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VIDEO at Adventures of Sandra and Dave YouTube Channel.
In this post, I’m sharing all the details regarding the parts, specifications, links, etc.
Our Camper & Truck
Our truck camper is a 1965 Red Dale. It was built for the trucks of the day which were generally smaller than today’s trucks. Our truck is a 2000 Ford F350. We discovered the original jack set-up was too short and almost too narrow for backing under the camper. So Dave removed the jacks and created a bracket to solve this problem.
Adding a 4th Jack
The camper originally had three manual jacks. You can see the side with ONE pictured below.
We decided to add a fourth jack to improve the stability. I found it for sale on Amazon.
Rieco-Titan THD2000-1Z1 Heavy-Duty Camper Tripod Jack.
Dave’s Brackets – Raising and Widening
Photos & Diagram
This allowed the camper to be raised 4″ higher. Also the Jacks were 4″ wider which made more room for our truck to back under without running over the feet of the jacks.
Hardware & Specs
2″ x 2″ x 1/8″ Steel Tube – cut into 8 1/4″ segments. 8 total – 2 for each jack. 4 – 5/8″ holes drilled in each piece.
9/16″ Hex Bolts – 4 bolts per bracket. 16 Total.
9/16″ Nuts – 4 per bracket. 16 Total.
3/8″ Threaded Steel Rod – cut into 6 3/8″ pieces. – 2 pieces for each bracket. 8 Total.
3/8″ Flange Nuts for the threaded rod – 4 for each bracket. 16 Total.
3/8″ ID Pipe – SPACER -Dave used something we had lying around. This was going the extra mile for strength.
3/8″ Hex bolts 5″ long – Going from the bracket through to the inside of the camper. 4 at each jack. 16 Total.
Fender Washers for the above bolts – 32 Total. (inside & out – 8 at each jack)
3/8″ Nuts for the 5″ bolts. 16 Total.
Also used some 1/2″ Plywood at the corners where the Jacks attach. Cut to fit and drilled with holes for the 5″ long bolts to pass through. Plus, we used wood screws and glue when we put everything together.
Source for Bracket Materials:
Some of the materials we used were in our collection. What we didn’t have we purchased locally.
Links to similar materials as we used.
9/16″ Bolts – we used 12 thread size – make sure your nuts & bolts threads match!
3/8″ Hex Bolts – We needed 5″. 16 thread
3/8″ Nuts – 16 thread
The pipe from which Dave made the “Spacer” was something we had on hand. I haven’t found a close example to link to yet.
Additional Comments
If you haven’t already seen it, there’s a video that supplements this info. The link is below.
This is how WE did the jacks on our camper. It has worked great for us. Obviously, the design of the camper had to be worked around. If you are tackling a similar “fix”, this information might be useful as you develop your plan and implement it.
LINKS
YouTube VIDEO that goes with this information: Modifying the Jacks On An Old Truck Camper.
YouTube Playlist with all Truck Camper Related Videos.
The jack we bought to add a 4th: Rieco Titan Camper Jack.
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