I'm solitary and older. I have no extra hands about to help. I was gifted a fiberglass campershell that's now on my 250. Later, I'm gonna hafta pull it temporarily to bring a hay-bale to my sheep. Was thinking of building a rack in my yard. If I used Elevator brand brackets, could be PT 4x4 legs with 2x6 around sides and back, and 2x4 across front to make the frame. Thought I could get galvanized pipe 8'long and sheathe them with PVC a little larger in diameter, and mount them in the frame with drilled holes - so the PVC acts like rollers. Built a little taller than the truck's bed-rail - I figured I could open the clamps in sequence, and with a plywood cushioned section of 4x4 and a floor jack - lift the shell off the bed-rail, back the truck to the pipe-work, and then roll the shell onto the pipes. Do ya'all think this'll work for this ol' lady?

 

Not a lot of replies because I think it is always challenging to visualize someone else’s planned fabrication, but folks have been lifting caps off for years.

while I am not sure I have an accurate picture of your intentions, it strikes me it will work. However, if you have not done so, run a comprehensive search on the Internet for more ideas. Might try something like “images truck cover lift” or similar.

best of luck,

Steve

 

I've discovered that many folks have relatives or good neighbors to help lift off a shell. I have no one but myself, and the old aluminum was heavy and unwieldy on it's own - the fiberglass is heavier. The "remove shell alone" vids I've found are mostly folks who have a garage and rigged a winch-system from the ceiling, but I don't have a garage. I saw a few vids on guys building a tree-stand, and though maybe a rig like that would let me winch the shell off, but pulling the stand upright alone would be difficult, too. (One of my sons has a rooftop tent on his van, and the rig would have to be tall enough to not rip it if he turned around to leave from that spot.) I found one guy that had built what looked like 10' long giant sawhorses that he got to either side of the bed and the propped the shell -front, then back, with built-up 10' 2x4s - onto the sawhorses, and then drove out from under the shell. He built the whole thing with shop-floor power tools to make all angles and joints perfect - I only have a circular saw, a corded drill, and wobbly hands that don't take vibration long with the arthritis.
Then I saw one guy who'd built a squared platform a foot wider and longer on either side, than his bed, and a few inches taller, with cross beams. He backed up, propped the back of the shell up, backed a little more - and then shoved the shell up onto the platform - like a platter onto a table. I thought that might be doable if I built it off the driveway, so Dee could still turn in the drive to leave. (My kids only show uo to visit once or twice a year - live by the shore when I'm up by the hills) The stand was simple, and if I used the Elevator brackets (for deer-stands) it would make for no angular joints to cut, and be solid enough to hold the weight of the shell. The cross beams would make friction I don't have the strength to work against, though. So I thought if I used steel pipe instead of lumber cross beams - I could sheathe them in PVC pipes a little bigger in diameter - and they could act like rollers to reduce the friction of shoving the shell across lumber... like the rollers on an assembly-line belt.

Enough verbal detail??? 😂

 

An additional idea, if you are making a roller setup that the topper comes off the back of the truck onto is to mount a boat winch (like from a boat trailer) at the back of it and figure out a way to attach that to the topper. Then you could just crank the winch to pull it up on the rollers. Manual winches like that are pretty cheap, $30? It may even be possible to use a pulley or mount it high enough to pull up and back and take care of some of the lifting also.

 

Also, I just found this thread. It would be more expensive to have someone weld up, but is another option. You would probably need to figure out some sort of jacking/lifting method to lift the topper up to swing the supports under for this sort of rack. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ed-topper.html

 

I'm one of those guys that rigged up a winch in the garage to lift the topper off the truck. I was lucky to have rails on the roof that I could put roof rack feet into to attach the winch cable. My first attempt used ratchet straps. That was a disaster and I almost broke the topper.

Whatever method you end up with, be sure to secure the topper to the structure before moving the topper. I used ratchet straps to secure the topper to the 2x4 (two of them, front and rear) that supported the topper from underneath.

 

Yeah, I thought that, too. But how to fasten it to a winch-cable without someplace to anchor that doesn't have me drilling my shell...
Once I get the platform built, I'll see if my ratchet-strap is long enough to go around the whole thing, and be able to pull without slipping. IF that doesn't work, I'd hafta sit and ponder some way of fashioning a sling of some sort.

 

Good thread to find! Gonna hafta read it all after I'm done feeding birds n sheep. The guy who lifted with his back - I don't think I have it in me without losing it. I lift my (bedroom) bed up to adjust the frame but using my floor-jack. Thought if I took a right-sized 4x4 and fastened a square of plywood to the it so pressure wouldn't fracture the shell - I could put my floorjack in the bed, put 4x4 on the cradle, and lift it with the jack... then shove a 2x4 between the truck-rail and the shell to keep the gap I need to slip the back-edge onto the rollers.

 

That'll work. I did the lift the topper with my back dance. I did one end, then the other. It wasn't bad, but I was in my 40's then.

 

The guy with the pipe-work (his is a shorty, though) - that's sorta like I envisioned, but with a lumber frame, and steel four pipes in the cross-beam with pvc to act as rollers. I like the idea of having a bit of the 2x6 sides a bit up to act as guidance rails to keep the shell from possibly slipping sideways and off the track.

 

https://www.f150online.com/forums/be...l-install.html

Use a floor jack in your bed to do your lifting, with a platform like you described above. The link shows large saw horse style supports, but you could accomplish the same task with four 4x4 posts sunk in the ground.

 

Why not build yourself a wood gantry crane. Or a wood box frame that’s taller than the truck shell height and the length of the bed dimensions. Drive under or technically in the box. Unbolt the shell.
Have two 2x4 wider than the shell with eyelet hooks or screw in eyes at the ends on one of the flat sides
get in the shell. Use your back to slightly lift the shell so you can slide the 2x4s beteeen the gap in the shell and the top of the bed with eyelet hooks facing up.

make yourself a rope pulley like system attach to the eyelet hooks to lift the shell slightly off the truck completely. Drive out.

 

One step further: Build carport and use the rafters to help hoist the shell.

HTH,
Jim / crewzer

 

well let’s hear your amazing idea of removing a camper shell by yourself

a few 2x4s isn’t exactly a car port.

 

OK. My thought was to go a step further and make the “gantry crane” or “wood box frame” into a carport. The structure could be used to lift and support the camper shell and also somewhat protect the shell and the truck from the elements.

HTH,
Jim / crewzer