When we got back home on the 27th, my son Thomas came over to help my husband Joe change out our camping equipment. It took about 3 hours to complete all that had to be done before we could start loading the truck camper.
We had to remove the 5th wheel hitch so the truck camper could slide in place. This is what it looked like after the tailgate was removed.
Thomas and Joe removed the bolts to the 5ver rails and hooked the system up to a pulley. (The rails can be left in, however, you have to add a leveling board on top of them which adds more weight. For this trip, we wanted the truck as light as possible before adding water and supplies.)
As Joe lifted the hitch using the pulleys, Thomas drove the truck out from under the hitch. It was then lowered onto a dolly so it can easily be moved to the back of the garage for storage until needed again.
Instead of using a heavy piece of plywood, Joe placed insulating foam as a cushion between the truck and the camper.
The camper jacks were then extended, allowing the truck camper to clear the truck bed. Joe backed up the truck while Thomas and I helped guide the process so the camper sits square in the middle of the truck bed.
The power cord to the camper is plugged into the truck and we checked to make sure all running and break lights were operational.
Our vehicle is now ready to load for the trip. We removed the backseat of the truck to give us more storage space for the camp stove, screened tent, extra cold weather clothes, and food.
We plan on leaving on July 30th if our little dog Sugar can travel. She got sick over the weekend and is at the vets office today. We will know more about her condition when we meet with the vet this afternoon. Joe and I still have to make final adjustments to our route and get it loaded into the Rand McNally intelliroute system. Looking forward to posting pretty pictures in future posts. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment