Mechanical advice needed ...

[Ron Dickey]

my plan is get a trailer later
I wanted to put the body in my truck after building a box to bring it above the wheel wells of the truck bed.
To pull it off and on I came up with these ways
1. put small wheels under the frame of the camper body and push it on.
problem it is pritty high up and over all weight might make that very hard.
2. just build it and hope a utility or boat or other trailer is found by the time I finish the body. cost trade outs will not let me buy a new one. Other things are needed in our life that the money be better spent on. Like our dishwasher is broke, as many other things will find that money better spent on like fixing up the truck.
3. put camper jack on the body and lift it in or out. So far the ones I have looked at buying 4 will cost same as a trailer.
There is a song "there is a hole in the bucket" if you know it.

Does anyone have a good idea that would not cost to much for me to get that body into and out of that truck bed.
It would have to rise 3 and 1/2 feet or a little more.
For around 100 dollars.
Andrew, Mike, anyone got a good idea?

Ron D.

[Larwyn]

my plan is get a trailer later
I wanted to put the body in my truck after building a box to bring it above the wheel wells of the truck bed.
To pull it off and on I came up with these ways
1. put small wheels under the frame of the camper body and push it on.
problem it is pritty high up and over all weight might make that very hard.
2. just build it and hope a utility or boat or other trailer is found by the time I finish the body. cost trade outs will not let me buy a new one. Other things are needed in our life that the money be better spent on. Like our dishwasher is broke, as many other things will find that money better spent on like fixing up the truck.
3. put camper jack on the body and lift it in or out. So far the ones I have looked at buying 4 will cost same as a trailer.
There is a song "there is a hole in the bucket" if you know it.

Does anyone have a good idea that would not cost to much for me to get that body into and out of that truck bed.
It would have to rise 3 and 1/2 feet or a little more.
For around 100 dollars.
Andrew, Mike, anyone got a good idea?

Ron D.

"With what shall I fix it?"
Yep, I know that song. Seems I live it nearly daily.....

Cheapest way out to load it into your truck might be to build up a platform to store it at the loaded height, Use pipe for rollers and ramps to roll it onto the box in the truck. I've done somthing similar in the past with a caster mounted "pallet" which I built to hold all my tent camping gear. Could load it all in a minute and all that was needed was ice and groceries to get going.

[purplepickup]

You could get one of those electric winches from Harbor Freight for $39 and mount it in the front of your bed. Then put a big eye bolt on the front of the body and pull it up a ramp, into your truck. If you want to make it slide smooth you can screw two strips of that plastic brick moulding to the bottom...or some old downhill skis from a garage sale.

To get it off put another eyehook on the back, hook up a cable or chain to something solid, and slowly drive out from under it. Make sure your ramp is attached to your tailgate.

Red Green would be proud

Larwyn's idea sounds better tho.

[Ron Dickey]

Both your ideas make sence. at home a dock , skis on the bottom, a wench to pull it on and off be it the ground or the dock.


My ideas so far ... had been
I have 2 sissor jacks, I could put them on the ground and build some sort of frame on each side lifting it up
_____
I___I
Z
building a over head bar and putting a hook in the top of the body and use a pulley to lift it up. and you took it a step farther.

I found this site which talkes about what truck campers put under the bodies when off the trucks.
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fusea ... 745864.cfm

I had also wondered about making my own staffs and jacking up the body from inside the truck bed. but old ski's might do the trick too.

thnks for you thoughts anyone else have thoughts or invetions?

[Larwyn]

Both your ideas make sence. at home a dock , skis on the bottom, a wench to pull it on and off be it the ground or the dock.


My ideas so far ... had been
I have 2 sissor jacks, I could put them on the ground and build some sort of frame on each side lifting it up
_____
I___I
Z
building a over head bar and putting a hook in the top of the body and use a pulley to lift it up. and you took it a step farther.

I found this site which talkes about what truck campers put under the bodies when off the trucks.
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fusea ... 745864.cfm

I had also wondered about making my own staffs and jacking up the body from inside the truck bed. but old ski's might do the trick too.

thnks for you thoughts anyone else have thoughts or invetions?

Just remember, lifting eyes and drag hooks, have to be tied into the structure by design. otherwise, at best you will simply pull the attachment point off, at worse "catastrophic disassembly" of the structure.

[Ron Dickey]

I get your point.
the frame would have to have a any eye hooks attached to a 2x4 or more that is strongly secured to the strongest part of the trailer.
Or I could have to wrap rope around the whole body or put a set of boards under the body that would suport the weight otherwise I would have repairs that would not be easy to fix. got it.

http://www.airforce-technology.com/proj ... /new10.jpg

[denverd0n]

Red Green would be proud

Not if you don't use any duct tape he wouldn't be!

[denverd0n]

...a wench to pull it on and off be it the ground or the dock.

Good idea, if your wife is strong enough.

(Sorry, I couldn't resist)

[Larwyn]

...a wench to pull it on and off be it the ground or the dock.

Good idea, if your wife is strong enough.

(Sorry, I couldn't resist)

A good wench would probably work. But they are not $39.99 at Harbor Freight....

[angib]

I would go for a 2x4 A-frame on either end of a 2x6 cross beam (doubled 2x6s?) - if side-to-side sway is a worry, add guy ropes either side down to tent pegs.

Lift each side of the trailer body with ropes and pulleys. Attach the rope to the trailer floor by a bridle (a 'rope A-frame', if you like), with the bridle tied through holes in floor beams.

Using good (sailing) rope might be a good idea - a decent 1/4" diameter rope will carry a ton, so this is way overstrength.

I'll draw a sketch of this if you're interested, BUT...... how are you going to open the trailer doors when it's in the bed of the truck???

Andrew

[mikeschn]

Andrew, Mike, anyone got a good idea?

Ron D.

You want a good idea for a pickup truck?



Mike...

[Ron Dickey]

I would go for a 2x4 A-frame on either end of a 2x6 cross beam
I'll draw a sketch of this if you're interested, BUT...... how are you going to open the trailer doors when it's in the bed of the truck???

Andrew

Yes Andrew I would like to see that very much. I also have a cap for my truck that sits on the ground most of the time and have be trying to fiture how to put it on with out bothering the neighbors. So I could use it for both.

I love people who know how to use their know for the better good.

[Ron Dickey]

BUT...... how are you going to open the trailer doors when it's in the bed of the truck???
Andrew

Andrew,

I figure I should answer in two parts above and here.

The Boxkite will be a 3 door. when in the bed the side doors ( really do become suiside doors) they will not open. The tail end will open and in time a SUV tent will be used open on one side for the trailer and open on the side for a person. (otherwise I could make the truck into a flatbead.)
http://images.google.com/images?q=SUV+t ... gle+Search

When it is out of the truck and on the ground (one of our lads suggested old ski's on the bottom. I am updating my under member designs and for the most part unless I do something major it will not come to the top just slowly sink. One day I will learn how to put in real visual pictures.

[angib]

Here is my idea for the trailer hoist:



It's got two 2x6s lagbolted together as main beam and 2x4s for everything else - though I'm a little worried the legs might be a bit wobbly in 2x4 and might have to be made of 4x4.

Using four double pulleys (hardware store type, not fancy yacht stuff) would give a 4:1 purchase on each side, so if the completed trailer (excluding chassis!) weighed as much as 800lb, the pull on each rope would be 100lb, which is about the maximum.

This isn't something to do if you don't have at least basic woodworking and rope tying skills. It would also be sensible to carry out a 'proof load test' by trying to lift a heavy weight, like one end of your truck - you won't actually lift it, but it would test that the hoist could support the maximum pull on the ropes.

I've added this hoist as a pdf file at the bottom of my pickup camper page or get it directly here.

Andrew

[Ron Dickey]

Thank you Andrew Good job ...
Love your truck page too.
I had long ago thought of the swing down beds in plan 3 but in my idea it did not pop up like that.
In my idea the top hinged at the end facing the truck camp and was a swing forward tent creating head room. I have an example somewhere I have tomany bookmarks (was looking for truck with tent that flips over cab.)


Andrew have you seen these truck camper sites and one car
: www.quickupcamper.com/
www.trayon.com/seeker.htm
http://www.rideeg.nl/~rita/mei2003/06.jpg
http://www.rqriley.com/imagespln/b-camp3.jpg
from RV.net is homemade campers forum
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fusea ... 108267.cfm