Tricks for cable jacks?

[AWCO]

I recently bought a rebuilt 1983 Fleet after a couple years of looking for a used FWC, and I'm fired up about it. Among other supplemental purchases to get going, I bought four cable camper jacks to take it on and off my truck (https://www.etrailer.com/Camper-Jacks/Brophy/CJ31.html?feed=npn&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIs5-Yj7LQ6gIVENbACh0_IgL1EAQYASABEgIoUfD_BwE).

However, I used these for the first time last night to take the camper off, and it was super sketchy. I found I had to position the front set of jacks such that I needed to drive over at least part of the stand legs in order to get out from under the camper. The jacks shifted a bit when I drove out, and although the camper didn't come crashing down, it was very precarious. Once I had the truck out from underneath, I had to get my wife to push against the opposite side of the camper while I nudged the front jacks in until the camper was fully and securely resting on the brackets.

I'm wondering if anyone with more experience has some practical solutions to this issue that I haven't thought of yet. Hard to imagine having to more/less risk dropping the camper every time I want to take it on or off....

 

[CoreyTrevor]

I would love to have four. You should see me loading/unloading my Eagle with just 2 jacks! It is pretty light though.

I had to bend the legs so the tires wouldn't run onto them.

When I had a large shop area, I could roll the truck by pushing it w/o the engine running, so I could control what was going on really well, like if the truck started to rub the camper. No shop at the moment and steep driveway, so it's not much fun now.

To me, the thing that makes the jacks (kind of) safe is that they can tip toward the truck but not away from the truck, so it's not really that likely to tip if you get the COG right. It would take a lot for it to fall off the jacks sideways. Just keep them as close to the truck as possible, to minimize side-to-side sway. With 4 of them you should be safe if you don't make a major mistake.

 

[JaSAn]

I have 4 cable jacks; I would be a nervous wreck with only two. It is shaky enough when jacked up high.

The support legs are at 100º, 0º, -100º (the tire side legs are 160º apart), so they barely miss the tires.

- Make sure they are vertical (not leaning).
- I have two people watching, one on each side. They can also push the side a little if I'm not exactly lined up.
- Having two people to help enables me to jack one side (front/back) at the same time while another watches the camper. I only do a little at a time and try to keep the camper close to level (and equal weight on all 4 jacks).
- One modification I made was to add two 1/4-20 bolts to each jack, sticking up a half inch, on the part that goes under the camper. This gives the jacks some 'bite' to keep them from moving. I have an old camper so I don't care if it dimples the plywood. It keeps the legs from walking out (this seems to be a problem for me if the jacks are not vertical).

It's always stressful putting the camper on each year. I spend the most time lining things up before jacking the camper up off its cart. A good rolling cart on 4 pivoting casters makes lining up easier.

jim

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

We have always bolted or welded a steel extension plate on to the lip of the cable jacks.

Works great.

Gives you more clearance, and they seem a bit more stable.

Still wobbly, a little sketchy, but workable.

 

[AWCO]

I would love to have four. You should see me loading/unloading my Eagle with just 2 jacks! It is pretty light though.

I had to bend the legs so the tires wouldn't run onto them.

When I had a large shop area, I could roll the truck by pushing it w/o the engine running, so I could control what was going on really well, like if the truck started to rub the camper. No shop at the moment and steep driveway, so it's not much fun now.

To me, the thing that makes the jacks (kind of) safe is that they can tip toward the truck but not away from the truck, so it's not really that likely to tip if you get the COG right. It would take a lot for it to fall off the jacks sideways. Just keep them as close to the truck as possible, to minimize side-to-side sway. With 4 of them you should be safe if you don't make a major mistake.

Thanks for the feedback. Did you bend the legs on these Brophy jacks specifically? Also, did you bend such that its flush across the front side now?

 

[AWCO]

I have 4 cable jacks; I would be a nervous wreck with only two. It is shaky enough when jacked up high.

The support legs are at 100º, 0º, -100º (the tire side legs are 160º apart), so they barely miss the tires.

- Make sure they are vertical (not leaning).
- I have two people watching, one on each side. They can also push the side a little if I'm not exactly lined up.
- Having two people to help enables me to jack one side (front/back) at the same time while another watches the camper. I only do a little at a time and try to keep the camper close to level (and equal weight on all 4 jacks).
- One modification I made was to add two 1/4-20 bolts to each jack, sticking up a half inch, on the part that goes under the camper. This gives the jacks some 'bite' to keep them from moving. I have an old camper so I don't care if it dimples the plywood. It keeps the legs from walking out (this seems to be a problem for me if the jacks are not vertical).

It's always stressful putting the camper on each year. I spend the most time lining things up before jacking the camper up off its cart. A good rolling cart on 4 pivoting casters makes lining up easier.

jim

Thanks jim. Agreed that something like the rolling cart would be helpful. Looking to snag an old utility trailer off Craigslist or else build a platform on wheels in the next couple months.

 

[AWCO]

We have always bolted or welded a steel extension plate on to the lip of the cable jacks.

Works great.

Gives you more clearance, and they seem a bit more stable.

Still wobbly, a little sketchy, but workable.

Thanks, Stan. I think I might do this. How wide of plates do you use, looks like maybe 5-6"?

 

[CoreyTrevor]

Thanks for the feedback. Did you bend the legs on these Brophy jacks specifically? Also, did you bend such that its flush across the front side now?

They are Brophy, I think the same ones. They are kind of buried in the garage but I can see the Brophy sticker.

I bent the 2 legs so they are pretty much straight across. It doesn't affect the stability, to me, because the outside leg on each won't let them tip that way. The feet on the legs don't sit flat on the floor now, but it doesn't seem to matter. Maybe someday I will cut and weld them up so they look more impressive.

With 4, you would have to modify only 2 of them, I guess.

Don't ask me how I bent them, I needed it done in a hurry and couldn't figure out a non-ridiculous way to do it.

 

[CoreyTrevor]

We have always bolted or welded a steel extension plate on to the lip of the cable jacks.

Works great.

Gives you more clearance, and they seem a bit more stable.

Still wobbly, a little sketchy, but workable.

Hi Stan, if you are still looking at this.

With those plates on the jacks, can/do you use them with the camper sitting on just the plates? Meaning the jack isn't slid all the way under the edge of the camper. It seems like there would be a lot of extra leverage and friction where the pipe slides over the big pole.

I'm wondering now if I could extend mine 3-4 inches to be able to use them to get my Eagle on my fullsize Dodge. Have you guys ever used them like that?

Thanks!

 

[ckent323]

I used two cable jacks to load and unload a 1984 FWC Keystone camper on and off of my 1993 Dodge W250 for years without mishap.

While I never had a problem I was never quite comfortable with just the two cable jacks either. I subsequently bought two more cable jacks and things improved a bit.

The cable jacks had removable stands with three legs. I always made sure I positioned the jack when on the stands so that one of the legs was 90 degrees (perpendicular) to the side of the camper and pointing away from the camper side. That put the other two legs diagonal to the camper side and minimized the distance between the path of the truck tires and the jack stand legs when backing the truck under the camper.

Pay attention to the cable wear and avoid kinking the cables. Also wear gloves, if any of the wire cables are frayed or the individual strands break they can inflict serious damage to your skin (punctures).

Our newer 2007 FWC Keystone has 4 corner brackets and four removable screw jacks. I like them a lot better.

 

[CoreyTrevor]

I've been thinking that if I can extend my jacks with a plate like Stan does, I would buy a third jack and use it at the center of the back wall. The camper comes back just about to the back of the bumper, so I think it would work. The tripod seems like it would be pretty stable, and has to be better than just the 2 jacks, right?

Has anyone tried this before? I have never seen it talked about. Maybe it will cause a catastrophe!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I've been thinking that if I can extend my jacks with a plate like Stan does, I would buy a third jack and use it at the center of the back wall. The camper comes back just about to the back of the bumper, so I think it would work. The tripod seems like it would be pretty stable, and has to be better than just the 2 jacks, right?

Has anyone tried this before? I have never seen it talked about. Maybe it will cause a catastrophe!

I believe many camper builders from days long gone used 3 jacks for better stability. I’ve seen older Alaskans that used 2 on one side, and one on the other side. It has to help with balance point issues, but you still need to be careful of weight distribution.

 

[Wallowa]

Guys, what am I missing? The cable jacks are being described as "sketchy" and could bend, etc....why not go the FWC brackets on all four corners and bolt on screw jacks...are cable jack more stable that screw jacks? What are their advantages?

Thanks...

 

[CoreyTrevor]

That's what would be good with 3 jacks. With 2, I have to get them right at the COG point so the camper doesn't flop over forward or back. With 3, the 2 side ones would go all the way forward and the rear one just goes in the middle. No need to pay attention to where the weight is.

To me, the reasons for the cable jacks are: mounted jacks a pain to remove/replace, no brackets left on camper, a tiny bit less weight, cheaper (I'm kind of frugal), camper looks cool without jack brackets, they do what I need them to do.

FWC uses them to load new campers on trucks at the factory, so they must not have destroyed too many campers with them.

 

[Wallowa]

That's what would be good with 3 jacks. With 2, I have to get them right at the COG point so the camper doesn't flop over forward or back. With 3, the 2 side ones would go all the way forward and the rear one just goes in the middle. No need to pay attention to where the weight is.

To me, the reasons for the cable jacks are: mounted jacks a pain to remove/replace, no brackets left on camper, a tiny bit less weight, cheaper (I'm kind of frugal), camper looks cool without jack brackets, they do what I need them to do.

FWC uses them to load new campers on trucks at the factory, so they must not have destroyed too many campers with them.

I guess it depends on use of FWC and how often you would load/off-load.

Three bolts per screw jack as I recall; yes jacks are heavy and to my way of thinking just outriggers waiting to hang up on something or get hit and tear up camper...BUT...I never travel with my jacks attached and since '16 when we bought our Hawk they have stayed in the boxes in my shop unused. Looks are secondary to me and function, safe function is #1. What FWC does at the factory is in my world NA and they do install one hell of a lot of screw jacks.

Oh, I think you can get aluminum brackets but again steel is more durable, costs less and only weighs a couple of pounds more.

All depends on your needs and risk tolerance.

 

[JaSAn]

Guys, what am I missing? The cable jacks are being described as "sketchy" and could bend, etc....why not go the FWC brackets on all four corners and bolt on screw jacks...are cable jack more stable that screw jacks? What are their advantages?

For me:

- I don't think adding the brackets to an old camper is a trivial modification.
- I have 4 cable jacks; I've learned how to use them. Any 1000+ lb. load will be "sketchy" up high on 4 spindly legs.
- 4 manual bolt on jacks would cost me more than my yearly travel budget.

Thanks, Stan. I think I am going to add a shelf to my jacks.

jim

 

[1980Keystone]

I've attached a photo of the Brophy jack that others have mentioned.

I only have two of these and I have not been able to get the camper off my truck alone. I have a special model F150 (7700) that has its rear end sticking up several inches higher than the front when it is not loaded. It actually rides better when loaded or pulling. I would have gone to the four corner jacks, but I am not sure that the corners on a 1980 keystone are built so that they can have jacks put that much force on the vertical bars or if they even can have braces fasten to them.

The old Palomino Bronco used to use three jacks to lift it off and I worked with that many times, with not too much difficulty. But the Brophy jacks only go up so high and the the tolerances are so tight that it is indeed very sketchy.

I have a couple of those crank jacks that fastened to an underplate on the bottom of the Palomino Bronco. Maybe I could use those in the back and the Brophys in the front? But even that worries me that the old bottom plates will put too much pressure on the old floor pack plywood.

I just haven't figured out this out so if anyone has insight, it's appreciated.

 

[Karlton]

I checked out your build site, and that is some nice work. So the Keystone has been on your F150 and you are having difficulty removing because you cannot lift the camper high enough with the jacks? Have you tried building a platform out of pavers to get the jacks up higher so that you can clear the high backend? After I added leaf springs in my truck, it sat high in the back. I would put down one paver on each side so that I didn't have to max out the jacks. The pavers are stable and provide a solid contact for the jacks. Your jacks will be higher off the ground and will increase the sketch factor, but it might be enough for you to get the truck out safely.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I've attached a photo of the Brophy jack that others have mentioned.

I only have two of these and I have not been able to get the camper off my truck alone. I have a special model F150 (7700) that has its rear end sticking up several inches higher than the front when it is not loaded. It actually rides better when loaded or pulling. I would have gone to the four corner jacks, but I am not sure that the corners on a 1980 keystone are built so that they can have jacks put that much force on the vertical bars or if they even can have braces fasten to them.

The old Palomino Bronco used to use three jacks to lift it off and I worked with that many times, with not too much difficulty. But the Brophy jacks only go up so high and the the tolerances are so tight that it is indeed very sketchy.

I have a couple of those crank jacks that fastened to an underplate on the bottom of the Palomino Bronco. Maybe I could use those in the back and the Brophys in the front? But even that worries me that the old bottom plates will put too much pressure on the old floor pack plywood.

I just haven't figured out this out so if anyone has insight, it's appreciated.

Call Brophy and see if they make a jack extension, if they don’t, a local machine shop should be able to do it.

 

[JaSAn]

I attacked 4X4 blocks under the feet of two of my cable jacks to get them high enough. PO used pallets but I wanted more stability.