Dangerous Twisting of Jacks When raising and Loading Alaskan 10 CO on my Ford Long bed

[NaturalSight]

I have had major problems when loading and unloading my Alaskan 10 CO on my 2019 Ford Long bed truck. It is difficult to position the front tripods so that the jacks clear the rear OEM tires AND have the jacks be absolutely vertical. When lifting the camper, the jacks to twist toward the rear. The last time I attempted to load my Alaskan back onto my truck I needed to have my very strong son and son-in-law on the back corners pushing against the camper to keep the camper from serious listing backwards. I haven’t removed the Alaskan for a year now, mostly because I am afraid to. We lost our house to a fire 3 years ago and have since rebuilt it and moved back in. But I need to be able to use my truck to haul fencing, landscaping materials and stuff for the farm. Any suggestions re: loading and unloading the camper would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kmacafee]

I had the same issue with my Bundutec Camper. My solution was to cut a 2x6 into short pieces and then stack 4 together - on all four corners. The jacks don't have to lift as high and the twisting was greatly reduced.

I have had major problems when loading and unloading my Alaskan 10 CO on my 2019 Ford Long bed truck. It is difficult to position the front tripods so that the jacks clear the rear OEM tires AND have the jacks be absolutely vertical. When lifting the camper, the jacks to twist toward the rear. The last time I attempted to load my Alaskan back onto my truck I needed to have my very strong son and son-in-law on the back corners pushing against the camper to keep the camper from serious listing backwards. I haven’t removed the Alaskan for a year now, mostly because I am afraid to. We lost our house to a fire 3 years ago and have since rebuilt it and moved back in. But I need to be able to use my truck to haul fencing, landscaping materials and stuff for the farm. Any suggestions re: loading and unloading the camper would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dr.Science]

I've had similar issues. Some points to watch for:
- The ground needs to be completely level (within an inch or so).
- The jack mounts have to be rigid. On older campers they may develop some flex; mine has a removable steel truss to hold the jack mounts stable.
- Due to the "inches of rise" problem, it may help to have the jacks bear on cinder blocks, giving you an extra 8 inches or so of lift.
- Even so, it's a somewhat dodgy operation. I avoid high winds and complete the work as quickly as possible.

 

[Spineguy]

We just installed our 1988 8' cabover onto our 2016 F250 using the brock jacks the camper came with. (We bought the entire set-up from our friend who is the original owner) You are absolutely correct the installation is hair raising to say the least. We were on level ground and the tripods positioned to minimize rolling over them with the back tires. The jacks are wobbly as all get out. I also let all the air out of the bags and reduced the tire pressure. I had help from my son. We got it on but this scenario is enough to make me sell the camper.

We drove to Odell lake and did some Kokanee fishing. Lots of cabovers there - Lance and Arctic Fox with electric jacks and the owners had the campers off their trucks. i went over and these campers are stable as a rock while sitting on the jacks and the jacks have a 6 inch round base.. I wish there was a way to adapt electric jacks to the alaskans without rebuilding the entire camper. I also wish Alaskan would at least frame the structure in aluminum rather than wood. Wood is fine for houses but not for campers - houses don't move much but campers sure do,

When I spoke with Lance and Arctic fox owners they told me it's 10 minutes or less to install their campers onto their trucks. Big improvement over Alaskan hand cranking rickety jacks.

 

[dastrom]

I have the Reico Titan jacks on mine and the front jacks had a difficult time clearing the tires without tipping them out some. I had some 3.5" ipe chunks laying around so I cut them to make some extenders for the front jacks and picked up some longer bolts. They are rock solid and now clear the tires.

 

[Spineguy]

I purchased some 1 1/2 inch pipe and was going to make some extensions but ran out of time. In my preliminary measurements I could get about 3 inches. On mine the jack post fits 8 inches into the tripod. We had to lift the camper 40.5 inches and that about was the max for the jacks. Ours is a stock F250 2016. I thought too about spacing the jacks out some so the tires would clear the tripods.

 

[Denver Alaskan]

Thinking outside the pickup box, have you considered leaving the heavy 10' CO Alaskan on your F250 and buying a 8' or 10' tandem axle trailer with 2' high metal walls to haul your fencing, landscape materials and farm materials? Or even a flatbed trailer with a rail and pockets around its perimeter so you could add 12" or 16" high wood side walls for loose materials? You could then leave the trailer at the jobsite on your property and unload it at your leisure or as materials were needed.

 

[NaturalSight]

Thx to all for the commiserating and advice. The trailer suggestion is a good one. I borrowed a neighbor’s trailer and will probably do it again. I may also try putting some 6x10 end I have left from when we built the house.