How flat for loading and unloading?

diver110 wrote:
Thanks for the feedback. It does sound like things need to be quite flat for 40 feet or so. I go to some hilly places where 40 flat feet can be hard to come by....

I wouldn't agree with that statement. It just needs to be fairly flat for ~ 15'. I would avoid side slopes. My camper sits just past the sloped driveway and it loads OK.

KD4UPL wrote:
I won't unload mine one anything not extremely level. Concrete or other pavement is best. I've done it in the dirt a few times but it was very level. Even then, trying to back the truck under is tight enough without having to worry about unlevel ground raising your bed at the wrong moment.

G'day,
Never unload on soft, uneven or sloping ground.
I nearly had catastrophic failure once, sloping ground with Dually swing out brackets and only 1/2 inch to spare between fenders and Jacks. One front leg started to sway as I had lowered front Cabover to low. Always keep front cabover 1-2 inches higher than the rear Jacks, when raising and lowering.
You need plenty of distance to reverse in under camper straight, at least 1.5 times the length of your Truck.
Can be done in shorter, if you have lots of experience.
Good Luck.

For the most part usually a slight front to back slope is tolerable but I find that dealing with a side slope (cross-slope) is the hardest. I usually will be fine with unloading on a slight front to back slope but will try to avoid a site with any obvious cross-slope. This doesn't mean I won't unload on a cross slope but all of my truck to camper damage has been camping with side slopes...the AF has diamond plate in the box area so it weathers the rubbing well. The trick is to make sure the camper is completely square to grade (with regards to cross-slope)and not actually level when you are loading/unloading on a side slope. If your camper is a moderate to tight fit like mine you will easily rub at the rails or wheel wells if your not carful. Also I find that as long as the slope is fairly consistent for about 2 truck lengths (sometimes I need more and sometimes I can get away with less) I can load and unload. As always ymmv.

If you must unload on a hill, unload the TC with the front on the higher side and level, side to side, as much as possible.
Since there is usually so much more load on the front jax, keep the front higher, rather than lower.
I never take the jacks along on a trip anyway, so never take the camper off except at home.
How soon you forget. I am king of the jax-off.
jefe

Like Shellback, I used to unload nearly 100% of the time. For us it was largely having the low entry height for our big old dogs, but also to use the truck to explore. That was with our old truck and 8.5' camper. I unloaded that thing is some really stupid places where it was uneven dirt/grass etc. Sidetilts were the absolute worst. But it was a relatively small camper, and I always got away with it.

Our big truck and giant camper (or giant truck and big camper perhaps) is much more of a difficult load/unload. My jacks are not tall enough to lift it off the deck without big blocks underneath. The blocks work great, but as Mark pointed out, also requires a good level non-slip surface. But 40'? No way! I have a pad of concrete that is just a little longer than the TC is. Yes, the dirt/gravel in front has to be pretty level, but it doesn't have to be perfect.

I just unloaded mine again after the weekend (to take it in for service.) It was so windy I didn't think I could do it safely (another issue that can catch you off-guard if you take it off all the time.....sometimes I have to wait a few DAYS at my house to be able to put it back on!) I ended up getting the blocks set, the jacks down to contact, and then went on my way doing other stuff. In between wind and snow flurries, I got an opening for a brief time and took it off in pretty rapid fashion. I lift it up 3 or 4", then drop the air bags to give some more clearance, and pull out. Leave the end of the truck under the cab-over in case of emergency (might not do that with a sheet metal bed, but I'd still rather crush my bed than ME!) and lower it all the way to bottom.

1) sidehills are the worst
2) pull out need to be relatively flat (or rather the same tilt as where the TC is.)
3) The smaller the camper the less issue it is (if still talking 4 corner jacks anyway)
4) Feet need to be on solid surface.

Well 40' would be nice but rare and I don't think I really need that much, just once the end of bed is lined up to front of camper and ready to slide in-the front isn't moving too much. Usually not a problem but as others have mentioned its the side to side that generally gives me problems. You'd think if it comes off without a snag it should go back on as easily, but not always the case. Twice Ive not been able to get truck under camper raising jacks back to full height, usually compensating for side to side lean. That & seems the truck, when camper off a while, gets 'taller'.
Once I ended up lowering camper on to cribbing on one rear corner, to put some blocks under rear jack, to get enough height. The other time wasn't as bad, I could get about 3/4 of the way in-simply lowered camper compressing truck, then put blocks under front jacks, raised again and was bout 1' shy. but enough to raise rear jacks, pull forward and repositioning. Sometimes easier & safer to just air down one side.

I guess I'm not the norm, as I most often take my camper off at the site. Number 1 reason is my wife has MS and I need it close to the ground for easy access. Number 2, I use my truck for launching my boat each day. Anyhow, front to back slightly out of level really isn't too much of a problem. Side to side, you really need to have your truck bed level. I use Lynx Levelers, plastic stackable blocks to back my truck up onto to level the rig before off loading.I will also use them if the front to back level is too much also. With electric jacks, a lazer to get correct line up, and my Fastgun tiedowns, I can load and off load pretty easily. I should add that my camper is about 1400#s dry. Heavier campers could be a different ballgame.

I won't unload mine one anything not extremely level. Concrete or other pavement is best. I've done it in the dirt a few times but it was very level. Even then, trying to back the truck under is tight enough without having to worry about unlevel ground raising your bed at the wrong moment.

billtex wrote:
diver...if you are like most TC'ers...I think you will find unloading while on the road is an exception.
I think it is safe to say most do NOT unload...it's just so darn convenient to take everything with you. That is one of the best parts of having a TC...your kitchen, bath, bed, can fit in any parking space.

B

Yeah, I was just wondering about that. Maybe I can get used to driving around with the TC on board. Sometimes I like to do mild offroading, though.

diver...if you are like most TC'ers...I think you will find unloading while on the road is an exception.
I think it is safe to say most do NOT unload...it's just so darn convenient to take everything with you. That is one of the best parts of having a TC...your kitchen, bath, bed, can fit in any parking space.

B