rolling camper around in drive-way

[L_Rutigliano]

Anybody ever considered making a dolly to roll your camper in the drive-way. I don't have an RV pad, so I keep the camper in front of the garage door. Pain the rear if I need to get the boat out. I have to jack up the camper, put it on the truck, then move it over one space.



I bought some heavy duty wheels (rated at 900 lbs each) similar to toolbox rollers and I was thinking about making a dolly that fits under the camper (4'x8'), then slightly lifting the jacks off the ground and roll the camper over 8 to 10 feet.



What do the camper manufacturers do when they are building campers? They must have some way to move them around the factory.



Does this sound do-able or am I full of ____?



Anyone have any good ideas or have done this before?



Thanks.

 

[tandersen]

I constructed a dolly like you are thinking about. I used 2x12 side boards, 2x6 top boards spaced a couple of inches apart. Use the largest diameter wheels you can find that are rated about what you have. I could move my 9. 5' 3300# camper by myself unless the wheels dropped in a crack in the concrete. I could then use a 5' digging bar to get it past the crack. You would want to have it on the level as it is hard to stop going down the slightest slope. Good luck!

 

[L_Rutigliano]

tanderson, thanks for the reply.



Do you have any pics you could post for your set-up? Did you ever come close to tipping it over (side to side) when you were rolling it? Is it stable when rolling and you are not worried about the front end tipping over because of the cabover overhang?



It all sounds do-able, but I am very concerned about tipping it over when rolling either side to side or the front end falling over.

 

[clem]

They use tractors and fork lifts to move trailers/ Slide-ins are on dolleys. The thing to understand the tractors and forklifts have brakes to stop the load. The camper can get out of control real fast with no way to stop it, you could get hurt real bad fast. Always take the safe way :--)

 

[tandersen]

No I don't have any pictures and have since dismantled it as I no longer need to move my camper. Just do not get it on the slightest grade especially if you are alone. It is pretty straight forward, just build a box. I used long (2 1/2" to 3') screws, no nails. Lag bolts on the 2x12s. Tom.

 

[VicR]

I built one very similar to what tanderson made. I've got it a little easier because my camper only weighs 1050 dry, but the concept is the same. I went with pnumatic caster wheels so I wouldn't have trouble with the joints in the garage floor or driveway. Its very stable, but I only raise the jacks 1/2 inch off of the ground when I am moving it, just in case. Make sure you countersink the bolt heads on the top so you don't accidently drive one up through the floor of your camper.



Before I built the dolly, I played with the idea of just building shoes with caster wheels to go over the jack feet, but I heard that side loads were very hard on the jack mounts so I went the dolly route. Also the only pnumatic casters I could find were only rated at 300 lbs, and with only 4 it didn't have a good margin of safety. Also the dolly lets me keep it low to the ground so I can wheel it into the garage easily.



-Vic

 

[JDanford]

Dollies

Check this out.



http://www.alfaclub.org/techstff/dolly.htm



I bought some car dollies a couple years ago; work pretty well. I'll see if I can locate the paperwork & let you know.

 

[JDanford]

OK, found them!



These are the ones I bought!



http://www.kingdolly.com/



I cut out plywood to lay in the middle, then just put the camper-jack foot down on that & roll-away. Each jack's got one wheel that's got a brake on it. But, of course, when you let all the brakes off to move 'er; hang on.



Seriously, my shop floor's flat, so that's not a problem; but it's still not all that easy to move it around; takes a couple guys pushing pretty hard to get it rolling. Mostly what I use them for is just to line everything up when I'm loading it, before I tie it down. Also, it's sorta tough to get about the same weight distributed on each dolly; you'll get weight on 3 & find that one on them's off the dolly.



I first saw these used on the speed channel where those 2 guys (Mike & Dave, I think) work on cars/trucks on Saturday TV. They had a Mustang on it & made it look like it would roll really easy. But it does work; just not that easy!

 

[B.G. Smith]

Dolly

Harbor Freight has some 4 wheel dollies and also sell the auto dollies where the wheel goes in the dolly. bg

 

[DPelletier]

Irutigliano,

I responded to your query on IRV2. As I had indicated I have had my camper on a dolly in my shop. Some thoughts; the table I put mine on was only 5' long (I put a 8' skid on top) and it was still stable despite the fact that my 9' 6" camper with queen north south bed is front heavy. I tried to lift the camper by pulling on the back jacks and it wouldn't come up. Obviously, if your building a purpose built dolly you'll want to go the full 8' long. I second that it would be wise to keep the jacks a 1/2" off the floor as a safety precaution. My biggest concern with your plan is that your driveway will be sloped somewhat and that it will be difficult to deal with safely.

my 2 cents.

Dave

 

[L_Rutigliano]

Thanks to everyone for your replies. I didn't consider the "driveway slope" factor, but have since had nightmares about a runaway camper even my driveway is relatively flat!



I ended up adding a baby RV pad next to my driveway since I have limited space. Its 7' wide and approx 24' long. I will have to angle into it since it doesn't have direct street access, but I should be able to get just barely enough clearance to wiggle the boat out of the garage.



The contractor told me to wait two weeks before I put the camper on it, so I've only been able to visualize the camper parked on it.



Added bonus, less lawn to mow!



Thanks!

 

[Boomer II]

I've got a question, I need to set the camper on a dolly that's only an inch or so off the ground. Will the jacks allow it to go that low, from the pix it looks like maybe a foot off the ground at best. Haven't picked it up yet and need to go under a carport if at all possible.

 

[L_Rutigliano]

Boomer II:



My camper jacks and rear bumper will only allow the camper to be about 13 or so inches off the ground.