Removal and Storage of Hawk

[Bwht4x4]

So yesterday I removed the new Hawk from the truck after a week of driving with it on and will leave it off until the next trip. After my first time removing it from the truck I had a couple of very basic questions.

1. When you pull the truck away and the camper is sitting there on all four jacks is there a good way to get it lowered quite aways fairly quickly? I didn't want to lower it too far on any one corner (I was a bit scared to be honest) so I walked around and lowered each corner only a couple of inches at a time so it didn't get too far out of balance. This took a lot longer then actually getting it off the truck. Is there a trick to getting it lowered much faster? Do I have to be so nervous about it leaning too far to one corner?

2. Below is a pict of my support system. It includes three metal saw horses with a 1,000 per pair rating (I'm using three saw horses) and a sheet of 3/4 plywood to distribute the weight more evenly. I also keep the jacks down and barely touching the concrete for stability. Do any of you FWC experts see an issue with this? I'd rather play dumb and ask for a second opinion.

Thanks

 

[MarkBC]

So yesterday I removed the new Hawk from the truck after a week of driving with it on and will leave it off until the next trip. After my first time removing it from the truck I had a couple of very basic questions.

1. When you pull the truck away and the camper is sitting there on all four jacks is there a good way to get it lowered quite aways fairly quickly? I didn't want to lower it too far on any one corner (I was a bit scared to be honest) so I walked around and lowered each corner only a couple of inches at a time so it didn't get too far out of balance. This took a lot longer then actually getting it off the truck. Is there a trick to getting it lowered much faster? Do I have to be so nervous about it leaning too far to one corner?
....

Thanks

I don't have the answer, but I, too, would like input on this. I have one bent jack-bracket, so leaning/tipping is especially a concern for me. Actually, I rarely remove the camper...but the issue is there when I do remove it.

 

[Ramblinman]

I store mine on a dolly when I take it off. I too run around dropping it a little at a time on each corner. This means I go almost to ground level - lots of cranking! I have heard that some of the members here use a drill bit adapter that speeds things up. I am not sure that it could be done any other way. Looking forward to the responses.

 

[alano]

Short of using a external jack system (like a forklift), I don't see another safe way of lowering the camper than the 2 -3 inches per jack at a time method. Your sawhorses / plywood system with the jacks as backup is pretty much what I do with my homemade dolly. I just have wheels on the bottom to push it where I will.

I hope someone has a better system to raise and lower the camper because it does take a while. You could get 4 cranks or 4 drill bit adapters and lure friends over with beer to have a camper raising (or lowering) party.

Alan

 

[craig333]

I would not be comfortable doing it more than a little bit at a time. Even with one helper you could probably cut the time in half. The adapters are readily available.

 

[Bwht4x4]

I bought one of the drill adapters from FWC when I picked up the camper. Without it I can only imagine it taking forever to lower or raise. The thought of ever removing it once at a destination for whatever reason is gone.

 

[takesiteasy]

My wife usually helps and we alternate front to back, 3 inches at a time. It doesn't take too long. We do have the drill adapter but with only one drill, it takes just as long. We store ours on a wheeled dolly to be able to move it around in the garage. It is low enough to be able to pop the roof during storage. I marked the jack pipes with marker to know how high to raise them when it is time to reinstall the camper.

Your setup looks fine to me. I would suggest wooden blocks under the jacks to keep them from rusting in contact with the concrete.

 

[winks]

I would add lumber to the top of the sawhorses so you only have to lower the camper a half inch or so.

 

[billharr]

I use drill and adaptor up and down. Yes the longest part of the process. I go all the way to a dolly. You can get elec adaptor for the jacks but for $1,500 the drill works great.

 

[riz]

Using a drill adaptor and a couple of saw horses, I can remove or install the camper in about 30 minutes. Inch by inch... don't hurry, and yes... it can be a little scary... especially on unlevel ground or in windy weather. Your methods seem rock solid to me.

 

[captainphx]

I too, got tired of this procedure. So I bought another drill adapter and another cordless drill, and my wife helps. Pretty reasonable now.

 

[Bwht4x4]

winks,

I have a Dodge Ram 2500 that is stock, but has a tall bed. If I added wood or adjusted the saw horses up so that all I had to do was drop the camper 1/2 inch the bottom of the camper would be at 36 inches off the ground. Talk about too tall and very hard to get in and out of. I'd rather have it much lower like it is now. IMO having it even lower on a dolly would be the way to go, but no reason for me to have that set up now due to my driveway.

 

[JimW]

I too have the jacks marked at the right height for installing/removing but then took it a step further and marked 1" increments (numbered) with a sharpie on the jacks. It's much easier the tell if it's "even" as I lower it. I do all this on a sloped driveway off a wheeled dolly and keep the back lower (camper is level going up/down). Off or on is usually about a 45 minute process.

 

[Shadyapex]

I just leave mine at full height and use a small step ladder to get in and out if I have to. Although its a little shaky with no under carraige support I just arrange my workflow to not have to get in and out except the camper is on the truck.
So the first step in prepping for a trip is always to put the thing on the truck, and removing the camper is always the last step upon coming home.

 

[Riverrunner]

I built a dolly that is 36" or so tall and only have to raise or lower it a few inches. It takes up a lot of space when the camper is on the truck tho. I was going to build some sawhorses but my storage space is so tight, I have to be able to roll the camper. I've found that 2 inches at time works fine and my jacks have a scale on them so it's easy to tell. You'll also get pretty fast at loading an unloading the more you do it.

 

[MarkBC]

Well, it seems clear that unless there's some genius out there who hasn't weighed in yet, there's no secret/miracle way to avoid having to lower each jack a little at a time, round and round...and round and round.
The closest thing to a solution is to need to lower it less by putting a taller platform under it.

 

[Bwht4x4]

I'm happy that my way of lowering the camper is the way of the populous. I'm OK with the speed as long as that is how it's done and there's no way around it.

I also appreciate everyone that weighed in and commented on how they do it and to those that provided some pointers on how I can do it a little better.

Thanks to all!

 

[BFH4N]

I'm picturing a setup with a couple of sprockets that attach to the jacks on each side and a bicycle-type chain between them. With two people and two drills, you could just keep going until you reach the height you want. Probably too much trouble!

 

[craig333]

Thats thinking outside the box. Probably not workable but an interesting idea.

 

[billharr]

Setting here with a bum hand and can't do shat, SWMBO is watching. So the mind run wild.

What about two of these? one on each side between the jacks, turn jacks so they face each other. put gear box between them and shaft to each with a coupler. Power each with a drill. gear boxes could be to one end so drill operators could talk to each other.

M: 3 way gearbox, input shaft clockwise rotation direction, two output shafts, right side output shaft clockwise rotation direction, inline output shaft counterclockwise rotation direction.

Also thought about using 90 drill adaptors, would still need two through shaft gear sets and two adaptors. Now to find a good price on gear boxes.