i recall there being three things i shouldn’t have done here (per the instructions for the rieco titan standard tripod camper jacks): the rear of the camper shouldn’t have been raised higher than the front, the mounting brackets should’ve been screwed or bolted into the camper, and i think the camper shouldn’t have been removed on a slope. i didn’t want to drill holes into the camper for the mounting brackets and i didn’t really have a choice about keeping the rear lower than the front because of the slight incline of the driveway (and if i remember, sometimes there’d be an air gap between the camper and one of the jacks’ mounting brackets if i was trying to lower the rear more quickly than the front). the truck with the camper mounted on it didn’t clear the garage entrance so the only way to remove it on level ground would’ve been to do so on the street, and i didn’t think pushing the camper all the way up the driveway would’ve worked. the instructions also recommended to reinforce the camper at the jack’s mounting positions, though with the strong aluminum frame four wheel campers uses, i didn’t worry about doing so.

i figured it’d be okay doing it the way i did.. at the dealer i purchased my camper from, i saw them lift it using only two tripod jacks (without drilling holes into the camper to secure the mounting brackets to it, and also leaving the top popped up when they installed it on my truck).. it was a bit scary seeing it barely balanced on their jacks, especially when there was just a small cable on each jack holding it in place and there was nothing but hard concrete under the camper for a minute or two when they were backing the truck up to it. i figured with four tripod jacks, the camper would be more secure when i removed it than when it was installed with two, even if it was on a slight incline. i may have been a little concerned at first though when i saw it was okay and not going anywhere, i didn’t worry so much and just focused on the lengthy process of running around and lowering all the jacks a little bit at a time.

luckily, i didn’t have any issues in removing it (besides it taking a while, and having issues with getting the bolts off from under the truck if i remember). i think the only part that was a little scary was when i had to drive the rear truck wheels over two of the tripod jacks (though i think this also happened at the dealer when they installed it), and perhaps also at first when the camper was up high without the truck under it. i don’t know exactly how much the camper weighs with all the options i got on it, though figured with an empty water tank it may have still been 1500+ lbs.. it wouldn’t have been too fun if it fell to the ground (the tripod jacks can’t lift it from that low so it would’ve required a couple forklifts). i took the precaution of pulling out the dolly with the truck so the camper would have something to stop it from falling right to the ground if any mishap were to have occurred. the dolly did end up rolling into one of the tripod jacks in the front but it was totally fine. [you won’t see this in the time-lapse.. this is one of the frames that got edited out as i had family members who were watching walk in front of the camera. some frames are also missing as it looks like the camera stopped running for about 10 minutes while i was lowering the camper to the dolly]

the dolly i built (based off of other designs i’d seen online) worked well and was easy to push around inside the garage. i probably over-built it, using all 2×6’s, large screws, and casters that were rated for much more weight than i needed. i don’t remember for certain, though think i also glued the wood pieces together using liquid nails. the dolly is still holding the camper today, 3+ years later.

for anyone looking for the rieco titan tripod jacks, here’s a link to them on amazon: [old external link not shown] — please use this special link if you’re buying them (or anything on amazon) as they will give me a referral fee (and won’t charge you any more)