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Quick removal camper jacks?


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#1 UglyScout

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Posted 08 October 2010 - 02:52 PM

Anyone fab anything to just 'pop' your camper jacks off. I know they are only held on with 2 bolts each.. But I need to do some work to my jacks anyway, so I figured I could make any changes to them at the same time. Quick release pins, etc.

Also - anyone fab up super wide camper jacks? I would like to store my camper on top of my car trailer and the fenders ont he trailer I really wide - wider than a dually.

Cutting and welding are options and encouraged around my house.

Thanks!
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#2 ntsqd

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Posted 08 October 2010 - 04:17 PM

A while back I proposed that a guy with a Bigfoot who had bent one of the jacks in Baja make them removable. My thought was to make angle plates that bolted to the corners of the camper that had a plate sticking out at some agreeable angle. In that plate would be 'key-hole' slots. The jacks would have bolts jam-nutted such that they would just barely fit that plate between the bolt head and the jam-nut. The lower, large end of the key-holes would clear the bolt head while the smaller, upper end would only fit the bolt shoulder. I made a CAD model and generated a jpg of the idea, but have since deleted it. Can do so again if my description could benefit from a picture.
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Thom

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#3 UglyScout

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Posted 08 October 2010 - 04:33 PM

I think I get it. I had to read it twice though.

As long as there was weight on the jacks they would stay tight and in place, the key hole would prevent any side to side movement, yet they 'should' slip up and down without tools. Release the tension and pop the jacks off....
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#4 HERR42

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Posted 08 October 2010 - 04:39 PM

A while back I proposed that a guy with a Bigfoot who had bent one of the jacks in Baja make them removable. My thought was to make angle plates that bolted to the corners of the camper that had a plate sticking out at some agreeable angle. In that plate would be 'key-hole' slots. The jacks would have bolts jam-nutted such that they would just barely fit that plate between the bolt head and the jam-nut. The lower, large end of the key-holes would clear the bolt head while the smaller, upper end would only fit the bolt shoulder. I made a CAD model and generated a jpg of the idea, but have since deleted it. Can do so again if my description could benefit from a picture.



rather than bolts....what about some creative creative cutting that would allow the two "brackets" to "mesh" together?
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#5 Darryla

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Posted 08 October 2010 - 05:00 PM

A small thing I did was to replace the lock nuts with wing nuts. It cuts the time down quite a lot.


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#6 Stan@FourWheel

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Posted 08 October 2010 - 05:02 PM

I would love to see someone come up with a quick release bracket for the jacks.

We have looked at a few ideas over the year but have not seen anything that worked well enough to use on new campers.

Be careful making those extra wide camper jack extension plates.

The farther out you make the extension plates, the more twist you will have on the jack bracket and the camper frame.

It can be done, but you shoud make it strong, and be ever so delicate & carful when loading / unloading the camper off the truck or trailer.

I have seem too many people tweak their jack brackets (best case), and usually the camper frame too (worst case).


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#7 Steve Scearce

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Posted 08 October 2010 - 08:21 PM

I too have wondered about some quick-release option. Haven't come up with anything, however.

We have a Phoenix Coyote popup that is meant for a Tacoma and we have a Tundra. I initially had 6" wide, 1/4" thick aluminum extension plates made, but as Stan said, it was pretty unstable. I have since added 1/8 steel extension plates to match, and that has made the jacks much more stable.DSC_8232.jpg
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#8 ntsqd

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Posted 08 October 2010 - 10:01 PM

The reason that I was thinking in terms of bolts and jam nuts rather than interlocking features is that it saves making 4 parts and from what I've seen the jacks already have some sort of bolt-on tab arrangement. Something like this could be made at home, or could be a product. I would heed Stan's concerns about the connection not being rigid. Keep those sloted bolt holes close to the camper body. The best way would be to use socket head shoulder bolts and no jam nuts, but some investigation of the jack tabs would need to be made to determine if they will support that or not.

dq jack.jpg
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Thom

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#9 pods8

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Posted 20 October 2010 - 02:43 PM

What is the XPcamper using for an attachment system? From the pictures they don't have the bracket like these rigs (actually just looks like a little square slot on the side of the camper. Is it an easy install/removal, something that could be applied by use tinkering end users to the FWC/ATC rigs?
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#10 UglyScout

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Posted 05 November 2010 - 03:57 PM

I think I have settled on a design for my new jack brackets. i am only going to mess with the front jack as the rears are fine and clear the truck and trailer fine.

The old ones stuck out way too far all the time - the new ones will be easily removable and leave the camper flush on the front.

See attached PDF....

The removable section will be bolted to the jack and the pieces will all be welded together. The botl will be welded to the plate so it can be removed with the wing nut and no tools.

I'll snap some pics if I ever finish it...

Attached Files


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