Alu-Cab Canopy Camper Roll Call

[cug]

Question for the crowd here:

I'm looking for a reasonable bottle jack to replace the OEM scissor jack with. Need to be able to change tires and maybe (!!!) lift the vehicle off a rock if I bottom out somewhere. We still have 33" tires and might even stick to them (partly due to planned international travel and tire size availability abroad).

Any recommendation on which kit to use:

https://safejacks.com/collections/bottle-jack-accessories

Not sure I want one with a metal box (rattle?). Will transport it in the truck cabin inside a FrontRunner box.

Oh, and I'm asking in this thread due to consideration of the additional weight of the camper.

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[fourfa]

One thing I'd definitely do, go deflate a rear tire all the way to zero. Measure the gap under the axle (rear because it'll be heavier than the front on all trucks on this thread, and squish the tire more) and apply a fudge factor for uneven ground. Some bottle jacks are too tall to even fit under a flat axle. (And if short enough might not have enough throw, but I assume the SafeJack models do OK here)

(I went a different way but I'd agree that the stock jack is a POS and harder than you'd expect to use under a heavier-than-stock truck, even at stock height)

 

[fourfa]

eh maybe front too; depending on the trerrain you might have no choice but to jack on a front control arm mount which hangs lower than the axle tube.

 

[cug]

Thanks for the pointers, will try the deflation and measure. Maybe it’s worthwhile keeping the stock lift in the truck and use it to help out like a stand if the bottle jack lift isn’t enough in one go.

 

[DR.]

Question for the crowd here:

I'm looking for a reasonable bottle jack to replace the OEM scissor jack with. Need to be able to change tires and maybe (!!!) lift the vehicle off a rock if I bottom out somewhere. We still have 33" tires and might even stick to them (partly due to planned international travel and tire size availability abroad).

Any recommendation on which kit to use:

https://safejacks.com/collections/bottle-jack-accessories

Not sure I want one with a metal box (rattle?). Will transport it in the truck cabin inside a FrontRunner box.

Oh, and I'm asking in this thread due to consideration of the additional weight of the camper.

We went with the 6 ton General in a canvas bag. Safe Jacks make awesome kit. We went with the soft bag for the same reason as well as it fitting in different areas more easily than an ammo can.

 

[813 Fabrication & Design]

I also looked at mounting one of these in the space, shouldn't be hard to rig this up. Could even be a permanent mount, extend out fill and drain hoses, then put the fill plates back

I think I've seen someone else did that, either this thread or maybe a Tacoma thread. For me, it's basically same problem as the Alu-Cab water tank though - too high, better for dense water to be low and forward if possible. I'm happy with a pair of 5-gallon MWCs (I already have a bunch of these) on the floor behind the front seats, as low and forward as they can be

Those are a little challenging to make a strong mount, I looked at that one and the similar Ironman4x4 tanks. I have prototype brackets almost complete for the perfect tank! I will show some info soon.

 

[813 Fabrication & Design]

In case anyone is interested, I have a 20-25% discount on my interior rear door and side door PACKOUT panels as well as the BedSide MOLLE/PACKOUT Panel.

https://www.813fabrication.com/product-page/alu-cab-canopy-camper-rear-door-interior-packout-panel

https://www.813fabrication.com/product-page/alu-cab-canopy-camper-side-door-molle-packout-panels

https://www.813fabrication.com/product-page/aluminum-packout-panel

https://www.813fabrication.com/product-page/jeep-gladiator-packout-molle-panel-under-no-rail-mount

 

[mquetel]

Question for the crowd here:

I'm looking for a reasonable bottle jack to replace the OEM scissor jack with. Need to be able to change tires and maybe (!!!) lift the vehicle off a rock if I bottom out somewhere. We still have 33" tires and might even stick to them (partly due to planned international travel and tire size availability abroad).

Any recommendation on which kit to use:

https://safejacks.com/collections/bottle-jack-accessories

Not sure I want one with a metal box (rattle?). Will transport it in the truck cabin inside a FrontRunner box.

Oh, and I'm asking in this thread due to consideration of the additional weight of the camper.

I did an assortment of safejack accessories with my own bottle jack and ammo can. You can easily cut foam to line the can to keep things quiet. I built my own because I wanted the jack to be a part of a more complete tire repair kit, so wanted room for tire plugs, replacement valves, glue tread, etc. a magnet strip under the handle will keep it quiet.

The whole ammo can is attached to my seat delete using one of these https://www.swagoffroad.com/products/swag-fat-50-cal-ammo-can-mount-only

Tire repair gear is heavy and I didn’t want a missile in the case of an accident. Also, IMO there is merit to separating a bottle jack from other gear because they are prone to leaking whatever oil or hydraulic fluid they contain. An ammo can contains that possibility.

Anyway it’s not perfect but as mentioned the OEM jack sucks and hi-lifts are also very imperfect in the wrong hands.

 

[cug]

Tire repair gear is heavy and I didn’t want a missile in the case of an accident.

Makes total sense. We have these l-tracks on our seat delete platform:

With this, we can strap down stuff sitting on it. The fridge sits in the little "retainer" and is strapped down, the other side is used with boxes:

These are old photos, we've just finished the wood with Osmo (finally) and are putting rubber backed carped on it, so sliding will be minimal. The tracks will will be used to make sure heavy items aren't flying around.

I can put four Wolfpacks and one Zarges case in the rear space next to the fridge, one of the Wolfpacks will be dedicated to recovery and rarely used gear. Probably the one you see in the above picture on the left. The right one will be replaced by a Zarges box and then goes on top of the left one. Then one or two more in L-formation between these and the fridge. Strap over them to prevent them from flying around in case of an accident.

I was thinking of an ARB Jack, but a) I don't have a good space to store it, and b) I don't want to sell body parts to fund what basically amounts to a safer hilift jack with similar disadvantages.

 

[mquetel]

Looks great, very organized and functional. Want to emphasize containing the bottle jack in something. I've had one leak and it was a huge mess. Not sure what the cause... I was suspecting elevation changes.

 

[cug]

Yeah, there is absolutely no question that it'll be in a Wolfpack box, I'm not taking a chance there. I will likely leave the OEM jack in place, it's not taking too much space and sometimes the option to take the weight off with a bottle jack + safe jack accessories and then lifting the axle with the scissor jack might be the only way to get the wheel off the ground.

I'm not super concerned about this, but still, would like to have a setup I can trust to enable me to do a tire change.

One more question: What's the actual height including the handle of one of these ammo boxes? I have just under 8" of height with the low lid and 10" with the high lid in one of the Wolfpacks.

 

[caryt]

I wouldn't use a bottle jack i'd use one of these: https://www.northerntool.com/produc...KbnLBdBAJ3r7Twk-32yCwIyMD-jT6YUbIaLbY1je72Emc

Or: https://www.amazon.com/Truck-Bottle...8&psc=1&mcid=5abb3693a78330e6aa7e25c8b1e41098

Or more expensive option "if" you don't already own one if just bring a race jack either a Pro Eagle or one of the many clones.

 

[cug]

Looks interesting, but I don't think it would even fit under any part of the axle when the tire is flat and on the frame it's likely not high enough to lift the tire off the ground – at least that's what I'm thinking looking at it online. The truck has a 3" lift, so hard parts are well above the ground and the damn Jeep has so much flex, it'll likely stubbornly leave the wheel on the ground. On my Land Cruiser it would likely work just fine, since that thing flexes about as much as I do after working on the furniture for a full day – nearly nothing ...

 

[mquetel]

One more question: What's the actual height including the handle of one of these ammo boxes? I have just under 8" of height with the low lid and 10" with the high lid in one of the Wolfpacks.

Call it just under 9" to clear the handle. Box is just over 8.75" tall.

 

[cug]

Call it just under 9" to clear the handle. Box is just over 8.75" tall.

Thanks a lot.

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