This may not be original, but I haven't been able to find anything like it. Those who cut corners off of their maps may be deeply offended.
Basically, in addition to backwoods hanging, my wife and I would like to combine our new love of hammocks with conventional car (or truck) camping. Calling around, most campgrounds couldn't give a clear answer on the availability of suitable hanging sites, or simply said no - they wouldn't give us the OK over the phone.
Not being one to leave stuff to chance, or to pass up an opportunity to use angle grinders and welders, I took a hundred dollars or so of scrap tubing and made this:
This is a single WBBB, although it fits two pretty nicely. At this height, the final sag does not bump into the sides of the bed except under extreme circumstances. The tie-outs mount nicely to screws under the fender.
Some details:
This is the base of the forward posts - one at each corner. The base is bolted to the bed of the truck, and the upright locks into t and is also held by the original picket pocket. This is very strong, and useful for all kinds of stuff - I've decided to leave it in place all the time, although it comes down in 30 seconds without any tools.
Here is the upright locked into the original picket pocket.
At the top is a hefty mount, with two height options. I run a heavy clevis through here to connect the two front supports with a tight chain rated at 1/2 ton. (I put the chain on before inserting the uprights - it would be too tight to attach later.) The chain gives lots of options for spacing out the hangers.
At the back, the rear base is two pieces of tubular steel - the 6-foot 2" piece slides into the hitch receiver, and the 2.25" bracket slides onto it, held with pins at both ends.
The upright drops into the bracket and slides freely - there's a bit of motion involved, and pinning this piece seemed to increase the stress everywhere else.
At the top of the upright, there are additional height adjustments, and another heavy clevis. It's easier to attach a carabiner to the clevis than fitting it through the steel. At the bottom is another hole to mount a ratchet strap to stabilize the rear support - see the first picture to see it in place.
The rear upright can also be turned to face backwards for hybrid tree/truck hangs - I'd move the strap to the top and anchor it to the front chain in this situation.
In all, it takes about 2 minutes to set up, and the steel seems plenty strong - less than an inch of deflection.
All in all, I think it'll be a fun way to travel, with my wife beside me and our dog on his bed below us. It came to a final weight of 143 lbs, but you can go without the rear clevis if you want to shed a few grams. Feel free to tell me how crazy this is.
Bookmarks