Resources / Apex
Installing your Apex
No dealer install, no shop appointment. Eleven steps, four jacks, and a spotter.
Because the Apex is a slide-in, loading it is the same job whether you are doing it the day it arrives or the first weekend of every season. Attach the jacks, lift, back the truck under, strap it down.
Most owners have it done in under an hour the first time, and in twenty minutes after that. The only part worth slowing down for is backing under, which is step 03.
Watch first
The full install, start to finish
One pass through the whole job, from bolting on the jacks to pulling out of the driveway. The written steps below cover the same ground if you would rather read it, or need something to follow with your hands busy.
Attach the four jacks
Slide a mechanical jack into the dedicated jack mount at each corner of the Apex and pin it. Seat each one fully before it takes any load. All four go on before anything comes off the ground.
Raise the camper
Jack each corner up until the bottom of the Apex clears your tailgate and bed floor. Work around the camper a few inches at a time rather than running one corner to full height, so the load stays balanced across all four jacks.
Back the truck under
Slowly back the truck under the Apex until the bulkhead of the truck is barely touching the front of the camper, or just a hair off touching it. Use a spotter, go slow, and check both bed rails as you come back.
Run the straps
Before lowering the jacks, attach the included straps through the existing tie-down points at each corner of the truck bed. Factory tie-down points work in most cases. Some customers opt for upgraded truck camper tie-downs, which is worth considering if you run rough roads or spend a lot of time loaded.
Feed the straps into the ratchets
With each strap looped through the bed tie-down point, insert both ends into the ratchet mount on that corner of the Apex.
- Front ratchets. Both are on the front wall of the camper, where you can reach them from outside.
- Rear ratchets. One is under the fridge area, the other under the kitchen area.
Lower the jacks
Bring the jacks down slowly, moving corner to corner in small increments so the camper settles evenly into the bed rather than landing on one corner first.
Remove the jacks
Once the Apex is fully down on the bed floor and sitting square, pull the pins and take all four jacks off. Stow them where they will not shift in transit.
Tighten the tie-downs
Work the four ratchets down in an even pattern, alternating side to side and front to back. Snug and firm is the target. Overtightening puts unnecessary load on the bed and on the camper frame, and it does not make the camper any more secure.
Connect the lighting harness
Plug in the wiring harness for the running lights and the rear brake light, then test both before you pull out. Route the lead clear of the tailgate and the strap paths.
Connect the DC-DC charger
If your Apex is equipped for a DC-DC charger, connect the Anderson connector at the front of the camper to the truck side connector. The camper battery then charges any time the vehicle is running.
Go camping
Walk the camper one more time. Four straps tight, jacks stowed, both connectors seated, lights working. Then go.
Once you are loaded
The first twenty miles
Straps settle as the camper seats into the bed, which means the tension you set in the driveway is not the tension you have on the highway. Pull over after the first 20 to 30 miles and take up the slack, then check them again at the start of every trip.
- Recheck all four ratchets after the first 20 to 30 miles
- Check them again each morning on a long trip
- Confirm the lighting harness is seated before every drive
- Keep the jacks and pins together, stowed where they cannot move
Tie-down hardware and bed dimensions vary by truck make, model, and bed length. If anything on this page does not match what you are looking at, stop and ask us before you load it.
Not sure about your truck?
Send us your year, make, model, and bed length and we will tell you exactly what your Apex needs, including whether upgraded tie-down points are worth it for how you use it.