squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

I guess I'll go back up there and get it...wish me luck....I'll try to take pics.

[JOES66FURY]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

you need to do a picture documentation of this..it should be interesting....When are you going up there to get it?

[GUI]

He's a madman!

Dad just left to get the camper. The plan is to use a big steel frame that was laying around as a sled. Jack up the camper, slide the sled under it while keeping the front end on the trailer, set the camper down on the sled, and winch the whole kaboodle onto the trailer. Should be fun!

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Made it home with the camper. Managed to get 9 mpg with wife's late model V6 pickup. No towing problems, fortunately.

[Scott Liggett]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Made it home with the camper. Managed to get 9 mpg with wife's late model V6 pickup. No towing problems, fortunately.

Funny, how all the different sized engines get the same mpg when towing.

Congrats on your new home.

[Tom Slick]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Made it home with the camper. Managed to get 9 mpg with wife's late model V6 pickup. No towing problems, fortunately.

Funny, how all the different sized engines get the same mpg when towing.

Congrats on your new home.

hahaha. Funny, My mileage doesn't change that much when towing. 12.5-15.

Have pics? I'm jealous. That should be sweetness. How'd the travois work? Congrats.

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Here are the loading pictures.





















It went pretty smoothly. The jacks were in pretty bad shape, we got two of them to move a couple inches, and they didn't have the bracing that is needed to keep it from falling over. So we used the floor jack as much as possible, as well as some muscle. My son Steve did most of the winching. Also I stopped at home depot and got a couple more fittings so I could tie the front better, I ended up putting two straps, diagonally under the cabover area, from the bed anchors under the "wings" across to the opposite side of the trailer. This kept the front of the camper from moving forward or sideways.

In case you're wondering, the "sled" thing is my frame table....I used it to build a custom frame for a Studebaker street rod many years ago.

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Nice camper sled action Jim! It's like an engine one, but only bigger ;D

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

and no ice...doesn't slide as easy

It's gonna be fun figuring out how to get it off the trailer. At least it's at my shop and I can take my time.

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Yeah, but you have a winch and two people to make up for it :P


Tie it to the dozer to pull it off?

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

those winch camper lifts that you had in picture 2 work really slick if you're on a solid surface... also, you mentioned that you tied down the cabover portion - don't do that, they aren't that strong and can break quite easily.

so, just out of curiousity, why didn't you slide camper into the bed of the wife's truck?

[squirrel]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Something about the camper being 500 pounds or so past the total weight carrying ability of a modern half ton truck. 200 miles is a long drive.

The camper jacks are hydraulic, they're low on oil, siezed, etc.

Here's a pic of the straps, I didn't explain it very well.



a few more pictures of the inside and outside here

http://selectric.org/avion/

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

The inside of that thing rules Jim! It might motivate me to do some more work on my POS trailer, just to keep up with the Jones' :D Namely get the propane stove working and the sink plumbed in, followed up with a legitly working A/C system.

[DanStokes]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Mighty stylish, Jim. No more sleeping in a cheap motel room for you! Looks like it's pretty complete and I don't see any telltale water stains inside (this is VERY good).

Dan

[67pete300]

Re: squirrel's 57 Chevy one ton

Wow! That thing is awesome inside. Seeing those pictures makes you want to go get a vintage HD pickup to put under it. Nice score!