When I bought my Four Wheel Camper Hawk about 6 months ago, I thought that I could load it on the truck for a quick overnight or weekend trip to the local mountains and unload it so that my truck could be daily driver. I had previously owned a trailer and a Class C motorhome.
The reality for me is that I have about 3/4" clearance on the rear of the camper and about 2" of clearance between the jacks and the truck (2015 Chevy Silverado 2500HD). I am a reasonably good "backer-up-per", but loading and unloading is a royal PITA. I have played with a laser alignment setup and super heavy duty single wheel casters on the jack ends. The Hawk sits in the garage on a fairly level and smooth pad. The casters helped somewhat, but it was far from and easy solution. The installation is somewhat more difficult because the drive way is on a sideways slope leading up to the garage pad. What I have found is that that it is just really hard to line up everything parallel and keep it parallel with such a reed thin margin of error. It takes a good 2 hours to load, including running around the truck with a power drill as I work to keep the jacks even as I raise them or lower them.
Next up is trying tri-casters... suggestion I got from another camper owner. They should allow for easier movement that the single wheel ones.
http://www.bondcaster.com/m_h_dollies.html
I guess that I am just disappointed that loading is so much more difficult than hitching a trailer. I don't want to go back to a trailer because I have no interested in their limitations.
I am now thinking of the camper as suitable for week or longer trips--too much work for an overnight or weekend trip.
The reality for me is that I have about 3/4" clearance on the rear of the camper and about 2" of clearance between the jacks and the truck (2015 Chevy Silverado 2500HD). I am a reasonably good "backer-up-per", but loading and unloading is a royal PITA. I have played with a laser alignment setup and super heavy duty single wheel casters on the jack ends. The Hawk sits in the garage on a fairly level and smooth pad. The casters helped somewhat, but it was far from and easy solution. The installation is somewhat more difficult because the drive way is on a sideways slope leading up to the garage pad. What I have found is that that it is just really hard to line up everything parallel and keep it parallel with such a reed thin margin of error. It takes a good 2 hours to load, including running around the truck with a power drill as I work to keep the jacks even as I raise them or lower them.
Next up is trying tri-casters... suggestion I got from another camper owner. They should allow for easier movement that the single wheel ones.
http://www.bondcaster.com/m_h_dollies.html
I guess that I am just disappointed that loading is so much more difficult than hitching a trailer. I don't want to go back to a trailer because I have no interested in their limitations.
I am now thinking of the camper as suitable for week or longer trips--too much work for an overnight or weekend trip.