elgy
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Is it OK to travel with the jacks not stowed?
My '89 Bijou camper has Titan manual jacks and brackets so they can be swung up and stowed horizontally when not in use. Is it necessary? As long as the bottom of the jacks aren't lower than the truck frame I don't see why I can't leave them vertical when I am on the move, it would make setting up a breeze since I want to lower the jacks to steady the camper when we are parked. Thanks for any comments.725Views0likes1CommentRe: TC sways jacking up and down. will I ever get used to this?
When I bought my TC a couple of months ago I helped the seller load it on my pickup, He did not even tighten the bolts on the jacks more than finger tight after swinging them down, that plus them being cranked up to their highest because of his driveway... and because a couple of the mounting points were rotten made it unusually unstable. When I got it home and did my first unload I tightened the bolts down - big improvement - but then for my peace of mind, after having jacked it up a couple of inches from the truck bed, I grabbed the TC and pushed and pulled at it to see if it really was dangerous (figuring if it really was unstable it would just fall down on the truck). I moves around but it is basically pretty stable. Since than I work carefully but with the confidence that it isn't going to just dive off the jacks all by itself. My biggest fear is of pushing it off the jacks, by hitting a jack with the truck or not having jacked it up enough... so like I said, very carefully.151Views0likes0CommentsRe: Suggestions on strengthening jack attach point.
AnEv942 wrote: WOW looks like folks have been 'feeding' that hole at the back with scraps of ply. But back to the propane door. Though functional and looks like semi water tight Im not seeing a lot of air-if any exchanging. Cant tell in any of the pictures if theres is a vent in the floor. If there is not, a simple hole thru floor covered in 1/4" wire screen, or one one those lil round pop in vents like for eave/underhouse venting etc. Propane falls but would need another vent. Possibly another hole w/ plastic pipe riser. If box unventilated to outside it can vent inside to camper if box unsealed. Otherwise could reach combustible levels inside box (especially considering what i see as electrical connections?). Thanks for the heads up on ventilation... now I understand why the old door fit so badly! ;) I will put a hole in the bottom which I had planned on to pass the wiring out to the connector on the pickup.446Views0likes0CommentsRe: Suggestions on strengthening jack attach point.
This part of the renovation of our camper is pretty well finished, here is a picture of the left front jack attach point to contrast with the one I started this thread with. I finally feel confident that when I crank that jack up, the camper will be lifted... I am happy with the way the door turned out, I ended up putting a couple of metal brackets on the bottom that hook behind the metal structural tubes inside and the lock at the top holds it in place. I decided against using screws because I want an easier access to be able to turn off the propane as needed. Don't yet know if it will keep the water out. Next I found rot under the rear door and started tearing it apart... I had to remove about a foot and a half of floor and about two feet of the supporting structure, the full width of the TC. Happily it was a quick fix, one day to take it apart and another to rebuild it. We have a reservation for Friday in 2 weeks at the KOA in Bromont, Quebec (a 2 nights for 1 special) for our first outing in this rig. We are really looking forward to it. But I have had to prioritise my renovations list, because it ain't gonna be finished in a week and a half! But I will have another 2 months to finish the rest of it before our real vacation in July.446Views0likes0CommentsRe: Suggestions on strengthening jack attach point.
AnEv942 wrote: ... How far back, looks like a 2x, go back? Curious to see what you do for the door. Will you try to straighten the frame & use it and make a new door? ... I added 2x4 gussets front, rear and middle on both sides, here is a better picture. The old door frame was finished, and I couldn't figure how it could keep the rain out even when it was new !? I have been looking around for ideas for a new door and didn't find anything usefull, so this is what I came up with. First a frame of aluminum angle "iron" installed around the opening. Then I made a door out of thin aluminum that slips over the frame. There is a gasket on the inside of the door that I hope will seal it. It won't be hinged, just slip on and slip off. It is a work in progress... I haven't as yet figured out how to hold it on with enough pressure to compress the gasket a bit, so while I'm thinkin' I've rigged a bungee cord (not in the picture) to keep it in place...446Views0likes0CommentsRe: Our New 1968 Travel Queen
Dave Pete wrote: ... we bought unit #1 for $700 including "lots of needed restoration work" and an original sales brochure in pristine condition; we hauled it home. ... we made a purchase decision (also $700) sight un-seen and drove two days to get it. ... You bought 2 of them?! What is the plan for the second one?304Views0likes0CommentsRe: Suggestions on strengthening jack attach point.
mkirsch wrote: $3500 Stablelift on a $350 camper??? Hey, my camper cost more than $350! ? … but the Stablelift is more than twice what I paid for it. Thanks to all for the suggestions, I am half way through the repairs and have integrated several of them. I was unable to use Unistrut because of the jacks that I have, so I used angle iron instead. Even before starting I found the right rear attach point had a lot of rot, even though nothing was visible before I dug into it. What I have done is to cut out and replace the rotten plywood on the front left and right rear corners than on all 4 corners added pieces of ¾ inch plywood above and below the original plywood attachment, figuring that this sandwich will be much stronger and will spread the load along the bases of the walls. I also moved the jack pads closer to the corners so the vertical load is more direct. The biggest challenge was the left front where there was extensive rot because of water entering through the propane compartment door (which was not original or waterproof). I dug out the rotted wood and rebuilt the sill with a couple of pieces of 1 1/8 square metal tubing. The jack pad is now right in the corner with a vertical piece of angle iron welded on to allow me to screw it into the structural wood in the corner. I also added gussets to strengthen the bases of the walls and to give me something solid to screw into when attaching the angle iron. Wood that was not rotten, but that had been water-logged, was given a coat of CPES. Here is the left front corner rot. Now with the repaired sill, gusset added to the right and the welded on vertical angle iron on the left. Left rear, the white plywood is my "sandwich". The right side finished and caulked. I hope to finish this part of the renovation this week. While doing the right side I found more rot on the wall between the floor of the camper and the wing, and the wood under the door is really rotton, so that is next week's project!446Views0likes0CommentsRe: Suggestions on strengthening jack attach point.
artfd wrote: I had the same type of jacks,although they were not under a weak spot as shown in the original post. Got a call Monday morning from the storage lot after some very high winds. The jack supports as they twisted simply ripped the bolts out of the wooden frame, or in one case, ripped a huge chunk out of the frame itself. The jack on the left side, now under the camper, is badly bent. One of the three brackets was bent. Ouch!130Views0likes0CommentsRe: Suggestions on strengthening jack attach point.
Joe417 wrote: Sleepy did a pretty slick job on strengthening a week area using a piece of unistrut. I couldn't copy and paste the link but look at Truck Camper University under slide outs. "Lance 1161 slide sag fix $17" You past the following into your browser search: http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/24168018.cfm Thanks, I will check that out.130Views0likes0CommentsRe: Suggestions on strengthening jack attach point.
This a detail of a Nomad TC for sale locally... the same problem as I have. What I don't understand is why the manufacturers don't put the jack right in the corner where the weight transfer will be direct from the front wall. I'm I missing something (before I reposition mine)???130Views0likes0Comments
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