I want to secure my TC while it is off the truck

nycsteve wrote:


This looks good. The storage in the bed is excellent. What are the 2 white rear cross bars made of?

With exception of the front aluminum Valterra stabilizer and aluminum jack stands, every thing else is made out of 2X4 lumber. Cross bars are 2X4s. Support brackets are made out of 2X4s, with enough spacing for the cross bars to slide in.

MN Ben wrote:
My wife and I hung on the very front edge of the off loaded camper and it tipped. Most likely because it had three legs. OP, if your camper has three legs ( sorry I didn't read your specs,) then your camper will tip w/ out support.

Not most likely, DEFINITELY because it had three legs!

Three legs puts the pivot point on a line between the front jack and the single jack on the opposite side. The line runs pretty close to the camper's COG, so yeah you can tip over a 3-jack camper.

3-jack campers went out of style with the 1980's, though.

Any 4-jack camper will absolutely positively NOT tip over on to its nose with multiple people in the cabover.

Even if a jack fails, the camper falls down. It doesn't "tip over;" it doesn't pivot up on to the cabover like a see-saw. The cabover might touch the ground if it's long enough and/or the main box collapses, but the criteria for a "tip over" is that both rear jacks are up off the ground. You might get one rear jack off the ground in a front jack failure but never both.

kerry4951 wrote:
Some have come up with portable supports that they can use under their off-loaded TCs. Just keep in mind it has to be something that you can transport with the TC while traveling. Some TCs are built to use un-supported while just resting on their jacks. It depends on the make of TC.
I prefer to still use some kind of support system under the TC, along with the factory jacks. I made a portable system using (3)2X4's,brackets, and aluminum jack stands, and a anti-sway stabilizer bar (that I already had). Everything breaks down and stores inside the bed of the truck along the bed when Im traveling. I can make adjustments for uneven ground by using the jack stands and stabilizer. This gives the under belly support on both ends and in the middle. We lived in and out of our TC for a month and a half while using this system and it was just like the TC was sitting on a solid floor.
Whether its on jacks, or other supports, you should not worry about the thing tipping over with people in the cabover.

This looks good. The storage in the bed is excellent. What are the 2 white rear cross bars made of?

It is a non issue. Campsites are relatively flat so the load is supported equally on all four legs. We lower the camper so that the bottom step is about 10" above the ground. The camper has no sway at that height. I installed wobl-stoppers but in reality they were not needed.

A camper is not going to tip over. The majority of the weight is below the level of the windows where there are the holding tanks, fridge, stove, etc., and little is in the upper cabinets and the cabover section has little weight even when we are up there sleeping. We do have the most forward part of the camper about 4 inches higher than the very rear of the camper but I doubt that it is critical to do so.

Next time you take the camper off, lower it within 2' of the ground and then try to push against the sides and see if there is any movement. Go inside and do the same.

Most should be aware if camper is off truck with full water tanks and there is no support system you can damage your camper floor.
I never have my camper off truck without supports and wobble stoppers on front jacks.
And this is pointed out in my manual that came with TC

As for tip over manual also states keep front higher than back and you will have no problems using it this way.

Being one of the guys who always says that Campers will not tip forward under normal conditions, I am going to have to qualify that advice in the future by saying it does not apply to 3 Jack set ups! That moves the fulcrum rearward.

KD4UPL wrote:
There is any easy and safe way, it's called don't worry about it tipping because it won't. It would be practically impossible for it to tip with 6 people in the cab over if you could even get them in there.
Supports under the camper don't address the OP's "supposed" problem. The pivot point would still be the same: the front edge of the camper where the jacks are.

Think of it this way. When on the jacks or on the truck there is no support any further forward. How many trucks do you see with dented cabs because the camper tipped forward in the back of the truck? I'd bet none. If it won't tip on the truck it won't tip on the jacks.

This may be because the camper Ina the back of a truck is ATTACHED with turnbuckles. But I see your point with the pivot point.

My wife and I hung on the very front edge of the off loaded camper and it tipped. Most likely because it had three legs. OP, if your camper has three legs ( sorry I didn't read your specs,) then your camper will tip w/ out support.

There is any easy and safe way, it's called don't worry about it tipping because it won't. It would be practically impossible for it to tip with 6 people in the cab over if you could even get them in there.
Supports under the camper don't address the OP's "supposed" problem. The pivot point would still be the same: the front edge of the camper where the jacks are.

Think of it this way. When on the jacks or on the truck there is no support any further forward. How many trucks do you see with dented cabs because the camper tipped forward in the back of the truck? I'd bet none. If it won't tip on the truck it won't tip on the jacks.
We use ours a lot just sitting on the jacks. Lower it down as far as you can and it will be very stable.

From a leverage perspective, adding something under the front of the bed isn't going to help. You need an anchor/weight at the very back of the camper. Think seesaw. --- creating a better pivot point doesn't make one end stay lower than the other.

Not knowing camper but most designed to be used off truck virtually impossible to "tip" over. Comfort level another subject. Using addtional supports-product like Torklift wobble stopper, simple jack stands or other means can minmize movement. We recently started using stands and added jack stablizers. More solid than when its on the truck. Last trip was first time Ive slept in camper off loaded that I didnt have that 'were going over!' sensation.