Will my Tundra bed rails hold the weight of my EZ Lite camper?

Freefoundations9

New member
Just wanted to see some of your thoughts on my camper and securing it, reinforcing it etc. I have a 2016 5.7 liter double cab sr5. I bought it for the purpose of making it some sort of camper rig with the intentions of getting a regular truck camper. After I got the truck I found an Ez Lite fun sport that was made for a double cab tundra and it was something similar to a Callen camper in which it doesn’t have a floor. It sits on the bed rails. So I got a great deal on it and here I am. I drove away with it secured by 9 c clamps clipped to the bed rails (which is how the previous owner ran it for regular trips around town). The owner also installed the camper jacks after a little while of owning it.

I took it today to another shell/camper dealer for a solid install and he told me about the bed rails of newer trucks with Callen campers which attach the same way that become deformed, crushed and beaten down by the weight. He suggested I do some research on some things we could do to reinforce it.
So two questions. What do you guys think about the camper and the way it attaches to the truck ?

And how could I reinforce it to handle off-roading? I’d hate to wreck my truck but the places I want to go don’t require rock crawling or anything but they require some light off-roading.

I appreciate your suggestions!
 

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MuleShoer

Adventurer
1st get rid of the c clamps. Suggest you install the tundra trac rails and buy the matching clamps
2nd what does it weigh, then compare that to current products like project M, AT, and others And see how you compare
3rd wheres the CG
 

Freefoundations9

New member
1st get rid of the c clamps. Suggest you install the tundra trac rails and buy the matching clamps
2nd what does it weigh, then compare that to current products like project M, AT, and others And see how you compare
3rd wheres the CG


I was hoping to get it bolted on like a Bel Air Camper or a Callen etc, but I will definitely look into the trac rails. As far as weight is concerned the guy I bought it from told me it was 500lbs. I took it to Bel Air Camper to see what they thought about installing it and was told it probably weighs at least 800. I'm trying to get a hold of the manufacturer to see what they said.
The CG I figure is 3/4s the way up the bed due to the cabover.

Thanks for your input!
 

Freefoundations9

New member
Project M for full sized trucks: 460lbs short bed and 515lbs long bed.
Found interesting comment from a Callen owner stating his weighs 800lbs and did damage to recent model truck bedrails:

Thanks for this info. I read it and saw that he did reinforcements to beef up the bed. I will try to see what he did in regards to that. It still drives great with it on. You can see a little flex through turns to be expected but nothing out of the ordinary.

Cheers
 

ITTOG

Well-known member
Thanks for this info. I read it and saw that he did reinforcements to beef up the bed. I will try to see what he did in regards to that. It still drives great with it on. You can see a little flex through turns to be expected but nothing out of the ordinary.

Cheers
I would love to know what you find out. I am building a truck camper for my F150 and was expecting it to be about 600 pounds. I may have to cut back on the size/weight now.
 

Freefoundations9

New member
I would love to know what you find out. I am building a truck camper for my F150 and was expecting it to be about 600 pounds. I may have to cut back on the size/weight now.

I personally think with some reinforcements it should be fine. Barring some rough offroading. I took it to Bel Air Campers to Install and he said its fine on the pavement but guys that took those Callen Campers to Baja with newer designed trucks had issues with the bed rails caving in. I love to offroad but I figured my days of rougher trails were done the minute I bought the camper anyways. I will let you know what I figure out! Thanks
 

ITTOG

Well-known member
Thanks.

Mine will definitely see rough off-roading. I have to do that just to get to the family land.
 

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