Unloading camper with bent jack?

[Ramblin__Ralph]

I had a wreck with my camper. 😞 One of my forward jacks is now bent in and backwards, probably due to the mounting bracket bending and moving (see pics below).

I'm due back at my winter home in a couple of weeks and need to unload my camper. Haven't tried to straighten out the jack yet. I wonder how straight I would need to get it to lift the camper? Or, if I couldn't straighten it enough, how could I raise that corner of the camper? Any tips appreciated.





Thanks,

[tattoobob]

I would pull next to a telephone pole and wrap a sling/strap around it then with a come-a-long pull it in the direction it needs to go, I would also do the same with the tie down

[Ramblin__Ralph]

Thanks for all the good tips. I'll try them when I get home in a couple of weeks. I do have an old jack that failed and I repaired, but didn't trust it for long term use.

To answer some questions:
1) Haven't tried jack yet, as the frame mounted tiedown got bent out so it interferes with moving the jack.
2) Unfortunately, I hit a car. I won't go into the details. 🙂 Good eyes by those that saw the truck damage.

Thanks,

[SidecarFlip]

I see it now, thought it was a reflection.

[Reddog1]

SidecarFlip wrote:
... But no damage to the truck that is evident. ...

Look at the lower part of the door, chrome strip and lower part of the cab. Looks like a pretty heavy hit.

[SidecarFlip]

Have to ask what you hit or what hit you.. I see the wing behind the jack is bent in too... But no damage to the truck that is evident.

I've gotten lazy before and lifted my camper on 3 jacks (unintemtionally of course). I have manual jacks and use an adapter and cordless drill and sometimes I get carried away.

So long as the caper is rigid, it will pick up on 3 jacks, no issue. Back when, campers only came with 3 jacks, not 4.

[Reddog1]

Artum Snowbird wrote:
... It is possible to jack up with two front jacks and only one on the back. Remove the bent one, and put one from the back onto that spot.

Move weighty things inside off that side of the camper that will have no jack, and you will be fine. ...

I would see if the bent jack would go down. If so, I would put the bent jack in the rear, then remove the TC. You can remove the TC as described above, but the bent jack could support some of the weight if it works at all.

I am using my hydraulic jacks to load and unload my 11.5 foot 4000 lb TC. I typically lift the rear 6 inches or more with one jack in the rear. Most of the TC jacks are rated over 2000 lbs each as I recall. That means if true, 4 jacks should lift 8000 lbs.

Wayne

[Joe417]

I have 2 jacks on the right side that are bent from loading and unloading on un-level ground. One has about a 1/4 inch bow. Been planning on replacing all but haven't gotten it done.

Once you swap it to the back, put a straight edge on it to see how bad it's bent.

Our jacks still work manually but pull too much current to use power. I've been using the hand crank. They are 4 turns per inch so it's good exercise.

[Kayteg1]

Picture is too small, but looks to me what bend are brackets.
I had dually brackets bent in similar way on campers that I bought.
I figure out easy way to straight up the brackets by removing them with the jack, finding a gap between concrete slabs on my driveway, stick the bracket in the gap, some wood blocking to keep the jack level and pry bar at the jack footing pushing it back to proper shape.
If I read the above picture correctly - you have 3 separate bracket rings, what should be easy to bring back to shape individually.

[kohldad]

Artum has the answer.

Move the damaged jack and the 3 clamps from the front to the rear. Try to straighten the clamps before installing the damaged jack in the rear.

Use the three jacks to raise the camper. If possible, keep the damaged jack close to the ground just in case.

[Artum_Snowbird]

You have probably noticed that one of the back jacks will come off the ground when you jack. It is possible to jack up with two front jacks and only one on the back. Remove the bent one, and put one from the back onto that spot.

Move weighty things inside off that side of the camper that will have no jack, and you will be fine.

When I bent mine I tried with a welder to straighten it, but it never worked so I had to discard it. Of course, you buy the motor separate from the jack, so replace the jack only, not the motor part.

[cooldavidt]

Not obvious it is itself bent but if it is it will need to be replaced. Probably best to find a pair.

When you look at it from the bottom does it look bent?

Can you extend and retract it at all?

[work2much]

Jack looks definitely bent in relation to itself. I think you will need to replace it. Also need to inspect the corner of the camper to make sure structure hasn't been damaged.

[cooldavidt]

remove and reinstall straight.

Looks like the jack is straight.