Jacks--don't leave home without them?

[Bill_G_62439]

This is my first post, but I've been a "lurker" for a few months. My family and I are planning a trip from the Midwest to Washington State in a few weeks with a '98 Dodge 1500 Quad Cab and an old, but nice '79 Cameo hard side TC. I'm trying to keep weight to a minumum and the TC is as light as many pop-ups.

I know most hard-side TC photos show the jacks in place while travelling. I'm planning on mounting the TC and leaving it on for the duration of the trip (approx. 4 weeks). Should I take the jacks off to save weight or leave them on in case some unforeseen circumstance requiring TC removal should arise?

BTW, I have a set of Air Lift coil/bags installed on the rear of the Dodge.

Thanks in advance for any input and you have all been a wealth of information to me so far.

 

[Bill_G_62439]

Jacks--Take 'em or leave 'em?

This is my first post, but I've been a "lurker" for a few months. My family and I are planning a trip from the Midwest to Washington State in a few weeks with a '98 Dodge 1500 Quad Cab and an old, but nice '79 Cameo hard side TC. I'm trying to keep weight to a minumum and the TC is as light as many pop-ups.

I know most pop-up TC photos show the jacks removed while travelling, while hard-siders tend to leave them in place (or at least that's what I think I've observed). I'm planning on mounting the TC and leaving it on for the duration of the trip (approx. 4 weeks). Should I take the jacks off to save weight or leave them on in case some unforeseen circumstance requiring TC removal should arise?

BTW, I have a set of Air Lift coil/bags installed on the rear of the Dodge.

Thanks in advance for any input and the wealth of information you all have been to me so far.

 

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

I'd say most hard sided campers that leave them on do so because they don't plan on leaving the pavement. Do you plan on leaving the pavement? If you do, I'd recommend taking them off for sure.

And welcome to ExPo.

 

[Bill_G_62439]

I'm not really planning on going off-road, but I'm not opposed to a mild deviation from the pavement if some worthwhile local destination presents itself. I might add that the jacks I have are the old, manual screw-type jacks that are mounted with two bolts into the bracket. They pivot on one bolt and extend through a steel loop horizontally to "retract."

 

[goodtimes]

I leave mine at home.

Not so much for the weight savings - I just don't want them hanging down there waiting to either hit something (rock, tree, etc), or be hit by something (car in a parkinglot, etc).

When I bought my camper, the frame was broken from the jack being hit (or hitting) something. Lots of work to fix that little mistake.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Leave 'em.

Thats my vote.

 

[Photomike]

My TC stays on 365 days a year and I still keep the jacks on. I like them to help stabilize the camper when camping, also if I ever get a flat tire and need to take some of the weight off the truck I would use them for that.

 

[FishPOET]

I like them to help stabilize the camper when camping, also if I ever get a flat tire and need to take some of the weight off the truck I would use them for that.

Same here

 

[brianjwilson]

I say take them off (if it's easy) unless you plan to offload the camper. Extra weight, extra junk hanging off the sides to get caught on something. Someone hitting one of the jacks is a lot more expensive and time consuming than someone bumping the side of the truck. Plus you can't offload the camper when it happens. My truck and camper was down for over a month for that reason. No fun.

 

[craig333]

My preference is to leave them off but, my truck is pretty stiff. If your truck is softly sprung you may want them just to get a good nights sleep.

 

[chnlisle]

Jacks on---body damage waiting to happen.

 

[Bill_G_62439]

Thanks for all the helpful input. I'm guessing I'll probably leave them on the TC since a big consideration will be steadying the rig when parked due to the soft suspension of the truck. Otherwise, I would leave them at home. I appreciate your perspectives, some of which were new to me.

 

[SuperCal]

I take my jacks off as soon as i load the camper. I dont like the idea of how much damage would occur to the camper if I hooked them on something or if they got hit by someone. As far as stabilizing the camper I put a jack under the frame of the truck on each side, the factory scissor jack and a screw-type jackstand do wonders.

 

[olsen_karl]

Can you get to your truck's spare tire with the camper mounted in the bed? If so, then no real reason you'd need the camper jacks while on a trip.

Campers that extend down around the back of a truck can block the jack crank from accessing the spare tire winch.

 

[Bill_G_62439]

SuperCal, I like the idea of stabilizing the truck frame to minimize unwanted motion. That would probably be my only real reason for taking the jacks, but a couple small automotive jacks would be smaller and lighter. Great idea!

Yes, access to the spare due to the tailgate is an issue, but I'm either going to relocate the winch extension shaft to a more accessible point or there is enough room to use a small pipe wrench from beneath. It might be kind of like "how many licks to the center of a Tootsiepop", though, if/when all that cranking needs to take place. I'll test it first.