Jack Failure Disaster
I had a terrible experience yesterday when I tried to unload my camper which resulted in my camper falling over on its side in my front yard. It happened so fast I'm not exactly sure where it went wro...
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So one of the front jacks failed first. That is not surprising as they carry more weight. Would it have failed in the same way if the rear jacks had been anchored at the bottom? Maybe, maybe not. In any case the bending loads in the rear get much more evenly distributed that way, and there is much less possibility for flex overall. But the front jacks are still standing free and the mounts need to be able to absorb a lot of bending force. What you did see was that the jack mount tore off the camper structure as it was probably designed to do. Imagine that you snag the jack on a wall or some other obstacle while driving. Then this failure mode will be much easier to repair than if it tore out the complete camper frame with it.
From the first picture posted, it looks like the camper was on fairly level, but soft ground. One of the jacks under load probably started to slide away, not neccessarily the one that tore off.
I have personally watched the third leg of a three legged camper loosing footing on a patch of ice and folding under ... with much the same result. For me, the three-jack design does not inspire more confidence than the four corner jacks.
Some pieces of plywood or similar under the jack feet might have helped, or loading on an even, paved surface. Then again, they might not - I was not there.
We use the electric drill method on our camper as well, but always on a paved surface. One of the rear legs comes off the ground quite frequently in the process, and there is no flex or movement of concern. This happened on the previous campers with electric jacks as well, as the jack motors never have the exact same speed and start to run out of sync eventually.
From the first picture posted, it looks like the camper was on fairly level, but soft ground. One of the jacks under load probably started to slide away, not neccessarily the one that tore off.
I have personally watched the third leg of a three legged camper loosing footing on a patch of ice and folding under ... with much the same result. For me, the three-jack design does not inspire more confidence than the four corner jacks.
Some pieces of plywood or similar under the jack feet might have helped, or loading on an even, paved surface. Then again, they might not - I was not there.
We use the electric drill method on our camper as well, but always on a paved surface. One of the rear legs comes off the ground quite frequently in the process, and there is no flex or movement of concern. This happened on the previous campers with electric jacks as well, as the jack motors never have the exact same speed and start to run out of sync eventually.
