Lessons Learned

[WestTN]

After returning from the Daytona 500 I set out to remove the camper from my truck. Here is what happened...



I was fortunate that thre was virtually no damage done.



The first lesson for the day is; Lower the camper AFTER the truck has been moved away from the camper. The front jack suffered failure of the thread allowing the jack to retract fully.



The second lesson is; When something feels funny about how the jack is operating, stop using it and check it out.





The third lesson is; I found an excellent source of RV parts on line. It is www.dyersonline.com where I found a 3 jack set with all hardware and shipping for $263.



Well, for some reason the images did not show up and deleting the post doesn't work either, so just ignore this one. Sorry, WestTN

 

[Berrigan]

Yea, In my days of campers I never had a failure of a jack, but I was always nervous when It was up in the air. Bill

 

[Prairie Dog]

One of our first RV's was a 25 year old camper. The jacks were so loose and the corners were so rotted out that it moved like a big drunken spider every time it stood by itself.

 

[WestTN]

followup on camper jacks

I ordered a new set of jacks and installed them yesterday. They are Rieco Titan's, exactly what was on the camper originally. since there is a metals shop here in Okeechobee, I had three plates made to put on the inside of the camper so that the plywood floor would be sandwiched between the jack mount and the plate. This was necessary because one of the carriage bolts pulled through the wood on the front jack position. The camper is a lot more stable now than it was when I bought it new.

These plates were flame cut with 3/8" square holes to retain the carriage bolts and allow tightening without a backup wrench.



If anyone is having a stability problem with a truck camper I would recommend making this change. I believe the flex in the original setup was mostly responsible for the amount of damage done. By allowing so much initial flex, the angle between the jack and camper increased to the point that the leverage generated enough force to pull the bolt right through the camper floor. Now, it will have to pull a 5"x6" plate through too.

 

[klaybus]

your link is working!



Clay