I need some camper tie downs for the new F250 and looking for some recommendations on some driving lights vs a light bar.

On the camper tie downs. My truck has and 8' bed which my camper is built for an 8' bed. The camper is relatively lightweight. Will be around 2000lbs loaded out. I really do not want to go with the Torque lift units. I know they are frame mounted and that is what everyone wants to recommend. I really do not want to spend $800 or more.

https://www.etrailer.com/Truck...cleid=20242024101773

Is something like this worth considering?

other options?.


I am going to add some additional driving lights to the F250. I had some PIAA lights on a bull bar a my Tundra that I really liked. They were not led. Seems everything is these days.
I like round vs square. 4-5" any recommendations? I have not had a light bar. Don't know much about them but think 2x round lights would be preferrable. Thoughts and recommendations.

JMO, LED is best you can run more lights and more candlepower than a non LED.

The one I installed on the golf cart is an LED bar style and gives out a wide white band of light.

Will say nothing beats the look of KC Daylighters with the yellow smiley face covers..

link KC highlighters

There are a ton of LED light bar combos on Amazon, yes probably all from Guahangzoo but you can get an idea of what is out there.

A set with multiple lights would be jmo a good idea, you could mount them to the top of the camper on all sides and light up the area at night like a Wal-Mart parking lot!

Link LED Bar Kits

I like Diode Dynamics a lot. However nothing they make is exactly round.
I have SS3 Sports in yellow in the fog light positions of my Tundra and wife’s Suburban.
Added visibility width wise is astounding as well as it lights up the edge of the road.
I spend a lot of time in tight, two lane, windy roads, with no edge lines.

I’ll likely add a bar from them when I do my bumper and winch for more off road lighting.
https://www.diodedynamics.com/...lights/led-pods.html

I don't know anything about light bars but I do have some experience with tiedowns. I used to have a `97 F-250, and I had a good sized camper on it. A Fleetwood Elkhorn if you want to look it up. For tiedowns I had 2 heavy steel plates bolted on to front end of the bed. Each plate had a triangular extension that stuck out to the side about 3 inches with a hole in it. The front tiedown chains just had a hook on the end that slipped into that hole. For the rear there was a pair of disks about 1.25 or 1.5" in diameter, that were bolted onto either end of the rear bumper. The rear tiedown chains had a flat piece with a keyhole in the middle of it. That keyhole slipped over the disk on the bumper and then slid forward to lock it in place. All very unobtrusive, and IIRC the whole tiedown setup including installation was under $150. And it was solid. I never had any issues with the camper rocking or sliding around in the back.

Here you can see the tiedowns at the front end of the bed and on the right end of the rear bumper (just behind the tailpipe). At the inside front corner of the bed (driver's side) you can see the inner plate that the front tiedown plate is bolted to.

I've had and have numerous manufacturer's LEDs on my vehicles. Currently have them on my Subaru Outback, Toyota Tacoma, and Honda Africa Twin adventure bike. Light output per watt is great over anything else. I will say that if you put something on your roof, you will get glare off the hood. Light bar on Taco is on the roof. Light bar on Subie is on the bumper.

Make sure you wire them up correctly, using relays or similar. All mine are wired up to be unpowered when ignition is off.

Consider mounting your LEDs with a hood mount. No glare from a roof mount and the elevated position gives better coverage and distance, as well as helping to keep the lights cleaner. Currently I have combination lights with an array that is mounted at an angle. This array lights the roadsides and ditches and the main light array gives me distance illumination. Just make sure the lights are not so big in physical size to interfere with the hood opening and closing. My go to LED vendor is www.superbrightleds.com
Good prices, service and warranty.

On both my Tacoma and Wrangler I had mounted the lights right at the A pillar on the hood.
I chose the Baja Designs Squadron Pro. They were the brightest light, but just as with flashlights, it’s not always the brightest on paper that’s best. The Baja Designs have the best throw of light. The light pattern and distance they reach out is second to none. While they are a more expensive option, they are by far the best in my opinion.

I would be hesitant to use pocket stake tie downs. They are not very strong. I had happi jack style on the front of the bed for that area, and was able to run a solid steel tube thru my hitch and attach to it. But that was years ago. I would prefer something solid attached to the frame if it were mine. Good luck.

Spend the money on the torque lift.

Actually....if you can get just the frame part, I've got a set of the inserts left from my setup. If you cover the shipping I'll send them to you for free.

Your new F250 has an aluminum bed. Attaching the camper to the top of that is going to create an arm where the force is applied that the aluminum has to absorb between there and the bed frame bolts. Even with the thin steel I have on my 2016, I wouldn't want to take that chance. With aluminum I wouldn't consider it.

If you can get just the frame attach part/pocket, and you want to accept my offer, let me know and I'll put my hands on those torquelift inserts to make sure I have them (they're in my warehouse somewhere). I'll get a weight and package dimensions for you once you confirm you want them, and I confirm I have them. If I don't see your response here, I think I've sent you my email and possibly my phone number in the past.

Saw someone today rocking 4 of these on a low mount bar on the front of his Subaru outback from NiLight:

Nilight Round LED

Looks like they have several models, some amber as well. May be worth a look.