57 replies to this topic

[huckfinn]

In an effort to save the thousand bucks for jack stands, I've searched the forum for ways to to do this.  I found casters, dollies, rolling tables, sawhorses etc.  I found a complicated winch system.  Having been a carpenter, and having built many things onsite to solve specific problems, I'm surprised there isn't more on this, considering the expense.  

 

I would really like to have the camper off my truck when I'm not using it.  I would like to be able load and unload quickly.  The thousand pounds of camper weight does not seem all that much.  Some kind of height adjustable dolly/cart with a come-along?  Has anyone else thought about this?

 

Mark

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Mark, my guess is that by the time you're finished building a height adjustable, rolling cart, you will have more invested in terms of time and money, than you would have with just a set of jacks. I may invest in a set of casters to speed things up, just because I get nervous with the narrow front jacks being so close to the wheel well flare. Now that I think about it, just a set of two extensions for the front jacks would work as well.

[huckfinn]

Mark, my guess is that by the time you're finished building a height adjustable, rolling cart, you will have more invested in terms of time and money, than you would have with just a set of jacks. I may invest in a set of casters to speed things up, just because I get nervous with the narrow front jacks being so close to the wheel well flare. Now that I think about it, just a set of two extensions for the front jacks would work as well.

I'm very open to this conclusion.

But not having the realities of the camper in front of me, I start to think. For example, couldn't a heavy wire harness attached to the jack brackets and an anchor point be used to drag the camper out onto a cart with a come-along? Of course the cart would have wheels with locks, and maybe it could be made with a central tipping point so that either end could be raised a half dozen inches to slip it over the top of the tail gate? To reload, another anchor behind the cab and a come-along could at least drag it halfway into the bed. From there, I'm not so sure about how to move the camper all the way in. Any ideas?

I think I could build what I've described in a long day and a couple hundred bucks. Which, to me, makes it a not completely dismissible idea. Though I'm willing to be made to come to my senses.

[MarkBC]

...I would really like to have the camper off my truck when I'm not using it.  I would like to be able load and unload quickly.  The thousand pounds of camper weight does not seem all that much.  Some kind of height adjustable dolly/cart with a come-along?  Has anyone else thought about this?

 

Mark

 

You mean use a come-along to tug the camper off the truck bed and onto the dolly/cart standing behind the truck?  That could work -- I used a come-along to center my camper in the bed when it was way-off-center.

But tugging it back on to mount the camper doesn't seem as easy...though, of course, not impossible, I'm sure.  Or some other way to shove it in/onto the bed.

 

In my case: my driveway, yard, garage aren't suitable for carting the camper around anyway.  In the rare occasions when I remove the camper (just twice in 9 years so far!) I attach the jacks, and the camper stands on the jacks in the gravel next to my driveway.  

 

....................

 

Update:  I see you semi-answered my questions before I got this posted...but still seems like getting the camper back in/on the bed is the problem.  On WTW I've only seen an overhead winch/crane suggested as a feasible alternative to the jacks.

[huckfinn]

Yes, I'm thinking of tugging it onto a cart. The top of the cart would have a smooth surface like Masonite, over 3/4 ply.

You're right, the difficulty is to get the camper back on. Suppose, to pull the camper back into the truck, each front wheel had its own rope harness and a come-along attached to the front Jack bracket? I'd have to buy a second come-along but with two cranked alternately, wouldn't that inch the camper into place?

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Somehow, I see the potential for a camper half on a truck, with the other half on the ground. At my age and weight, discretion is by far the better part of valor. Corner jacks and brackets are less than $700 if I remember correctly. Make or by a dolly to move it around once it's off the truck.

[MarkBC]

On the other hand, huckfinn:  If you do figure out a sweet and easy approach that really works, write up an invention disclosure for it before you post it here!  And then work on getting a patent.

Seriously.

[huckfinn]

Moving a cart over a rough surface is mostly a matter of wheel diameter. The bigger the wheel, the rougher the surface. Six inch swivel wheels could handle a lot of irregularity. Sure the swivels might not come to the right direction automatically, but they could be turned by hand. 250lbs per wheel isn't a lot.

Does anyone have any idea if the Jack brackets could withstand the lateral force required for this setup?

[cdbrow1]

Back in my younger days I owned a number of Jeeps with hard tops. To remove the hardtops I used a come a long attached to an overhead frame. This would hook on the tops with J clips and then would lift the top right off. I used it inside a garage using the rafters as the lift point, that clearly would not work for a camper. A heavier duty system might work for a camper using a frame that matches up to the jack brackets on the camper. Lift up and drive out. 

 

Just a thought. 

[huckfinn]

Well, if I'm not soon totally convinced that discretion is the better part of valor, and I do decide to build it, the main satisfaction would be in documenting here.