Jack options for truck camper that sits at about 46" off the ground?

[brp]

I am at the point in my project (F450 + Sunrader) where I am going to begin building the "foundation" for my camper. The foundation is basically a grid-work of steel tube that that will support my camper shell when it is removed from the truck. Whatever jacks I choose will also be attached, and removable, to the foundation so that I can raise/lower the camper to remove it from the truck.

The jacks need to have reach from near ground level to near 48". I was initially looking at products from Rieco, they have the reach, but not the contraction, the camper would be +- 36" off the ground at lowest.

The best option I can come up with is using 4 Hi Lifts. It would be cheap, strong, and I could use them for other things as well.

I have been searching for some kind of hand cranked carriage/slider that rides on pipe, kind of like what is used on a pipe clamp, but bigger. This would give me infinite reach, be stable, and quite controllable. I have not found anything, there are some products relating to scaffolding that are close.

Does anybody have any solutions/suggestions they have found to work well?

Finally, does one crank of a Hi-Lift yield the same amount of lift/drop no matter the load? If I go the Hi Lift route I would like to be able to have two people remove the camper and keep if level. We could say, do five cranks up front, five at the back, with 5 cranks moving each jack the same distance.

Thanks a lot.

 

[pugslyyy]

I am at the point in my project (F450 + Sunrader) where I am going to begin building the "foundation" for my camper. The foundation is basically a grid-work of steel tube that that will support my camper shell when it is removed from the truck. Whatever jacks I choose will also be attached, and removable, to the foundation so that I can raise/lower the camper to remove it from the truck.

The jacks need to have reach from near ground level to near 48". I was initially looking at products from Rieco, they have the reach, but not the contraction, the camper would be +- 36" off the ground at lowest.

The best option I can come up with is using 4 Hi Lifts. It would be cheap, strong, and I could use them for other things as well.

I have been searching for some kind of hand cranked carriage/slider that rides on pipe, kind of like what is used on a pipe clamp, but bigger. This would give me infinite reach, be stable, and quite controllable. I have not found anything, there are some products relating to scaffolding that are close.

Does anybody have any solutions/suggestions they have found to work well?

Finally, does one crank of a Hi-Lift yield the same amount of lift/drop no matter the load? If I go the Hi Lift route I would like to be able to have two people remove the camper and keep if level. We could say, do five cranks up front, five at the back, with 5 cranks moving each jack the same distance.

Thanks a lot.

How often are you going to be taking the camper off of the truck? 48" sounds crazy high for your camper to be sitting - my Bigfoot sits about 37" high on my Fuso and I have to use 6 steps to get in the back.

Here's what I do - I just leave it at height and support it with 4x4s

 

[brp]

It is high for sure, I needs to be that way to have the cab-over clear the cab, and I am on 40" tires, so it is high, it might be more like 46". Anyway, I like your concept, but I should have made clear that I want to be able to take the camper off while on trips and then live in the camper and have the truck to drive more like a regular truck.

So I want to be able to have the camper come down close to ground level, so it is easy to live in, and wont blow over!

 

[pugslyyy]

Ah okay, I only demount my camper for maintenance/repairs. I think this month was the first time since 2007 that it has been off the service body.

I'm not sure how you are going to be able to stabilize the camper on hi-lift jacks. Even with the Happijacks mine moves around way more than I would like that high in the air.

Pretty sure you are going to have to lower in stages - have you thought about doing a dual-tripod arrangement?

 

[brp]

I would adapt the Hi Lift tongue so that is plugs into the camper's foundation, probably like a hitch into a receiver. Then I could lower it down, maybe add a few scissor jacks if it wobbled when you walk in the camper. Can you tell me more about the dual tripod, never heard of it. Thanks

 

[pugslyyy]

Dual tripod = like how some robots move. always supported by 3 legs. Basically you would have 3 jacks on each side. That way you could start off using wood blocks/whatever, lower as far as you could, then take the weight on the other three legs, pull out the blocks, and lower the rest of the way.

re: the hi-lift. Some folks weld tubes into their bumpers/sliders that these pins can go into. (jack is the male, bumper/slider is the female)

 

[IdaSHO]

I fabricated my own for my custom flatbed camper

Simple boat winch/cable jacks using barrel hinge style mounts.

Incredibly stable and infinitely adjustable. Also very cheap. I have less than $300 into them.

Only drawback I can see for anyone is the way I designed them, they must be removed when the camper is on the truck.
I did make them in a way that they can be broken down for transit, but I doubt Ill even use them that way.

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

My 3" lifted Dodge 2500 has a bed level of about 43". I use the factory jacks (I don't know how happy they are) and four 8x8" wood blocks with the Lance and put a couple saw horses underneath as there is not enough travel in the jacks to lower it to the ground. My jacks are left at home though.
jefe

 

[pugslyyy]

My 3" lifted Dodge 2500 has a bed level of about 43". I use the factory jacks (I don't know how happy they are) and four 8x8" wood blocks with the Lance and put a couple saw horses underneath as there is not enough travel in the jacks to lower it to the ground. My jacks are left at home though.
jefe

yeah regardless of how safe it may actually be, without some other solid support mine wobbles enough to make me seasick.

 

[brp]

That is a great idea Idasho. I like how that compares to the hi lift, I think the hand winches would be more controllable than the hi lift. When you are lowering the camper do the cranks want to free wheel?


The hi lift is nice because it is on an off the shelf solution, all for only around $250 bucks, and I would have four hi lifts with me...ready for anything.

The hi lift adapter than pugslyyy showed is basically what I would have welded to the foundation of my camper, the hi lift tongue would slide in and I would have a pin that holds everything together.

Thanks guys.

 

[IdaSHO]

The camper at this point weighs just a bit more than 1000 lbs. Projected finished dry weight is to be around 2200lb, wet weight right around 3000. The winches are rated at 800lbs each.

They "want" to freewheel, but it not a problem. The effort required to raise and lower is very, very little. Damn comfortable compared to operating a high lift.
Id suggest you ditch the high lift option. its just silly IMO. To heavy, to awkward, and really... who would EVER need 4 of them at one time??
I have had a high lift strapped to my rig going on 25 years now, and with all the time I used it never did I ever think I could utilize one more, let alone three more.



I have found though that having 4 jacks of this kind, nearly requires to have TWO people operating them to raise and lower quickly. If you raise or lower just one, the entire thing see-saws on two jacks.

Raising or lowering two at a time at the same rate allows weight to stay on all 4 jacks, all the time.

 

[oatesequine]

Im a farrier for a living.

A company called stonewellbodies makes jacks to lift off there custom aluminum work caps/boxes.

 

[Doc2012]

Post up pics of the camper, and truck, and maybe we can give better ideas.

I'm thinking something along the lines of an "a-frame" but without seeing how it all looks and everything, my idea might be worthless.


Sent from my PRC-119 using morse code.

 

[gringoinloscabos]

I fabricated my own for my custom flatbed camper

Simple boat winch/cable jacks using barrel hinge style mounts.

Incredibly stable and infinitely adjustable. Also very cheap. I have less than $300 into them.

Only drawback I can see for anyone is the way I designed them, they must be removed when the camper is on the truck.
I did make them in a way that they can be broken down for transit, but I doubt Ill even use them that way.

Do you have any photos of this system?

 

[IdaSHO]

Best photos I have of them...

They worked great, but the new ReicoTitans are much better
Makes for much faster and safer 1-person loading/unloading.

Also pretty handy when doing some upgrades and a re-paint