What do you guys with very heavy campers use for jacks?

Jfet

Adventurer
I am at the point in our flatbed truck camper custom build where I need to consider truck jacks and mounting.

I am reading all of these horror stories about Atwood electric jacks bowing and failing, happijacks rusting or dropping out on the highway (that wouldn't be a problem though since we will remove jacks while traveling)

I am looking at the Rieco-Titan 4-pack electric jack setup with wired and wireless remote for about $1800 at Dyers. These are supposed to have a 36" lift and rated for 2500 lbs/jack 6000 lb camper.

The similar product in Atwood is rated 2200 lbs/jack 3900 lb camper.

Or I could go with a much cheaper Rieco-Titan mechanical jack with 36" lift rated at 2000lb per jack (would be about $650 for 4 jacks).


Frustrating.... I want the Never-Fail All Stainless Expedition II Jack rated at 8,000 pounds per camper in 80km winds. Doesn't seem to exist...
 

camp'n_hunt

Observer
Arctic Fox camper all come with the Rieco Titan jacks and they are pretty heavy duty. If you want heavier duty go hydraulic with a central pump, run the cost and weigth through the roof.
 

Kilroy

Adventurer
I've thought about Stable Lift before. Appears they have a sale going on in March. I contacted them and they said they would be able to set me up for use with a flat bed.
http://www.stablelift.com/
I think they would work out well. They look like they would get in the way if road is very rough, but I've seen testimonials saying they don't.
If you go to site they will play some cool music for you too!
 

Jack Rabbit

New member
I converted my reico titans to electric and don't think I could ever go back. Even on a lighter camper. It's just way to convenient! A wireless remote?!?! I mean come on, how easy is that!!!

Doesn't look like the stabillift is a great way to go. I just read FishPOETs thread. Tough luck with the patience of a saint!!! I wouldn't have lasted that long!

That being said, if you convert to electric, be prepared to do some wiring and a bit of contorting your body for said wiring depending on the layout of your unit. It took me about 20 hours or so for the total install and I am about 7/10 on the mechanically inclined scale. Do yourself a favour and get the wiring kit. I didn't because I always think I can do things for cheaper and better quality than what you can buy. Not always the case.

Also you should be able to find a way better deal than $1800. That's the reico titan price. I had mine shipped to Canada for about $1600 total ($300 for shipping and duty fees included) Now if you throw in the wiring kit, you should be able to get it for about the same $1600 in the lower 50. I think I bought mine through a place called Tweety's. I just checked and theyre listed for $1222. If I were you I wouldn't hesitate at that price.

JR
 

bdshort86

New member
For what it's worth, my Atwood electric jacks are 15 years old now, and they support a 3,000 lb. Skyline camper, and never had a single issue. I always max out their extension when loading just to make sure I have plenty of clearance, and I just use a single horizontal support under the camper towards the front when it's unloaded. The wireless remote aspect of them can be a little finicky, but I can load/unload the Skyline camper in less than half the time it takes me to load/unload my much lighter Lance with manual Atwood jacks.
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
The remote controlled electric Rieco-Titan's are the real deal.

Unless you have 10k to lift.... I wouldnt worry.
They really are that tough.

Dont expect them to be light though.
Thats my only complaint :ROFLMAO:
 
The remote controlled electric Rieco-Titan's are the real deal.

Unless you have 10k to lift.... I wouldnt worry.
They really are that tough.

Dont expect them to be light though.
Thats my only complaint :ROFLMAO:
My camper is just about 6k when wet and loaded with gear... do you think they can handle it? My original Atwood jacks could. But someone recently hit my camper in storage... I need to replace the jacks now.
 
Yes, even at that weight I would question the mounts well before I would the jacks themselves.
I have read an article that said Atwood's could be swapped for Rieco-Titan's om my Lance. But that is sort of an old article and am not 100% confident that information is still correct. My Atwood remote sort of sucks too... I am wondering how hard it would be to swap my old system for an all-new Rieco-Titan system?
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
As long as the existing wire is sufficient for the current draw, it should be pretty straight forward.

All you have is the control box, that is wired to the battery, and individual runs from there to each jack.

From there you have the small control switch & wireless remote.

I cannot recall what wiring is actually spec'd by the MGF, but I ran #8 to the controller, and #10 from the controller to each jack.
I also modified/added lower mounting points to the jacks themselves, to work with the flatbed camper.
By design, they attach much further up the wall. I also had to add some extensions to the motor wiring to make it work.

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kmacafee

Adventurer
I've thought about Stable Lift before. Appears they have a sale going on in March. I contacted them and they said they would be able to set me up for use with a flat bed.
http://www.stablelift.com/
I think they would work out well. They look like they would get in the way if road is very rough, but I've seen testimonials saying they don't.
If you go to site they will play some cool music for you too!
Interesting. I met them at the Truck Camper Adventure rally and they indicated they would not work well or at all on my flatbed. If you look at the design, Im not sure how you would attach them. I never travel with jacks anyway.

I only remove the camper occasionally but my concern was that, to get the camper off the flatbed, the jacks were almost at maximum height. I built some stacked blocks from 2X6's (4 each corner - 6" high) which work great. The jacks are nowhere near their maximum extension and I can easily get the camper on/off the flatbed with minimal stress.
 

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