Happijacs

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Glad to finally be on this site. A question for anyone that uses a slide on camper on their trucks with happijacs. How do the jacks attached to the truck? Is drilling in the truck bed required? What are people's opinions about Real-Lite campers (thats the type of camper currently being considered)? This camper would be going on a 97, club cab. 12 valve, 3/4 ton.

 

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The Happijacs require drilling both ends of the rear bumper and both sides of the front of the p/u bed. The Dodge kit needs a support bar across the inside of the bed. Get a rubber bed mat, huge difference. I think the Happpijacs + rubber bed mat + air bags are optimum setup if you plan to do off road camping. Good shocks are a big help also, the factory shocks are junk...

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2001 HO 6 speed Regular Cab SLT 4x4 3. 54 anti spin 2500. Used for the daily grind and sneaking away to some secret Baja beaches toting a cabover

 

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I prefer not to drill holes in my truck.

I took 2 pieces of 4 inch stock, pounded a u into one side so it could slide into my receiver hitch (past the weld seam), and use those as my rear tiedown.

The front was a little more expensive. I got underbelly bars for the front (1. 25" stock with receivers at either end for tiedown extensions - mounts just under fuel tank).

I really think those happyjack wings are ugly. imo frame mount is a more secure and a cleaner solution.

bigfoot dry (all options) 1,650#, truck & camper loaded, almost 10,500#
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tedstruck 2500qc, no leather or abs
bigfoot & other travel pics 1500 bigfoot, no auto waterheater or microwave.
Cool Summit Pass Pics, & Alaska Journal


[This message has been edited by ted kidd (edited 06-28-2000). ]

 

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I have used them on my last two trucks no problems. 2000lb camper and a lot of off road use. I agree you do need the rubber bed mat to keep the camper from sliding around.

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99' 2500 SLT, Quadcab, Long Bed, 4x4, White/Driftwood, Agate Leather, 4WAL, Auto, 241HD, 3. 54 Limited Slip, Bosch 275HP Injectors, Rancho 9000's, Air Lift Super Duty's, Hallmark Cachara LTD 9. 5ft Popup Camper

 

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Barnyard: As long as the "Real Lite" camper is indeed "real light" then you're OK. The payload of the truck is dramatically reduced with the Cummins option. My '97 4x4/auto/CC/LB weighs in at 6500 lbs. With a GVWR of 8800, that leaves 2300 for the camper and all the trimmins'. Even the smallest regular Lance slide-in is over if you get any kind of decent options on it.

We're considering the Lance Lite 915, which weighs in at 2059 lbs. (stock with no options. ) This gives us some room to manuever weightwise. It's a great truck, but if you want to drop a big slide-in on 'er, get a 3500. #ad


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In the heart of the Droughtland
NRA and ATA Life Member
'97 SLT w/NAPA fan belt
What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?

 

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Thanks for the replies. The camper is advertized as a dry weight of around 1700 pounds.

Ted Kidd, what do you mean "underbelly bars"? Do you mean stock that runs across, under the frame rails?

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2001, 3500, QC, 4x4, 5sp, 3. 54LS, SLT.

 

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We just got a new Lance Lite 815 for Baja off road trips. It weighs in 1500+ dry and 1800+ wet. The camper weight did not bring the rear of the truck (4x4 stock springs, no camper package) level with the front. I did find the air bags necessary to control side to side sway - huge difference without the air bags, would not want to travel rutted dirt roads and washes without the bags...

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2001 HO 6 speed Regular Cab SLT 4x4 3. 54 anti spin 2500. Used for the daily grind and sneaking away to some secret Baja beaches toting a cabover

 

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Like TK I mounted the rears on some 2" tubing that came out from the side of the receiver then mounted the fronts to the bed according to the HappiJac instructions. 3 sets of HappyJac's and still happy #ad
I looked at Tork Lift but cost was an issue. Always used a rubber mat to keep it from sliding.

[This message has been edited by BV (edited 06-26-2000). ]

 

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I use the Happijacs on my truck and used them on a previous Chevy. They work great and since they have some shock absorbtion they keep from stressing the camper on back roads. As for the weight, my Lance weighs around 2600 lbs and I carry it in my 3/4 ton with no problems. The axles and tires are not overloaded and I have the 3500 brake cyls in my rear brakes. Yes the truck weighs about 9200 lbs with the camper on board, the single rear wheel Chevy 3500 has a Gross of 9200 lbs with lighter axles than the Dodge. With the camper package my truck rides perfectly level.

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Ron

'96 Club Cab 2500 4x4, 4:10LS, Auto, BD Pressure Loc, Mystery Switch,TST 230/605, Cummins Chrome, Mag-Hytec rear and trans covers, Boost, Pyro and trans gauges, Optima Red Tops, All black. Tow 14k HitchHiker triple glide 5th Whl. Also use 9. 5' Lance. NRA Life Member.

 

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I have the Torklift anchors on my truck and yes they were expensive but worth every penny I think. They fit good, bolt to the frame insted of the bed and bumper, have the springs built into the bottom loops and are invisable when you unpin the extensions. I'm very happy with mine #ad

http://www.torklift.com/loadit.html


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2001 black dually,4x4, 6 speed H. O. ,loaded up. Jacobs E brake, lighted running boards, toolbox, solor visor, mag hytec cover, rhino lined, diamond tread rail protectors, mud flaps with genos chrome plates, megs exhaust tip, VDO vision series pillar mounted pyro & boost gauges, rerouted blowby bottle, torklift class 5 double tube hitch. Rippin' through the gears with a smile on my face... no more auto for me!

 

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All good info, what a site!

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2001, 3500, QC, 4x4, 5sp, 3. 54LS, SLT.

 

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Well my Lance weighs in at 2900LBS. I hauled it on my '97 2500 until I blew a tire - no fun. I was running a 2" Rancho lift and 35x12. 50 BFG's. The truck will handle the weight but try to find full steel belted tires (steel that wraps up the sidewalls). This will keep away the sway. I now have a 3500 and really like the stability. Used Happijacks on both and love 'em. In fact I'm still using the same set. Real easy to put too.

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2000, 3500 Driftwood, 4X4, Quad Cab, SLT+ Laramie, Tan Leather, 6 Speed, 3. 54LSD, Tow Package, Camper Package, All Possible Options, Rancho RS 9000 Shocks, Linex Bed Liner, K&N Air Filter, Husky Floor Mats, Geno's Smoothie, Chrome "Down and Out" Exhaust, Stainless Steel Fender Trim Kit, Geno's Charcoal Air Filter, Mopar Bug Deflector, Whisler Radar Detector, AirLift 5000 Air Bags, Smittybuilt Polished Stainless Steel Nerf Bars, Sylvania Cool Blue Headlights, Pro Flaps, 1999 Lance Fiberglas 1010 Legend, TV, VCR, Air, generator, max'ed out all possible options, sleeps 5. Ya Baby!

 

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Bad Brad,
When you lost the tire, were they the OEM tires, or some aftermarket ones? The truck has two sets of tires and rims, 1st is the OEM's, 2nd are some 285-75R16's on forged aluminum 16x8 rims. The larger tires are rated about 300 lbs higher than the OEM's, so they should probably be used. It would be nice to wear out the OEM's first though.

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2001, 3500, QC, 4x4, 5sp, 3. 54LS, SLT.

[This message has been edited by barnyard (edited 06-29-2000). ]

 

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BarnYard,
The tires were BF Goodrich 35" X 12. 50" Mudders on 16. 5 inch alloy wheels. Those tires were rated at 3380lbs well over the OEMS. They are great tires, just don't think they are good for heavy loads such as big campers. I beleive the problem was the "high sidewalls" as it was the sidewall that gave away. Tire guys said it could happen to any tire. I think the way to go is 19. 5" wheels, that way you can get a REAL re-groovable truck tire that will go 300,000 miles. This is where you can find the ALL STEEL BELTED TIRES. Check out the Product Review Section and read about the Rickson 19. 5 wheels. Alcoa makes them as well. Way cool looks and expensive.

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2000, 3500 Driftwood, 4X4, Quad Cab, SLT+ Laramie, Tan Leather, 6 Speed, 3. 54LSD, Tow Package, Camper Package, All Possible Options, Rancho RS 9000 Shocks, Linex Bed Liner, K&N Air Filter, Husky Floor Mats, Geno's Smoothie, Chrome "Down and Out" Exhaust, Stainless Steel Fender Trim Kit, Geno's Charcoal Air Filter, Mopar Bug Deflector, Whisler Radar Detector, AirLift 5000 Air Bags, Smittybuilt Polished Stainless Steel Nerf Bars, Sylvania Cool Blue Headlights, Pro Flaps, 1999 Lance Fiberglas 1010 Legend, TV, VCR, Air, generator, max'ed out all possible options, sleeps 5. Ya Baby!

 

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test

 

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I too have torklift connection to truck. However I wanted to let others know that Dodge has weakened the bed sheet metal which has caused both mine and my brothers beds to crack at the spot welds on the front most cross member. Dealer took a look and covered after original warranty truck had 96K on it and this truck is a 1998. 5 ISB 3500 4x4. Body shop drilled out orignian welds and tacked on new ones as well as ran a bead on the flat part of the bed for added support. In my opinion the happyjacks contributed to the fatigue of the metal. I contacted Lance camper as I carry a Lance 900 and they reported that they knew of Dodge having this problem as does Chevy however he reported that Fords don't due to using thicker metal and different frame conection. Hope this helps.