Got my camper on my truck today!

[Land-roamer]

Well, after all the planning, measuring and thinking, my Alaskan is finally on my truck! I include a couple of pictures to show you how it all went down.

Took my buddy and I about 2.5 hours, setting up, lifting, leveling, supporting, eye-balling, thinking, cranking, and generally taking our time to do it right.

We used the 4 corner screw jacks (had to add extensions a couple of times until we got the tall supports on it for the final lift. All along, we used the stock cable jacks to keep things balanced and tight in the middle. There was a bit of shifting this way and that, which had us pausing and thinking a couple of times, but overall things well.

Once we had the camper high enough, my buddy suggested to back up his smaller truck under the front part to at least support it in case of catastrophe, and likewise we piled up some concrete pavers in the back to support that too. With that extra support in place, and 6 jacks operating, I think we were pretty safe!

Once we had a good inch and a half clearance from the bed of my truck, we drove his truck away and carefully brought my truck underneath. Had to remove the cable jacks when the wheels got there, but by then 3/4 of the camper was on the bed so it was clear sailing.

By lowering the corner jacks alternatively, we were able to position the camper pretty well center in the box. All I have to do now is get the chains and bit of hardware to secure the camper to the tie downs using my Torklift spring-loaded turnbuckles. Then I'll be ready for my initial drive!!!

Overall, the back of the truck only lowered about an inch and a half with the camper on, so I figure the basically 1 ton suspension in the back is plenty good enough to carry it.

Thanks again to all here who provided advice, encouragement and support in my endeavour. Now that the camper is mated to its truck, I am closer to the start of my adventures with it.

 

[MikeDahlager]

Now the expensive part starts - the repairs and tweaking! You might want to take a look at some of the photos of the modifications some of us have made to our Alaskans.

My 8' NCO always had a slight musty odor until I painted every raw wood surface with sanding sealer. Solved the problem with no residual paint smell.

 

[Land-roamer]

Now the expensive part starts - the repairs and tweaking! You might want to take a look at some of the photos of the modifications some of us have made to our Alaskans.

My 8' NCO always had a slight musty odor until I painted every raw wood surface with sanding sealer. Solved the problem with no residual paint smell.


What?? More expenses to come?? Oh well, I suppose all of us sort of customize our camper to make it "our own"... The guy before me had ripped the 3-way fridge out and installed this black 110v bar fridge instead. I've yanked that out and am trying to restore some of the woodwork, plus pondering what kind of fridge I want in there (mind you, I may go old-school low-tech and just have an old Coca-cola cooler in there for the first trips). Gotta figure out the best place to put the porta potti...

Oh yeah, and what exactly is that white fabric push-out or pull-in thing on the left side for??

More questions to come no doubt, but as you say I WILL look at photos of others' rigs for ideas on good modifications to make. I know one of the first things I'll have to figure out is how to get into the darn thing (doorstep sitting pretty high in the 3/4 ton pickup! )

Cheers.
--Robert

 

[pods8]

I know one of the first things I'll have to figure out is how to get into the darn thing (doorstep sitting pretty high in the 3/4 ton pickup! )

Cheers.
--Robert


This is what I use to get into my FWC when at camp (I can just step on my bumper normally if just hopping in):

 

[Land-roamer]

This is what I use to get into my FWC when at camp (I can just step on my bumper normally if just hopping in):

Thanks Pods8, that little step ladder looks like just the ticket! Folding, lightweight, easy to handle, and probably relatively cheap to buy. I'll try to find one that lines up well with the height of my truck! Cheers.

 

[banderswipe]

Hi Robert, good job putting your Alaskan on did you put any insulation under it?I see from the pictures you put a wood frame under the camper. I wondered whether your canvas covered hole in the side is for a propane tank ? One of the Forum members ( Tris I think ) Had a great idea for safely loading/unloading a camper. You build two or three saw horse's strong enough to handle the Alaskans weight and build them two to four inches higher than your pickup bed.This way you only have to raise the camper just enough to get the saw horse's out and then lower the camper on to the bed of your truck, also you can leave the back sawhorse under whilst your backing in so every thing remains nice and stable.I am going to build the saw horse's this winter.
My step solution is a little heavy but my son and I are big guys and it works well for us,see attached picture. Where my fridge was I now put my feet there to sleep,my son and I sleep long ways on instead of cross-ways. The pics might explain it better.
Cheers, Kevin.

 

[Rusty]

here's another set of stairs...it took a little welding

a little trouble with the picture uploading

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5513/stairsinstall001.jpg
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/9881/stairsinstall002.jpg
http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/3491/stairsinstall004.jpg
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/989/stairsinstall006.jpg

 

[Land-roamer]

Hi Robert, good job putting your Alaskan on did you put any insulation under it?I see from the pictures you put a wood frame under the camper. I wondered whether your canvas covered hole in the side is for a propane tank ? One of the Forum members ( Tris I think ) Had a great idea for safely loading/unloading a camper. You build two or three saw horse's strong enough to handle the Alaskans weight and build them two to four inches higher than your pickup bed.This way you only have to raise the camper just enough to get the saw horse's out and then lower the camper on to the bed of your truck, also you can leave the back sawhorse under whilst your backing in so every thing remains nice and stable.I am going to build the saw horse's this winter.
My step solution is a little heavy but my son and I are big guys and it works well for us,see attached picture. Where my fridge was I now put my feet there to sleep,my son and I sleep long ways on instead of cross-ways. The pics might explain it better.
Cheers, Kevin.

Hi Kevin, hadn't seen you here in a while. Probably out and about enjoying your camper, which is what I hope to do next summer!

Yes, I like the idea of the 3 sawhorses, for taking the camper off safely and storing it temporarily to allow occasional use of the truck. I say temporarily because I don't think my city neighbours would appreciate seeing my camper perched on high sawhorses for weeks on end... There's also the storage of the sawhorses to be planned out. Anyway, if someone has pictures or plans of how such sturdy sawhorses should be built, I'd love to see them.

I bought an aluminum 3 step stepladder to get into the camper for now. With the camper also came this home-made single step which attaches to the bumper. I just put it on temporarily (would need to drill out holes in it to align with my bumper). It looks too high to step up from the ground and too low to step into the camper from, so may not fit my arrangement.

Good suggestion about using the old fridge area to extend sleeping length on that side. I'm thinking that even when travelling solo (maybe especially so) it would make more sense to sleep lengthwise on one of the benches and keep the table up permanently. No muss no fuss. I'd still like a place to have a cooler inside though. Will mull this over the winter, and I expect that only by trying out the camper can one figure out the optimal setup and configuration (trial and error).

Best regards,
--Robert

p.s. I attach pictures showing the insulation I put in my platform, and the rear step I was mentioning above. I try to upload pictures in a sufficient size for people to see the details, so hopefully that works for you.

 

[Land-roamer]

here's another set of stairs...it took a little welding

a little trouble with the picture uploading

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5513/stairsinstall001.jpg
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/9881/stairsinstall002.jpg
http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/3491/stairsinstall004.jpg
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/989/stairsinstall006.jpg


Thanks Rusty, looks like a very nice setup. The platform attaches to your hitch I presume. Oddly enough there wasn't a Class III hitch on my truck (only hitch ball on the bumper), so I may well get one installed next Spring to benefit from similar platforms available for them.

 

[Land-roamer]

A few more pictures showing details of my installation setup, in case it helps others.

 

[banderswipe]

Hi Robert, Thanks for all the pictures, especially the insulation looks great. I have a suggestion though I would think about bolting your wooden frame to the frame of the truck. it looks a bit like a sled, I would be worried that it might slide easily on your bed liner. It might be overkill, its just a thought though.
Cheers, Kevin.

 

[Land-roamer]

Hi Robert, Thanks for all the pictures, especially the insulation looks great. I have a suggestion though I would think about bolting your wooden frame to the frame of the truck. it looks a bit like a sled, I would be worried that it might slide easily on your bed liner. It might be overkill, its just a thought though.
Cheers, Kevin.

Getting back into it, Spring being here finally.
Might be a bit late to bolt the wooden frame to the truck, given the camper is sitting on top of it. What I could do maybe is bolt some brackets in the back, connecting the camper to the wood base. That way, the base wouldn't have an opportunity to slide out like a sled, as you predict. I figure that with the weight of the camper on it, which is held down securely by the tie-downs, that base shouldn't go anywhere, but a couple of brackets may be good insurance.
Thanks.
--Robert

 

[MikeDahlager]

Getting back into it, Spring being here finally.
Might be a bit late to bolt the wooden frame to the truck, given the camper is sitting on top of it. What I could do maybe is bolt some brackets in the back, connecting the camper to the wood base. That way, the base wouldn't have an opportunity to slide out like a sled, as you predict. I figure that with the weight of the camper on it, which is held down securely by the tie-downs, that base shouldn't go anywhere, but a couple of brackets may be good insurance.
Thanks.
--Robert


Take it from me, IT WILL SLIDE unless you have it securely attached to the truck. Been there done that. Got lazy and decided not to bolt my 8' NCO down. Admittedly, I was four wheeling it up a steep hillside, but believe me, looking in the rear view mirror and seeing your camper sliding backwards is at least a magnitude 8 pucker factor. To solve the problem, I turned around and headed downhill. I then hit the brakes. Darn near tore the front of the bed and the cab off the chassis when it came sliding forward. BOLT IT DOWN!

Mike

 

[Rusty]

Thanks Rusty, looks like a very nice setup. The platform attaches to your hitch I presume. Oddly enough there wasn't a Class III hitch on my truck (only hitch ball on the bumper), so I may well get one installed next Spring to benefit from similar platforms available for them.

Robert,

That platform isn't available on the market...I made it out of parts and pieces collected here and there...and then made an extension stinger for the hitch and incorporated it into the stair assembly....the steps on the stairs had to be cut down in width to accommodate the stinger pass through....the stinger is essentially solid through the stairs and slides into the class V hitch....trailers the boat like a dream

 

[Land-roamer]

Take it from me, IT WILL SLIDE unless you have it securely attached to the truck. Been there done that. Got lazy and decided not to bolt my 8' NCO down. Admittedly, I was four wheeling it up a steep hillside, but believe me, looking in the rear view mirror and seeing your camper sliding backwards is at least a magnitude 8 pucker factor. To solve the problem, I turned around and headed downhill. I then hit the brakes. Darn near tore the front of the bed and the cab off the chassis when it came sliding forward. BOLT IT DOWN!

Mike

Thanks Mike. Both you and Kevin have convinced me, so I will bolt the camper AND platform to the truck. I'm still a little new to truck campers obviously, and figured that strong frame-mounted tie-downs were sufficient to keep the camper in place, but I gather their purpose is mainly to keep the camper from moving side to side, and front to back, but that bolting things down is the surest way to avoid catastrophic camper loss on steep inclines. I just eye-balled things and can drill a hole through the rear camper floor (in the storage areas on the sides), through the underlying 2x6 pressure-treated base, and through the bed of the truck, about a foot and a half in front of the tailgate. I assume that one good strong bolt on each side (with appropriate washers and metal backing plates top and bottom) will be sufficient to keep the camper in place (along with my 4 frame-mounted tie-downs)??

--Robert

 

[MikeDahlager]

Thanks Mike. Both you and Kevin have convinced me, so I will bolt the camper AND platform to the truck. I'm still a little new to truck campers obviously, and figured that strong frame-mounted tie-downs were sufficient to keep the camper in place, but I gather their purpose is mainly to keep the camper from moving side to side, and front to back, but that bolting things down is the surest way to avoid catastrophic camper loss on steep inclines. I just eye-balled things and can drill a hole through the rear camper floor (in the storage areas on the sides), through the underlying 2x6 pressure-treated base, and through the bed of the truck, about a foot and a half in front of the tailgate. I assume that one good strong bolt on each side (with appropriate washers and metal backing plates top and bottom) will be sufficient to keep the camper in place (along with my 4 frame-mounted tie-downs)??

--Robert


Yes, two bolts will do the job nicely.


Mike

 

[Land-roamer]

Yes, two bolts will do the job nicely.
Mike


Done! (see other post). And thanks again to all.
--Robert