13 replies to this topic

[Carlyle]

My camper is bolted directly to the frame of the flat bed in four corners. Don't feel bad about how long it took you, it was half a day to get ours loaded at the factory. Not too many tray tops built by them. All ended well and it will not come off until we replace the truck. At that time I plan to use a hoist to have the flat bed and camper lifted as a unit and pull the new truck under at the time.

Good luck on the new camper, they're great campers!

[Kilroy]

I find that I can make precise adjustments for alignment by having the camper on the bed with some of the weight taken by the stands. I then use a clamp set to be a spreader for pushing the camper sideways, and a ratchet strap for pulling it. It's easier with the flatbed, but I'm sure it will work with a standard bed.

[brownbear]

I haven't forgotten about this site, I've just been busy selling my trailer and getting ready to set my Alaskan up for some fall camping. I plan on posting some pics in the near future. Unfortunately, I damaged my trucks new paint with the Alaskan camper. There is a lip on the front of the camper which is, I assume, to keep rain out of the pickup box. When I loaded the Alaskan, it (the lip) was only maybe 1/2 inch from the cab. Well, the Alaskan shifted ever so slightly, and it began rubbing on the cab. I had taken a drive which was about 450 miles round trip, and when I got home, the rain fly had completely rubbed the paint off down to the bare metal in several places on the truck. I about fainted when I saw it. Brand new paint- TRASHED! The damage was more than $500 worth. I suppose there are worse things, but that certainly smarted a bit. I'm actually thinking of removing that piece of metal from the camper because I don't even like that thing protruding towards the cab in light of what transpired.

Moving on, I ended up buying two more jacks and I now have a total of 5. It made the camper much easier to remove, and I was able to do it myself. Also, with 5 jacks total, I felt comfortable that they would hold it sufficiently so I didn't have to build a platform. The camper is less than 1400 lbs, and the jacks are rated at more than 1k per, so each is holding less than 300 lbs. I plan on loading it again in the next few days, but I am still debating whether I should drill my new pickup bed, or fashion some stake pocket tie downs. It seems to me that the stake pockets are just as strong as the bed. I worry that using 4 bolts through the bed to hold the camper, even with large washers, will bend the truck bed over time as the torque on the bolts is no match for the thin metal. I need to make a decision soon, as I'm anxious to get this thing back on. More to come later.

[Kilroy]

Now that the paint got it's first "character" mark you can stop worrying about when it will happen. Besides, who's going to see it on the roof?

I about fainted when I saw it. Brand new paint- TRASHED! The damage was more than $500 worth. I suppose there are worse things, but that certainly smarted a bit. I'm actually thinking of removing that piece of metal from the camper because I don't even like that thing protruding towards the cab in light of what transpired.