Tips on Installing Camper Jacks

[Abbiennormal]

Hello FWC!

Newbie here. I picked up 4 used corner jacks and wanted to install them on a 1986 Grandby. The camper does not have any jack fittings right now.

The corners are completely sealed with the protective molding. My question is, should I cut the out molding before installing the brackets or can I mount them on top of the molding (see pics). I am concern about keeping it water tight. Even thought the camper is from 1986 it is in mint condition and completely water tight right now. I did look at the Brophy jacks but 4 of them would cost me over $1000 (don't trust myself to use two jacks only) when the four used corner jacks came in under $200. On a tight budget so I decided to go with the corner jacks instead. Any advice you can give me would be much appreciated!

Abbie

 

[Beach]

I would cut the trim off to install the brackets. If you clean all surfaces and bed the brackets, caulk the screw holes(new holes and any screws removed for cutting the trim) there is no reason you should have any leaks. Use a quality polyurethane caulk, I like 3m 4200 or 5200. Be sure to use appropriate size screws.

 

[longhorn1]

It isn't that easy. I don't believe your camper was set-up to have jack's installed. Today's FWC have a combination of aluminum and wood installed in the corners.

You should contact FWC to get proper guidance.

 

[Abbiennormal]

Thanks Longhorn. That was my concern that it would not be braced properly for the brackets. Hmmm, going to have to sit and think about how to do this without damaging the camper and breaking my bank.

 

[Abbiennormal]

I would cut the trim off to install the brackets. If you clean all surfaces and bed the brackets, caulk the screw holes(new holes and any screws removed for cutting the trim) there is no reason you should have any leaks. Use a quality polyurethane caulk, I like 3m 4200 or 5200. Be sure to use appropriate size screws.

I am hesitant on cutting the trim since it is all water tight now. Would I be tempting the FWC Gods? Going to see if I can rig up a lifting system using the Atwood jacks and a few 2x6 boards I have lying around. I have the original sale ticket from FWC and it listed the dry weight at only 845 lbs. I have since removed the 3 way Dometic fridge and Suburban heater. Benches have also been removed so guessing that the weight went down by 75 to 100 lbs.

 

[CoreyTrevor]

Just FYI, I've seen at least a few posts where the FWC claimed weight was quite a bit optimistic (on the low side), once the camper was actually weighed.

I'm curious what your 2x6 idea is.

Be careful, don't let FWC land on you!

 

[SCUD]

Your camper probably originally used cable jacks.

 

[SCUD]

https://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/20209-tricks-for-cable-jacks/

 

[1980Keystone]

AbbieNormal, please post what you decide to do. I have a 1980 Keystone and have the same issue as you. Not sure the vertical bars on the corners can have braces and support all the loaded force from the jacks. I have two Brophy cable jacks and it is just too hard to get the camper off by myself, not to mention do anything with the camper once it is off.

 

[Abbiennormal]

AbbieNormal, please post what you decide to do. I have a 1980 Keystone and have the same issue as you. Not sure the vertical bars on the corners can have braces and support all the loaded force from the jacks. I have two Brophy cable jacks and it is just too hard to get the camper off by myself, not to mention do anything with the camper once it is off.

I have decided to mount the corner jacks on 2x6 and use that to leverage the camper off the truck. Haven't actually done it yet since I have to unbolt the camper from the truck bed. Back in the 80s they did not use the tie down method, at least not for this installation, they bolted it directly to the bed of the truck. I have located the bolts but have not had time to pull it off the truck yet since I wanted to make a base to rest it on so that it would not sit on the ground and get wet. My garage is too full to store it in there and I wanted to do a complete redo of the interior and electrical before I put it on hopefully a tundra with a long bed. When I do, I will post the results.

 

[Abbiennormal]

I have decided to mount the corner jacks on 2x6 and use that to leverage the camper off the truck. Haven't actually done it yet since I have to unbolt the camper from the truck bed. Back in the 80s they did not use the tie down method, at least not for this installation, they bolted it directly to the bed of the truck. I have located the bolts but have not had time to pull it off the truck yet since I wanted to make a base to rest it on so that it would not sit on the ground and get wet. My garage is too full to store it in there and I wanted to do a complete redo of the interior and electrical before I put it on hopefully a tundra with a long bed. When I do, I will post the results.

I decided to go this route because the older campers do not have the corners braced for corner jacks. So when I strip it down, I will brace the corners for the jacks.

 

[Abbiennormal]

AbbieNormal, please post what you decide to do. I have a 1980 Keystone and have the same issue as you. Not sure the vertical bars on the corners can have braces and support all the loaded force from the jacks. I have two Brophy cable jacks and it is just too hard to get the camper off by myself, not to mention do anything with the camper once it is off.

So sorry for the tardy reply. The camper was pulled off the truck and sat on my driveway for quite a bit before I managed to start working on it. I ended up deciding to rebuild the whole thing so I pretty much striped it down to the skeleton before doing so.

I did mount the 4 corner jacks just to remove it from the truck. I can honestly say that it was definitely not built with the intention of having people mount the corner jacks. The aluminum was really thin and you can see from the picture that FWC did not use as much aluminum as they do now on the skeleton.

 

[craig333]

Find many broken welds?

 

[Abbiennormal]

I was lucky, no broken welds when I took it off the old truck. But in the subsequent rebuilding process, I found out that the welds did not hold up and were quite brittle.

Since I hulkanized it, it wasn't too much of a concern. See side view picture where added 2 inches to the top, 7 inches on the bottom and also made the overhead bed 7 inches deeper.

I know, tisk tisk, look how dirty the welds are. There was a lot of gunk on the old aluminum, I cleaned it as much as I could before the welder had a go at it. So far it is holding up pretty good.