In July, Truck Camper Magazine awarded the 2014 Best Modification to Charlie and Jeannie Coushaine for installing a laser system to help guide the truck while loading a camper ( http://www.truckcampermagazine.com/camper-tech/2014-top-mod-contest-winner ). You can watch the video and see that what he did was create a sighting system with a laser mounted on the truck and laser targets mounted on the body of the camper. Their idea of creating a sighting system stuck with me and it basically boils down to sighting the centerline of the truck bed to the centerline of the camper.
So I bought two wooden dowels from Home Depot about 3/8"dia by 3ft long (just something small, straight, and light weight). Used the dowels, duct tape and a piece of string to create a sighting system. I measured across the tailgate and also between the wheel wells to find the midpoints that establishes the truck bed centerline. I lightly duct taped each end of one of the dowels to the centerline of the truck bed. On the camper I measured across the bottom of the front wall and found the midpoint. To this point I duct taped one end of the other dowel. On the cabover I measured across and found the midpoint. To the cabover midpoint I duct taped the end of a piece of string. The dangling end of the string was tied to the other end of the camper dowel. I did not tie the camper dowel off so that it was level. It was tied off rising at maybe a 30deg angle. This seemed like the best idea at the time.
So with the dowels in place creating the sighting system, I was able to look back through the rear cab window and keep these in alignment while backing the truck under the camper. I backed in until the dowel hanging from the string was about to hit the truck bed then reached in and yanked out both the dowels. By this time backing the truck was just a straight shot backward.
I have never loaded a camper before, only helped once, but this system worked well despite my inexperience.
My thanks to Charlie and Jeannie for coming up with their laser sighting system.
So I bought two wooden dowels from Home Depot about 3/8"dia by 3ft long (just something small, straight, and light weight). Used the dowels, duct tape and a piece of string to create a sighting system. I measured across the tailgate and also between the wheel wells to find the midpoints that establishes the truck bed centerline. I lightly duct taped each end of one of the dowels to the centerline of the truck bed. On the camper I measured across the bottom of the front wall and found the midpoint. To this point I duct taped one end of the other dowel. On the cabover I measured across and found the midpoint. To the cabover midpoint I duct taped the end of a piece of string. The dangling end of the string was tied to the other end of the camper dowel. I did not tie the camper dowel off so that it was level. It was tied off rising at maybe a 30deg angle. This seemed like the best idea at the time.
So with the dowels in place creating the sighting system, I was able to look back through the rear cab window and keep these in alignment while backing the truck under the camper. I backed in until the dowel hanging from the string was about to hit the truck bed then reached in and yanked out both the dowels. By this time backing the truck was just a straight shot backward.
I have never loaded a camper before, only helped once, but this system worked well despite my inexperience.
My thanks to Charlie and Jeannie for coming up with their laser sighting system.