Preferred portable jack for Travel Queen ?

Jacks on order, 2 to 5 days to arrive.

Besides possible water damage, this is my only other concern, just as Dave Pete warned:


Jack frame used as tie downs :(

Here's what's left of the original OEM jack system:

driver's side rear

passenger's side front


oh..and I guess the only other concern, besides the water damage and the inappropriate tie down is the scar in that last picture. There is a groove in the siding that runs all the way behind the cab. The split open piece shown above is only about 6 inches long.

Wow, that is all extremely helpful!! Thank you :)

The camper itself is in really good shape (I think...it did let a little rain in during the drive...eek!) and that just makes it all the more nerve wracking. It appears the truck and camper were originally purchased together and I, like you trailgranny, would rather not lift the camper off at all.

Unfortunately, the truck isn't really road worthy (though I drove it six harrowing hours to get it home :E) and the camper needs a thorough inspection and more than few spa days, so they'll need to part for the moment at least.

Thanks for the kind words regarding the camper Oasis Bob. I feel so fortunate to have found it, it was truly love at first sight.

Mkirsch and Dave Pete, the advice on the jacks is exactly what I was looking for. I'll be reading and re-reading it obsessively in preparation for this weekend's main event.

I'm headed out to the garage now to look it all over again with this new information on board.

Thanks again for the support and guidance!

Littlestbirds,listen to Dave Pete. He has what you have but in a smaller size. We have an old Shadow Cruiser that is set up with the jacks under the wings as well. There is no place for corner jacks in the back due to "fins" that are non-supporting and the driver side has the water heater compartment located too close to the front edge for one there as well. Your and our campers were built and specifically reinforced for jacks under the wings. We have one at each corner in front and at the back just ahead of the overhang, it's a 9'.5". There are anchors seperate from the jacks for tiedowns. We no longer carry the fold up jack legs as the camper is in a long term marriage/ relationshhip to our truck. Only remove it if there was a death of the truck in the future. Then just bolt the legs back to the brackets and crank her up.

Once any lifting mechanism is in place, be certain to brace each corner jack with geometric bracing. The original used triangular connectors.



Note the triangular bracing style in the above photo.

A camper corner mount uses triangular stiffening just in the several mounting screws if you can picture it. Last thing you want is to lift it, just to have it hinge over on you. Even maybe a ratchet strap from near the bottom of the jack (part that doesn't extend) up to the center hole I was talking about. That would allow two rear ratchets to keep the camper from hinging forward, and the two front ratchets from the camper hinging rearward.

Hi Littlest Birds. I'm the guy doing the TQ build.

The jack you pictured should work good; one on each corner.

Under the wings you'll find a steel grid system. In the metal facing you as you look at it, you'll see three holes on each side. The farthest forward and rearward are mounting holes for the original jacks (the center is for a hand crank).

I think you'll find the original holes regions are good center of gravity locations for your camper, so one jack under each.

I use a portable (removable) jack system, one per side that has an angle iron to rest into the wing edge. It's tippy, but my camper is smaller. With your larger camper I'd use minimum three jacks.

Your jack pictured is - I believe - an Alaska Camper style and should work great!

One option - depending on you wing condition, I'd build it up with a patch and mount the jack to each area, lifting on the camper sidewall (strongest point of the wing), or if the wings are good condition and ready to go, make a permanent mount to connect the jack as opposed to temporary just to get it off the truck.

And you are on the right path with the type jack you are showing. You definitely don't want to install any corner jacks (1x2 framing) and yours looks like it never had corner jacks installed which is waaaay awesome.

But if you decide you must do corner jacks, keep in mind the front and back walls are 5/8" plywood covered with an interior 1/8" wood paneling. I still highly advise against that method for Travel Queens (or really almost any stick build camper).

Also, I wouldn't use them to tie down due to leverage wrongly placed, but put a piece of pipe (correct diameter) into each of the four corner holes described earlier and extend them out past the camper sides. Then lift those pipes with whatever lifting mechanism you have handy. Perhaps you could fabricate a plate and pipe to attach to the Alaska Camper style jacks. Whatever, put a bolt into the pipe's set screw hole from below so the pipe doesn't shift.

The big PLUS for you is the existing clean corner. Stresses and damage to the corners will lead to many other structural problems. And you have a real nice specimen.

Nice find!

There should be evidence of where the jacks were mounted previously, either by looking under the wings for bolt holes, or inside for any beefed up structure. Be aware that campers of that age often had only three, and sometimes just two, jacks.

Your guess as to the jack placement is probably as good as any, lacking any further evidence.

Personally, I would tie the two jacks together on each side with a plank or width of plywood to support the entire wing for the initial removal. That way you are not putting any excessive pressure on any one spot.

Once you get the camper off the truck and supported under the floor, you can do whatever you need to properly mount the jacks.

Littlest Birds wrote:
Thanks for the quick response! That detailed rebuild series is what brought me to this forum. However, my level of inexperience is such that I need a little pre-rebuild advise on just getting the treasure off of my truck without causing any damage.

Might want to send him a PM. Ask about safely getting it off.

Friend that is a beautiful old classic. Take care

Thanks for the quick response! That detailed rebuild series is what brought me to this forum. However, my level of inexperience is such that I need a little pre-rebuild advise on just getting the treasure off of my truck without causing any damage.

There's a series of threads that discuss rebuilding Travel Queens with a lot of information on jacking them. Check:

Travel Queen Rebuild