DanLevitan
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Re: Jack Failure Disaster
I'm happy to report the new jacking setup worked great and I got my camper loaded back up safe and sound. I feel much smarter about the procedure and really appreciate all the help everyone provided. I will be delivering my camper to my painter Saturday and will post pictures when I get it back.972Views0likes0CommentsRe: Jack Failure Disaster
mkirsch, My camper originally had 3 wing mounted jacks but when I got it 2 of the 3 had rotted off. During the rebuild I switch to 4 corner jacks but hind sight being 20/20 I realize I didn't sufficiently beef up the corners enough to safety use the corner jacks. Now that the interior is back together I was hesitant to undertake the proper corner improvements to keep using the corner jacks. Just too much to take back apart for access. I also never liked when I used the 4 jacks how one was always unseated. Switching back to 3 jacks was an easier choice as all the work was on the outside and was pretty easy. If I had the money I would love a Stable-lift but they are just way too expensive.971Views0likes0CommentsRe: Jack Failure Disaster
Thanks for the jacking advice. I played around with the jacks a bunch this morning. I really like having three feet that stay seated. I got it level and installed a couple level gauges on the corner. I had always "eyeballed" it before and now I see that was a big mistake. I started out raising it 1/2" at a time, then 1" which is 5 turns for me. Those little levels are very sensitive. I now realize I was going way too much at a time before. I may stick to the hand crank for a while till I feel more comfortable. I took the opportunity before I load it to confirm my CG. I balanced the camper on a beam until I found it's happy place. It turns out my CG was only 1 1/4" aft of the original middle jack point. I'm happy because I thought I might have to move my A/C from the rear to a more centered spot, but now I think it's okay as is. I got the camper high enough to repair the spot where my black/gray tank T-handle brackets smashed through the LP compartment when it fell. I ended up using a bottle jack to undent the metal LP box and put it all back together as the rain started. Today I also got a good look at the plumbing that got crushed. Looks like I have to replace everything on the outlet side of the black and gray tank shutoff valves down. It sucked the first time, so I'm not looking forward to the sequel. Fortunately I can make those repairs on the truck. Tomorrow should be a good day to load her back on the truck. I'm still not excited about taking it to load height, but the more I use the jacks the more comfortable I get. Thanks again for all the feedback.970Views0likes0CommentsRe: Jack Failure Disaster
I finally have all three jacks reinstalled. They are mounted under the wing now instead of the four jacks I previously had on the corners. The mounts I built are heavy duty and run the entire width of each wing. Additionally I added 3/4" plywood the full length of each wing to provide added support. I moved the jack points rearward about 5" to account for a calculated shift in the CG since the A/C and gray tank were not OEM installed. I jacked it up a few inches tonight and it was still creepy although I'm probably a little gun shy after recent events. There was creaking I never noticed with the corner jacks. It did seem the right rear jack was already deflecting forward even with the little bit I raised it. I hammered the foot back straight before lowering it back on the pallets. I have a question for anyone with experience with truck campers with ONLY 3 jacks. Is the procedure different than with 4? Do I still need to keep the front 4" higher than the rear? Seems level is better for 3 legs. How do you handle jack deflection? My aircraft jacking experience makes me want to hit the foot back straight when I notice it. Here it is standing on it's own 3 feet. I hope to have it back in my truck this weekend.970Views0likes0CommentsRe: Jack Failure Disaster
Hey Bedlam, it might but frankly I don't want to try the corners anymore. I'm a bit gun shy at this point. Also, I know the wing brackets worked fine for this camper for many years so I think thats the route I'm going to go. I would like to see how the grid integrated the wing mounts if you have any pictures David. I might make my own grid. It looks pretty straight forward. Actually my V-wall was a total loss and had to be duplicated. That was a fun project. I was shocked it turned out good on the first try. Stuffing it back in the front and getting everything lined up was a treat. Thanks Notsobigjoe. It's been a labor of love. BTW, I'm in NC, south of Raleigh.637Views0likes0CommentsRe: Jack Failure Disaster
Hi Dave. Thanks for the file. I had read it before several time along with many of your posts, but for some reason I could never see any of the pictures so I very much appreciate you sending it to me. I can finally understand what the "grid" is. I wish I had one on my camper. I assumed it was only on the models that opted for the Safe-t-jacks. Your posts were so helpful during my retrofit. I also beefed up the corners but not nearly to the extent you described. I have done a ton of work to this camper over the last year and a half and have only begun to camp with it. I'm still tweaking stuff. The shower is a good example. The drain was higher than the flat floor. I would end up standing in two inches of water. I'm in the middle of raising the floor with fiberglass bondo adding a slope down to the drain. I've done everything from the wood repair under both wings and 90% of the cabover, new sheetmetal in areas, all new gas piping, wiring, tanks, updated water heater, new furnace, and really too much to list. I have enjoyed this project very much, but look forward to just camping with it and not working on it so much. Once I fix the damage from the tip she is off to get painted. This one is the day I picked her up. We used two forklifts to put her on my trailer.530Views0likes0CommentsRe: Jack Failure Disaster
The piece I want to mount the jack to with the three pinch rings was originally a piece of steel I-beam we had left over at work. I cut off part of the "I" and turned it into a "T". I hope to bolt it onto the wing brackets for loading and unloading with 4 each 3/4" bolts and it wouldn't be attached to the camper at all. I can't image it will flex much into the camper or side to side as it is a very stout chunk of metal. My old tripod bolted to the same bracket also, but this adapts the corner jack to the wing style lift bracket. I started making the three new wing brackets today and hope to have them done next week. The old one in the picture has seen better days and I have plenty of steel to pull out of the scrap bin to work with. I had read exoskeleton article and was impressed but I hope to try something less aggressive. Thanks for the feedback.529Views0likes0CommentsRe: Jack Failure Disaster
Thanks for the pointers. It's great to get insight from everyone. There should be a sticker on truck campers that says "when lowered incorrectly it can F you up!" Live and learn. I included a couple picture of what I'm thinking of doing with my jacks to keep them off the corners as I'm now a bit gun shy of remounting them there. It's just a mock-up but it looks promising to me. I'd welcome your feedback.529Views0likes0CommentsRe: Jack Failure Disaster
I have an idea of going back to the three wing mounted brackets and modifying an I-beam so I can use the corner jacks in the place of the tripod jacks that would otherwise mount to that type of bracket. I want to keep having a single foot per jack as it seems the tripod feet have to all be on the same plane to keep the jack wanting to move vertical. Also I don't like the idea of the tires contacting the tripod base when backing under the camper. I hope to mock something up during my lunch break tomorrow and will post a picture to get feedback. Going from four jacks to three seems weird but I like the idea of keeping all my jacks seated though-out the procedure and I know that is tricky with four manual jacks. I wish I could afford motorized jacks that would move in unison but that isn't in the cards.495Views0likes0Comments
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