pickup campers

[TowPro]

This time I think I fould my pickup camper (cheep).



I been watching my neighbors farm to catch the guy outside so I could stop and ask about the camper sitting in the back field.



today I drove by and noticed it blew off its jacks lastnight in a storm we had, so I stopped and knocked on the door.



Its a 93 sunline, short (no overhang) The RS jack (only has one on the RS) folded under and broke out of the floor, and the LS jacks had also twisted out of the floor, but there still holding up the LS.



looking at the side (as best I can) I only see one small place the jack ripped the siding on the RS, but where the jacks mounted, the jacks held well to the underside, which caused a 6" square of the underside plywood to rip out.



Now, I bet if I removed the jacks (and straightened them) added a 3/4" sheet of plywood under the exhisting floor with lag bolts, and reattached the jacks I would be in bussiness. What do you guys think? Every thing else looks fine (But I could not unlock it to see inside until his son gets home and calls me). As I was saying earler, I have 5th wheel hitch rails in my bed so I will have to build a wood frame that lays in the bed of my truck, giving me more clearence for this repair work!



I noticed it has AC, Heat, Water system, refer, potty etc. looks pretty loaded.



IT says 1900 lbs full of water/gas/etc. Is that too much for my 2500 with the camper package/8800 lb option?



PS: How the hell do I get back up level so I can load it into my truck?



I figured I have to go down there with a couple bottle jacks, a truck of cinder block and maybe a 4X4 to put under the body for a place to jack (both sides). Then raise it 1 cinder block at a time until its high enough to get my truck under. Its now sitting with the PS on the ground, and the DS almost as high as it was when he unloaded it.

 

[D. Showan]

It sure could be done. I did some things on an older truck camper a few years ago that were similar to what you describe. Get it for a good price (I mean almost free) Please be verrrry careful!!!!! It's definitally not to heavy

 

[Dane]

TowPro,

I did some rot repair on my last cabover in the jack areas. Not too hard, just remove lots of screws and pull back the sheet aluminum. It's all basic carpentry after that. Make sure you get the rolls of putty and seal it up real good.



You may have a real hard time getting it on the truck. My 2001 4x4 is real tall stock. When I ordered my new Lance cabover the dealer assured me the jacks would be tall enough. When I went to pick it up we jacked to the top of the jacks and it was about 3" too low I made em squirm for that The owners son was the one who helped me load it. I don't know if any of the current camper jacks will lift high enough to clear the Dodge 4x4s



I use cinder blocks under all 4 corner jacks to get the height I need, not a big deal.

 

[wrk2mtch]

Dane,

What model Lance do you have?

 

[Dane]

Terry,

Lance Lite 815 (long bed model)



I like it because the Dodge can still do some 4 wheeling with the Lance on it's back - around 1850lbs wet and it has a bathroom for the wife I got the built in outside shower for me



I would get the entended cab (bed parallel to the camper) if I could do it over again. That way I would not have to climb over the wife to drain the radiator in the middle of the night It only adds a 100 lbs or so and the Dodge could handle another 100lbs easily.

 

[JFitzgerald]

Sounds Familiar...

I have an 8 ft. Sunline that got blown over in a windstorm. Same deal, the single jack on the right side folded under, crushed plywood, bent siding, etc. I fixed it up with plywood like you're thinking. Stronger than it was before. The siding straightened out pretty well. It's for sale now, because it was too small for the family. Got an older 11 ft. Coachmen.



I used a Hi-Lift jack and lots of big wood blocks to get mine back up. It's plenty strong and has lots of lift so you don't have to use a bottle jack 40 times to get it up to the right height. The jacks with the Sunline wouldn't lift the camper high enough to load on my stock height truck (other than a slightly taller 33" tire). I had to use blocks under the tripods.



Weightwise, you should be OK. My Coachmen shows it weighs 2700 lbs, and it just set the truck level when I had it in the bed. Now it is mounted to the GN trailer.