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Free Camper Adventure: Do these tip over?

BurbMan
Explorer II
Explorer II
For those of you following my "got it for free" camper thread, we went last weekend and cleaned it out, hauled away 3 trash bags of stuff the PO left behind. Camper is in really good shape inside. Not a lot of room to move around because with no power and no battery, couldn't put the slide out.

Noob Question: When the camper is off the truck, can you get up into the bed area or will it tip over? Right now (due to the RF jack issue, ie lack thereof...) the camper is sitting on 2x8's on top of cement block stacks.

On the advice of a fellow forum member who is now on his 10th rotted camper repair, I purchased a moisture meter. This will help me locate additional areas that may have been leaking and need repair.

I was also able to get a hold of Lance (what nice folks!) and they sent me construction diagrams for the side walls, with measurements, so I know exactly how it goes together and the exact size of each framing piece. I also found out that my unit was optioned with a solar pre-wire and heated holding tanks.
7 REPLIES 7

midnightsadie
Explorer II
Explorer II
sidecarflip has a very good point,could be all the wood is rotten .

mountainkowboy
Explorer
Explorer
Been sleeping in it off-truck for decades....

Chuck & Ruth with 4-legged Molly
2007 Tiffin Allegro 30DA
2011 Ford Ranger
1987 HD FLHTP

KD4UPL
Explorer
Explorer
The support point of the camper isn't any different when it's sitting on the jacks vs. sitting in a truck bed. It's still not supported any further forward than the front wall. The pivot point is till the same. If it would tip over on the jacks it would tip forward sitting in a truck. You could probably fill the cabover with your whole family and it wouldn't be close to tipping forward.
Structural defects, that's a different story. I have no idea how solid the framing is after whatever your camper has been thru.

SidecarFlip
Explorer III
Explorer III
Because you have a 'wrinkle' in the side wall behind the cab over bunk (if I remember correctly from the pictures you posted), I'd be careful about putting weight in the cab over area. That wrinkle didn't come about by accident. I'd be worried about a structural defect and additional weight in the cab over bunk could cause it to come part and fail.

Out of curiosity, is Zeus Fasteners still in Islip? I used to deliver steel there way back when. Spent a few weekends there and got to know some locals. Got out to Fire Island too.
2015 Backpack SS1500
1997 Ford 7.3 OBS 4x4 CC LB

joerg68
Nomad III
Nomad III
Congratulations!

And it will not tip over.
There are rougly 2500 or more lbs of camper behind the cabover.
Just be sure the cabover floor is structurally sound.

Wishing you all the best for your repair project, and many happy travels with the repaires camper!
2014 Ford F350 XLT 6.2 SCLB + 2017 Northstar Arrow

burningman
Explorer II
Explorer II
Assuming it isn’t falling apart, yes you can get in the cabover area and it will not tip over forward. It weighs over 3000 pounds, a few hundred in the bunk doesn’t faze it.
It isn’t teetering on the front jacks, a lot of people wish they could get the center of gravity that far forward! The camper's COG is much further back.
2017 Northern Lite 10-2 EX CD SE
99 Ram 4x4 Dually Cummins
A whole lot more fuel, a whole lot more boost.
4.10 gears, Gear Vendors overdrive, exhaust brake
Built auto, triple disc, billet shafts.
Kelderman Air Ride, Helwig sway bar.

Lwiddis
Explorer II
Explorer II
“When the camper is off the truck, can you get up into the bed area or will it tip over?“

I never did.
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad