Bad start to a Hunting trip

Martin85 · 11-26-2003, 05:55 PM

Well I spent most of a summer rebuilding a older camper inside and out (dont do it) the one thing I didnt replace were the camper jacks. The camper sat all summer on the jacks no problem, then the day I went to leave for bowhunting I got the camper within two inches of the height of my new truck and a jack failed not only doing a number on the camper but of course crashing into my new truck. I had about a 8hr. delay but got it sortof fixed and off we went. I had this big idea that this would mean that things had to be looking up for bow season but no luck?

Anybody have any pre-hunting mishaps to share.

Hope the picture came through it s the first try

Martin85 · 11-26-2003, 06:11 PM

Second try

HOGGEMIN · 11-26-2003, 06:51 PM

Sorry to hear about your mishap. Hope your hunting trip was a lot better.

[ 11-26-2003, 07:52 PM: Message edited by: HOGGEMIN ]

Snapset · 11-26-2003, 06:52 PM

I been there, done that, but when my jack failed, the corner of the camper hit trhe ground, all of the jacks were ripped off, and the back wall blew out. Jeez, what a mess. I got it fixed after about a summer wasted working on it. Never again.

Born to Fish · 11-26-2003, 07:11 PM

O-u-c-h! [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]

I'm a pickup camper owner and this is certainly something on my mind any time I'm raising or lowering the camper.

I've got electric jacks instead of the manual ones - anyone got any horror stories about the electrics that I can get obsessed over? [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

[ 11-26-2003, 08:13 PM: Message edited by: Born to Fish ]

11-26-2003, 07:54 PM

Bummer.

On the day before we were heading to Sumpter to hunt elk one of the other millwrights I worked with hit my trigger finger with a 8lb hammer.
It took three days for the swelling to go down.

In 2000, a month before we were to go to Heppner to hunt elk, a doctor found a softball size malignant tumor on my colon. I had most of my colon removed on my birthday and still made the hunting trip, three weeks later.

periwinkle · 11-26-2003, 09:38 PM

Martin85,,, Had the same thing happen also many years ago on a deer hunt to the Chewak R. in N C WA. as we were taking it off of the truck.. Right front jack dug into sand and jack ripped out of the 2x2 frame.. Went on with the hunt... Left it there, and went back the next week end with equipment to reload it on truck.. Those camper frames are tooth picks to keep weight down..

tommy2915 · 11-26-2003, 11:53 PM

Been there done that. Hope your trip was better.

Norm · 11-27-2003, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Born to Fish:
O-u-c-h! [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]

I'm a pickup camper owner and this is certainly something on my mind any time I'm raising or lowering the camper.

I've got electric jacks instead of the manual ones - anyone got any horror stories about the electrics that I can get obsessed over? [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">I had the switch stick on one of my electric jacks while lifting. I didn't notice it because my diesel was running [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img] . I was lucky because the camper was almost all the way up so it didn't tweek it. I've since learned to shut my truck off while running the jacks [img]graemlins/idea.gif[/img] . My camper is heavy and I have to lift it close to full extension while loading it. There is always a little pucker factor,especially on soft ground. I always worry it's going to end up like Martin85's.

Thats a bummer Martin85, at least it didn't happen loading it in camp.

SlimPickens · 11-27-2003, 10:02 AM

i need to fix one of my jacks.

anyone ever rebuilt one? there pretty spendy to replace.

SlimPickens · 11-27-2003, 08:34 PM

thanks seadog.

Do you know where to find the rebuild kits in the roseburg/eugene area?

seadog · 11-27-2003, 11:40 PM

Rebuilding them is a piece of cake, the kit costs about 20.00$. Seems like you get a new plunger, o-ring and a gasket for the needle valve. Its been a couple of years since I did it but it was easy. The thing that spooked me was that the kit only rebuilt the part of the jack that pumps the oil into the cylinder, and not the cylinder itself, and the those are the seals that you need to worry about IHMO. I tried to get the cylinder part of the jack apart and couldn't. There must be some way to get it apart, I would think.

Ifishsum · 11-28-2003, 01:50 PM

Shad boy - just about any RV dealership with a parts dept can get them for you, you just need to know the brand name of the jack. Some models have just the upper rebuild kit, some can come apart to change the main seal but some can't.

Martin85 - I feel your pain. Did the same thing after totally rebuilding one...luckily I had just pulled my truck out from under it and was going back to set it down. I was so mad I just drove away and left it for about a week.

BTW I found a used set of the newer screw-type jacks for $150...from someone who upgraded to electrics. No fear of blowing a seal and losing the whole mess. Had to change the corner brackets but sounds like you'll be doing that anyways (as did I).

[ 11-28-2003, 02:54 PM: Message edited by: Ifishsum ]

StickFish · 11-28-2003, 02:18 PM

Been there - done that. Sorry to see it happen to someone else.

I was dropping mine off to the person who just bought it when it happened. Gee he didn't want to buy it any longer. So had to somehow get it off my truck than jacked back up to get it on the truck again. Ended up selling it to a drunk camper repair guy for more than I paid for it later the same day

seabass · 11-29-2003, 07:08 PM

I did the same with my camper. The ground was soft under one of the jacks and it didn't give till the camper was almost high enough to load. After that I always put a small piece of plywood under each jack. I have also used the rebuild kits. It is very simple to do. I had to use a large pipe wrench to get the reservoir off the jack. I also had problems when I had my wife help me lower the camper when taking it off of the truck. She seems to forget which way to turn the valve in order to stop the camper from dropping.

seadog · 11-30-2003, 01:23 PM

Waterdog, yes the "pucker factor" does go away, eventually. Just make sure you always have a clear path to get out of the way.

WaterDog · 11-30-2003, 11:20 PM

I'm a new camper owner. That is a picture I hope I never see in my driveway. I have electrics as well and I have one switch that is a little sticky.

Does the pucker factor ever go away when loading? The first time I loaded mine it was in the dark.

:shocked: Boy is that fun or what???

Bubba · 12-01-2003, 09:37 AM

I have the same pickup as you that i use to tow my camper. When i go to load the camper i always use blocks under the jacks so that i dont have to jack up the camper so far. Those Dodge trucks are really high in the back, if you add about a foot of blocks you wont have to max out your jacks.

Ryan

Martin85 · 12-01-2003, 10:33 AM

When I went elk hunting I used the blocks to lower my distance going up, and I thought that the repair kit I had a friend install would fix the jack in question, guess what the same jack failed but it was still on the truck part way and I did bring a spare that saved me. I am going to replace all the jacks with new ones this winter and hope I can get my conifdence back. I got an Elk the second day up so I forgot about the jack for the rest of the week till it was time to load up and go home.