After a few off road close encounters with drop offs and boulders, I decided to ditch my jacks. But that posed another problem....what if the truck craps out and I need to get the camper off? It's fine to leave the jacks at home for short weekend trips but we travel thousands of miles from home every summer. So I decided to store the jacks in the cab of the truck.
The idea of flying camper jacks in the cab in case of an accident is unappealing to me so I came up with a storage rack that fits behind the rear seat.
First I take the motors off the jacks and toss them on a shelf. They won't be going with us. Pop on the top caps. Rory at Northstar gave me 4 caps that go on the top of the jacks for the non-motorized units.
Next I popped off the child safety seat tie down covers seen here.
Here is what's underneath.
I grabbed some 3/16 angle iron, some 3/16 X 1 flat stock, the welder, and just made it up as I went along. Didn't really have a plan so to speak. Here's what I came up with.
I chose red paint because it was the cheapest on the shelf, and I'm cheap. Then added some padding in the right places to minimize damage to the jack finish and the interior of the truck. I used self-adhesive heavy duty weather stripping, yoga mat, and foam pipe insulation to pad everything.
Here's what my wife came up with for utilizing the car seat tie downs. I was going to use a bolt fisher to pull a bolt through from the inside but this idea is way better. Then I was going to dip the ends in Plasti-Kote but at $10 a can I decided electrical tape would silence any rattling for a fraction of the cost. And I'm cheap.
Just pop the tangs in the slot and swing the rack down.
Here is the finished prototype with the jacks all snug and padded. The two 1/4 inch bolts and nylock nuts keep the jacks inside the rack. When you snug the bolts down the rack squeezes the sides of the jack and eliminates any movement and rattles.
Plenty of room with the seat in the upright position.
I have also added a thick plastic coated steel cable that is bolted to an anchor point under the seat and is attached to the front bottom of the rack to prevent it from swinging forward in case of an accident.
Now my jacks are safe from rock chips, boulders, and idiots in parking lots.
Another bonus is that I have removed weight from the rear of the camper and placed in front of the COG.
Mike
The idea of flying camper jacks in the cab in case of an accident is unappealing to me so I came up with a storage rack that fits behind the rear seat.
First I take the motors off the jacks and toss them on a shelf. They won't be going with us. Pop on the top caps. Rory at Northstar gave me 4 caps that go on the top of the jacks for the non-motorized units.
Next I popped off the child safety seat tie down covers seen here.
Here is what's underneath.
I grabbed some 3/16 angle iron, some 3/16 X 1 flat stock, the welder, and just made it up as I went along. Didn't really have a plan so to speak. Here's what I came up with.
I chose red paint because it was the cheapest on the shelf, and I'm cheap. Then added some padding in the right places to minimize damage to the jack finish and the interior of the truck. I used self-adhesive heavy duty weather stripping, yoga mat, and foam pipe insulation to pad everything.
Here's what my wife came up with for utilizing the car seat tie downs. I was going to use a bolt fisher to pull a bolt through from the inside but this idea is way better. Then I was going to dip the ends in Plasti-Kote but at $10 a can I decided electrical tape would silence any rattling for a fraction of the cost. And I'm cheap.
Just pop the tangs in the slot and swing the rack down.
Here is the finished prototype with the jacks all snug and padded. The two 1/4 inch bolts and nylock nuts keep the jacks inside the rack. When you snug the bolts down the rack squeezes the sides of the jack and eliminates any movement and rattles.
Plenty of room with the seat in the upright position.
I have also added a thick plastic coated steel cable that is bolted to an anchor point under the seat and is attached to the front bottom of the rack to prevent it from swinging forward in case of an accident.
Now my jacks are safe from rock chips, boulders, and idiots in parking lots.
Another bonus is that I have removed weight from the rear of the camper and placed in front of the COG.
Mike
