Wheeling the camper into the truck

[Espresso]

I have a 2007 Ram 1500 SB and a Grandby. When I back my truck under the Grandby, I have about 2" on each side between the outside of the truck bed and the camper jacks. I'm thinking of building a dolly that sits under the feet of the camper jacks and allows me to roll the camper into the bed of the truck vs. backing the truck under the camper.

Has anyone done anything like this? I have a 4x4 and I have to lift the camper pretty high to clear the tailgate. I'm not sure if the jacks are stable enough to handle being maneuvered into the bed of the truck. Seems like there is a risk of collapse.

Thoughts?

 

[ntsqd]

Clamp or bolt the legs to your dolly, and make it as rigid as you can. If you can make the dolly tall, and give that height some width at the base, so that the legs don't have to extend as far that would be good too.

 

[BSS]

I don't know that a dolly would be necessary, but I could see the possibility of adding casters to the bottom plates on the jacks. Provided you have a flat paved surface to roll them on, I think they would be maneuverable enough to wheel the camper around with relative ease. You could use some angle iron or something to tie the them together in a U shape or something.

You would have to unbolt the contraption and the jacks after installing the camper on the truck, but I don't think it's a very good idea to travel with the jacks mounted anyways.

 

[Espresso]

I don't know that a dolly would be necessary, but I could see the possibility of adding casters to the bottom plates on the jacks. Provided you have a flat paved surface to roll them on, I think they would be maneuverable enough to wheel the camper around with relative ease. You could use some angle iron or something to tie the them together in a U shape or something.

You would have to unbolt the contraption and the jacks after installing the camper on the truck, but I don't think it's a very good idea to travel with the jacks mounted anyways.


I was thinking of a 2x6 frame that looks like a capital H with a board across the top (or a square letter A). The casters would go under the foot of each Jack.

How do you quickly remote the jacks? My camper goes on before the trip and comes off after I return. I loosened the jacks to re-position them and I thought that was a PITA. Completely removing them and re-installing them after every trip seems like it would add a lot of work to the prep and return.

 

[Lighthawk]

I bought some grade 8 bolts for the jack after trashing the first set. With a cordless Makita impact driver and a wrench I can install/remove the jacks in under five minutes. It is an extra step, but saves 100# and risk of snagging a jack.
FWIW, we wheel the camper on a plywood dolly out onto the driveway for mounting on the truck. When I take it off I can just lower the jacks until the floor of the camper is supported by the dolly until next trip. In the winter, we wheel the dolly/camper into the garage between trips.

 

[pods8]

Do you have a really flat surface to work with? Otherwise forget it, the wheels will catch. If they catch with it jacked up high I don't think it would be pretty...

Putting some jack extensions on to just widen the distance between the front jacks would lesson the fender class possibility.

 

[Espresso]

Do you have a really flat surface to work with? Otherwise forget it, the wheels will catch. If they catch with it jacked up high I don't think it would be pretty...

Putting some jack extensions on to just widen the distance between the front jacks would lesson the fender class possibility.


Lighthawk
I did build a dolly to wheel the camper around. That was a good suggestion from my neighbor, the former owner of the camper. I'm not sure about removing the jacks. Is there a reason you might need to remove the camper while on a trip? (flat tire or ???)

Pods8
I didn't know jack extensions existed. I'll look into it.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm new to the world of slide-in camper. I'm preparing for a week-long shakedown cruise and I've found great information on this forum.

 

[UglyScout]

I would not try rolling it around.

I made a couple of 6" extension plates for my front jacks to help clear the sides of my truck. I can take the jacks on and off in a couple minutes, only 2 nuts to remove per jack.

It makes loading so much easier now that I do not have to worry about tearing up the sides of my truck....

 

[pods8]

Pods8
I didn't know jack extensions existed. I'll look into it.


Yeah you can buy/make them. Chnlisle has a thread here with some he's got available commercially to illustrate the idea regardless of how you source them:

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/index.php?/topic/6399/

 

[LT Traveler]

IMHO....backing the truck under the jacked up camper is the best way to go, just get another pair of eyes to help you with the process. Our Titan is extremely tight between the jacks and I really wouldn't attempt the process without my wife helping. She stands behind the camper and simply keeps checking side to side advising necessary steering corrections to make...it's really become quite easy.

I think trying to roll the camper while on some concocted platform is asking for big trouble. Try loading/unloading the camper the traditional way a few more times and I bet you'll get more comfortable with the process and be good to go.

Good luck.

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

I would NOT put the caster wheels directly on the bottom of the camper jacks.

There is too much chance that you will twist & bend the corners on the frame of the camper.

I have seen it too many times.



Great idea if done properly, but just about impossible to do it properly.


BEST to use small camper jack extension plates if you need more clearance, or build a semi-custom camper dolly.

I had a customer that worked in a machine shop (welder guy) that made that "U" shaped dolly for his camper like what you were describing.

The camper dolly was really beefy and could hold the weight of the camper.

I think he built it using steel I beams.

Once the camper was on the dolly, he could roll the camper right in to the back of his truck and lower it down on the the truck bed.

The down side ... a dolly like that might be pricy to have built for you, will be BIG and heavy.

You will need to have a big area to store it when you are not using it.


Hope this helps with ideas / food for thought.





.

 

[BobD]

I have a set of the brand new FWC Aluminum Jack Extensions for sale if you're interested. They're $130 new from FWC. I'm asking $100 and you cover the shipping. I couldn't use them on my truck because of my sliders and had to make a 6" set. Let me know if you're interested. Picture link attached.

http://www.fourwheelcampers.com.php5-19.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/aluminumextensionplates.jpg

 

[2wiresDave]

I would NOT put the caster wheels directly on the bottom of the camper jacks.

There is too much chance that you will twist & bend the corners on the frame of the camper.

I have seen it too many times.



Great idea if done properly, but just about impossible to do it properly.


BEST to use small camper jack extension plates if you need more clearance, or build a semi-custom camper dolly.

I had a customer that worked in a machine shop (welder guy) that made that "U" shaped dolly for his camper like what you were describing.

The camper dolly was really beefy and could hold the weight of the camper.

I think he built it using steel I beams.

Once the camper was on the dolly, he could roll the camper right in to the back of his truck and lower it down on the the truck bed.

The down side ... a dolly like that might be pricy to have built for you, will be BIG and heavy.

You will need to have a big area to store it when you are not using it.


Hope this helps with ideas / food for thought.





.



That is Awesome!!! I am guessing it could be done out of a little lighter material, but flat out ingenious.

 

[Espresso]

I would NOT put the caster wheels directly on the bottom of the camper jacks.

There is too much chance that you will twist & bend the corners on the frame of the camper.

I have seen it too many times.



Great idea if done properly, but just about impossible to do it properly.


BEST to use small camper jack extension plates if you need more clearance, or build a semi-custom camper dolly.

I had a customer that worked in a machine shop (welder guy) that made that "U" shaped dolly for his camper like what you were describing.

The camper dolly was really beefy and could hold the weight of the camper.

I think he built it using steel I beams.

Once the camper was on the dolly, he could roll the camper right in to the back of his truck and lower it down on the the truck bed.

The down side ... a dolly like that might be pricy to have built for you, will be BIG and heavy.

You will need to have a big area to store it when you are not using it.


Hope this helps with ideas / food for thought.





.


Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I think I'll take LT Traveler's recommendation and do a few loads and unloads before I jump into a project. I do plan to put carpeting or something soft on the jacks so I won't put a big scratch down the side of my truck if I accidently rub a jack. I also saw a post where someone put wedges in the sides of the bed to help center and square the camper as it was lowered. I like that idea.

 

[pods8]

Also a "light" push on the camper while backing up from a helper will help move it slightly if needed while threading the needle. I do mean light but when jacked up high the camper will move an inch or so when pushed lightly which I don't think is gonna stress stuff too much. Good for little corrections.

 

[Mark G]

Adding the swing away brackets on the front jacks made my FWC much easier to back under. I picked them up in Woodland and they're available from Rieco.