Camper Jack Backing Plates Bigfoot

[stickynicky]

Has anyone installed backing plates on their Bigfoot jacks? I can see that the tiedown points have backing plates but I don't think that the jacks have them. It looks like the jacks are screwed into the camper and mine keep loosening up. This does not look like an easy mod but I sure would sleep better knowing that my jacks are bolted down and not screw into fiberglass. Anyone retrofitted their jack mounts to the camper?

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

I've had my Big Foot for (8) years now and never had any problems like that. I wonder what's causing the problem ?

 

[incognito]

hy,
after the fiberglass there is wood, even my 1500 series has 5/8 inch ( approx.) of plywood. try to use bigger galvanised screws, those you can screw with a box. if you still have a problem after the first bigger screw then your wood after the fiberglass is soft (humidity, age , water, etc) so no choice use backplates. there is a lot of stress on those places due to jacks, don't leave the truck camper standing on jacks for a long period of time becose is not very good for those places.i bet the problem is on your front jacks
have fun
incognito

 

[mpike]

My 94 BF 3000 seems to have very substantial backing to the front jack brackets. In fact I use them as tiedown points on my flatbed. I don't carry the jacks as I frequently am on very rough backroads where they would just get bent or torn off.
No problems with loosening. I would add some epoxy to the screws and holes before you remount them.

 

[deminimis]

Sorry for the necropost, but the OP never got an answer. On our former '08 2500, I attached alumn backing plates to the rear jack mounts. Same story with ours (screws coming loose). I can't recall for sure, but I think is was just fiberglass and foam in the screw area. Stainless bolts with alumn backing plates and it was rock solid. I would suggest the reason the screws back out is when loading it and you end up pushing the camper back a bit (rear jack leverages the screws out). If you can avoid that, then it should never be a problem, but we all know that's not always possible..

 

[uriedog]

Mine did the same on the rear jacks. It got a 2x6 PT lumber upgrade. (factory was 5/8 plywood)

I remove my jacks when the camper is on the truck. They are heavy lots of weight vibrating around as you drive.

 

[IdaSHO]

IMO the only way to handle the plates that fasten to the corner of traditional campers is with thick aluminum backing plates, square holes, and carriage BOLTS, not screws.
Plates on the inside, bolted thru the walls thru the exterior plates. Making a sandwich of the wall.

Ive repaired a few truck campers like this in the past, and it is as much as a permanent fix as you can get.

Screws rely on the threads against little more than wood. And they always loosen.


When I built my camper, I made sure my camper jack points were substantial, and not reliant upon small hardware that loosens or wood that softens/breaks down. And it has paid off. Never an issue.