Taking the camper off the truck
If there is 1 thing about owning a truck camper that intimidates me (even after 3+ years), is taking the thing off the truck. Those camper legs can support 2000 Lbs each (which means 1 leg can suppor...
Forum Discussion
My last TC (Lance) had electric jacks remote control) my new one has manual jacks (armstrong control.....:B). Actually, it's not too bad, I get my wife on one side with a cordless drill and jack adapter and me on the other with another cordless drill and adapter and we work as a team.
I don't like lifting it up to take it off, my truck is 6 over stock (lifted) so to get the camper off, I have to run the legs all the way out and it just clears the bed...it's way up there and it wobbles a bit and makes me nervous.
I always set it on and take it off on concrete, level concrete. And when I put it on, I get it on asap, makes me nervous up in the stratosphere like it is.....
To get it in square and spaced properly between the wheel wells, I painted a red vertical line in the center of the camper that I can see through my back slider window and I have the split slider centered in it tracks so I use the vertical split of the window to center the camper in the bed. Did the same thing with my Lance as well.
I also gage the back of the camper against the back corner of the bed on the drivers side when I put it in, the camper sits (at the back corner) 1.5" off the vertical post (everyone will be different than mine) but between the back vertical bed post and the center line on the camper, I can 'get 'er in' first try.
I back the truck up (idling) until it's close, then I LOWER the front until the bumpers are close to the bed surface (looking in and down) and then back the rest of the way in (idling) until the truck contacts the camper. The I set it down in thew back until the truck starts to take the weight of the camper and then back to the front, dropping it in all the way. Then back to the back running the jacks up (not all the way, I leave about 4" extended) and back to the front for the same.
I run HappyJac in the front and Torqlifts in the back and I use the conventional screw in Happyjac turnbuckles.
That is how I do it and mine comes off and on quiote a few times every season. I use the truck for a farm truck so when I'm not camping, the camper is off.
I store my camper in the garage.
I put the camper on a single axle boat trailer (with the boat bunks removed) and use that as a dolly to move it around (with my quad.
I leave the camper on the trailer, in the garage, all winter and in the summer when I go camping, the trailer hauls my quads.
I'm into multiple use.
As many times as I've loaded and unloaded campers, I still get a bit nervous and I never do it on a windy day.
Hope that helps someone...
I don't like lifting it up to take it off, my truck is 6 over stock (lifted) so to get the camper off, I have to run the legs all the way out and it just clears the bed...it's way up there and it wobbles a bit and makes me nervous.
I always set it on and take it off on concrete, level concrete. And when I put it on, I get it on asap, makes me nervous up in the stratosphere like it is.....
To get it in square and spaced properly between the wheel wells, I painted a red vertical line in the center of the camper that I can see through my back slider window and I have the split slider centered in it tracks so I use the vertical split of the window to center the camper in the bed. Did the same thing with my Lance as well.
I also gage the back of the camper against the back corner of the bed on the drivers side when I put it in, the camper sits (at the back corner) 1.5" off the vertical post (everyone will be different than mine) but between the back vertical bed post and the center line on the camper, I can 'get 'er in' first try.
I back the truck up (idling) until it's close, then I LOWER the front until the bumpers are close to the bed surface (looking in and down) and then back the rest of the way in (idling) until the truck contacts the camper. The I set it down in thew back until the truck starts to take the weight of the camper and then back to the front, dropping it in all the way. Then back to the back running the jacks up (not all the way, I leave about 4" extended) and back to the front for the same.
I run HappyJac in the front and Torqlifts in the back and I use the conventional screw in Happyjac turnbuckles.
That is how I do it and mine comes off and on quiote a few times every season. I use the truck for a farm truck so when I'm not camping, the camper is off.
I store my camper in the garage.
I put the camper on a single axle boat trailer (with the boat bunks removed) and use that as a dolly to move it around (with my quad.
I leave the camper on the trailer, in the garage, all winter and in the summer when I go camping, the trailer hauls my quads.
I'm into multiple use.
As many times as I've loaded and unloaded campers, I still get a bit nervous and I never do it on a windy day.
Hope that helps someone...
