled', uses 8 watts or less, and keeps me warm through the night.

Oh, and a shot of the purpose of the trip.

 

[iveofione]

The heated sleeping bag pad that I mentioned above got it's first real test Saturday night.
View attachment 32915
I started it on high in a cold sleeping bag that is nothing special as far as insulation. I meant to turn it down but fell asleep and woke up hot several hours later so put it on the low setting.
I slept comfortably all night and the outdoor temp was 42 when I got up. It only used 12% of the power stored on my 576 kwh EcoFlow which my solar panels recharged in short order.
Long story short, I'm happy with the performance of something that's 'somewhat thermostatically controlled', uses 8 watts or less, and keeps me warm through the night.

Oh, and a shot of the purpose of the trip.
View attachment 32918

I'm pleased to hear that this worked for you! With so many bad reviews ya just never know what you are going to get anymore. I have bought so many things over the years with negative reviews that turned out to be excellent products.

That's a handsome cutthroat-any clues where it came from?

 

[Old406Kid]

I'm pleased to hear that this worked for you! With so many bad reviews ya just never know what you are going to get anymore. I have bought so many things over the years with negative reviews that turned out to be excellent products.

That's a handsome cutthroat-any clues where it came from?

In reading those reviews I finally realized that alot of them pertained to the lightweight sleeping bag liner version, the biggest problem being that many of the reviewers expected it to perform as a sleeping bag. Also, I believe that some of the reviewers were backpacking and were trying to power these with those small battery packs that are intended for charging cell phones, etc. According to these calculations a
10,000 mAh battery pack from full charge to zero would only power this for 4 1/2 hours at the 8 watt load.
"A 10,000mAh battery actual capacity is 10000 x 3.6 /1000 = 36 Watt-hour."
Another bad review that I read on a plastic digital meat thermometer cracked me up. The person stuck it in the oven as a candy thermometer and was bitching because the plastic melted. As Jeff Foxworthy would say..."here's your sign."