Off truck camper use

[Thinkingrequired]

We have a 2012 fwc eagle on our Tacoma truck.
Can we remove the camper from the truck and camp in it?
Will the four pods do the job?
Would like to free up the truck for trips to town.
Thanks

 

[Vic Harder]

it is not recommended to leave the camper suspended by the jack stands. Folks have put milk crates or other sturdy boxes under the floor to hold the camper up. I'd be concerned about the weight of people in the overhead bed area causing the whole camper to tip.

 

[m5040]

I don't believe the floor is designed to support the weight of people, it needs to be resting on another structure.

 

[TacomaAustin]

I'd be concerned about the weight of people in the overhead bed area causing the whole camper to tip.

You may be right with regards to the rig tipping over with two people in the overhang. My beef with just using the Reico jacks and no support underneath is that whole camper wiggles and jiggles when I move around. My biggest fear with the wiggle and jiggle is that one or more of the four column jacks will bend or fail where the mounting plates anchor to the camper.

 

[Thinkingrequired]

Thanks guys.
Sounds best to leave it on the truck

 

[ckent323]

Build a mobile platform for it (search on camper dolly).

It did that and with the support underneath I have used our camper as overflow accommodations when a large contingent of family members has stayed with us.

Weight is on the dolly and the lift jacks are in light contact with the ground to stabilize the camper.

 

[BlueSky]

We camped in ours on the jacks all summer when we remodeled our house. We of course lowered them. No problems, never tipped when we slept in the upper bunk (me 170lbs, wife $125lbs). I did notice the floor bowed down a little, maybe 1/4". I think it best if you have some kind of dolly under it.

 

[penner]

I don't think it is recommended but I see Grizzley and Bear do it all the time.

 

[camper rich]

I cut a 4 x 8 sheet of 3/4 plywood into four 2 foot strips, cut slots in the center of each and slid them together to make two X's. I then put them under the camper floor and lower the camper down to where they are just making contact with the camper floor. That is what our dealer uses for his campers on the showroom floor. When camping I then put stakes in the ground and use cam straps to hold the rear of the camper down so we can sleep on the bed without tipping the camper over forward. Because I have a platform under my camper it gives me space to stow the plywood under the floor of the camper.

I really ony did this once while we were camping in Baja in the same spot for 6 weeks. I found it difficult to get the camper back on the truck due to the sand we were camping on. It was very dynamic trying to back the pickup under the camper in soft sand. It would be easy though if you had a good hard surface.

 

[hpcbmw]

I have a pretty light 3 rail dirtbike trailer. I put a sheet of plywood on the trailer under the rails. I can remove the three rails and have a flatbed trailer that is narrow enough to fit between the camper jacks. I have used this setup to load my FWC for many years. The trailer is only rated for about 1500 lbs, so I don't travel anywhere with the camper on the trailer. However, when I store the camper for long periods, I put it on the moto trailer and the camper is completely stable (I do put a large block under the rear of the trailer to keep it from tilting up). Since I don't have much flat area on my property to load the camper, I use my quad or my SUV to pull the trailer up to a level area on my small street to load and unload the camper. Here is a pic of the FWC, the trailer and the quad.