fng how to mount jacks and secure to truck

[shocking]

Hello!

I recently purchased an older 10" cab over.

The guy i bought it from had it on a trailer and it looks like the jacks were never installed.(I have three jacks and the brackets) It looks like most people have just bolted the brackets right through the plywood. is this generally considered sufficient? It seems like some kind of a z bracket would be needed to keep the box together long term.

Additionally it seems that the older campers were designed to be bolted down to the truck bed. If this is the case could I attach eye bolts to the brackets for a more temporary tie down. The currently installed eye bolts are totally inadequate to actually hold the camper.

pics to follow.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[PackRat]

Alaskans can be bolted through the truck bed or secured with eyebolts on the four corners and attached to the truck tub or frame with different systems. Using either system, adding a gusset plate on both sides of the plywood to spread out the pull when the camper tries to move is suggested.

Jacks come in different options also; a cable system with two jacks is how many Alaskans were delivered. Always a bit hairy and not to be used on soft or uneven surfaces to avoid falling and insuring the center of gravity fore-and-aft is where they are set up is critical. The REICO-style jacks are best utilized and should be used in a set of four....be they hand crank or electric. They can be bolted to a flange and thereby to the lower section of the camper and removed to avoid damage or turned horizontal if kept when traveling.

Part of the trouble with movement of the camper in the bed can be traced to the condition of the bottom of the camper and if a plastic bedliner is used. An option is to remove the plastic bedliner and use some cross-members with some rubber from old inner tubes stapled to them to make any movement less likely...just use a lot of them to spread out the weight across the floor and to support the sidewalls. Additionally, some shimming between the lower and the wheel wells will generally prevent some side to side movement. If you are using eyebolts in the corners, the attaching points for the bottom of the Happijac must be FORWARD of the eyebolt to prevent it from moving rearward. Using plain turnbuckles may not work.

The system you choose, the location of the tie-downs on the camper and on the truck will determine how easy the camper can move in the truck bed....along with the bedliner or surface in the bed of the truck.

I am not familiar with the other campers and how they must be mounted, just the Alaskan so owners of those types of campers may have different experiences.

 

[flyboykev]

I put wood trim sticks on my bed liner and use these Anchorguards connected to the jack brackets to tie down the camper to the truck.

https://www.torklift.com/rv/anchorguard

use the truck on lots of tough hunting roads and no issues with movement.


flyboykev

 

[Rusty]

using the Derringer handles with those anchorguards makes tieing it down a snap...I've been using that method for about 20 years now....they're the same as happijacks