PLACEMENT OF ADDITIONAL JACKS

[Larry-P]

We have a 2011 3455SA Monty. I want to put additional jacks under the unit to stop the bouncing effect. I have the rear jacks down as tight as possible without hurting them.
First, where does the bounce come from?? Is it from the tires/air giving?? I thought I read somewhere to not put jacks under the axles. So should I put one set on the lower frame beam that's under the basement & another set under the kitchen before the tires??
Where is a good place to buy larger type scissor jacks to use for this??
And in closing, I just want to thank everyone on this Monty site. Without answering my questions & others Lord knows what shape I would be in.

Thanks again. Larry P

[DQDick]

Do you have a good jack under your king pin, if not that's where I would start. Once I've got that in most of the wiggle goes away.

[NCFischers]

I installed a pair of scissor jacks from Camping World on the frame about midships.

[racerjoe]

We use a king pin stabilizer and also wheel locks the type that you squeeze between the tires to keep them from rocking

[jkpruitt]

I went to Harbor Freight and picked up a pair of their 2-1/4 Ton Trailer Stabilizer Jacks, Item #96406, on sale for $32.99 each, and bolted them to the frame on each side about 12" in front of the forward axle. Walla, no more center bouncing. The best part is, the head of the drive screw is 3/4", which is the same as the factor jacks on the rear. The very first thing I do when we arrive is, get out the trusty Dewalt 1/2" Electric Impact and 3/4" socket, and a 110 Volt power cord. It will run the jacks up and/or down in about 5 seconds, and lift all four wheels off the ground if I want.

[Clemson1881]

Movement comes from the leaf springs of your suspension. Even with the front landing gear down and the rear stabilizers most of the weight is still on the wheels. The suspension that gives when you are driving down the road also gives when you move about in the trailer. There are many options with the best being the Level Up or Bigfoot auto leveling systems. But if you don't want to spend that kind of money stabilize your kingpin and place jacks under the frame just in front/behind the leaf spring hangers. Camping World sells telescoping stabilizer jacks that work nicely for $45 per pair. They adjust with a pull pin to several postions quickly and do not require any blocking underneath. The scissor screwdown jacks are another option, but you will not be able to get them as close to the spring hangers/wheels as the stabilizers. All of the above will provide much better stability when parked.

[kab449]

On my unit with the level up system they are located just to the front of the axles. No bounce in the trailer after all 6 jacks down.

[Carl n Susan]

Ditto what Clemson1881 said!!!!

[bncinwv]

Most of the bounce comes from the rig's suspension system. I have always used the screw-type aluminum stacker jacks for rig stabilization. I set the jacks on wooden blocks (to minimize the reach) directly under the side frame immediately before and after the axle assemblies. This was my cheapo approach to minimizing the bounce and have been doing it this way for years. I would estimate it takes about 90% of the bounce out of the rig. In addition I also use the between the tire chocks to prevent any fore and aft movement. It may not compare to the pricey solutions but it works just fine for us. Here is a link to the style of jacks we use:
Stacker Jacks
Bingo

[nosticks]

Did the same as Bingo with the stack jacks. Placed them before and after the suspension on the frame. They are a very inexpensive solution, about $30 for the 4 of them. What a difference and I do not use a tripod under the king pin.

[oldgeezor]

Just wondering if you can use bottle jacks? I have a couple of these and if they would work, I would use them. Any comments?

[bncinwv]

Other than the weight of the bottle jacks and getting them in place, any jack would work fine. I prefer the low-cost, low-weight, easily installed alternative but that is just my choice.
Bingo

[Art-n-Marge]

I've always read that hydraulic jacks should not be used for long-term support. I kinda agree only because every hydraulic jack has a loss when under load but fortunately I've had a mechanical jack as a backup - every time (about 3 times) the jack has eventually dropped from its original position.

For inexpensive solutions there have been many suggestions and with these you'll get 90 to 95% stable if you can eliminate as much movement from the tire and suspension problems of the rig. The problem with most jack style stabilizers is they do a good job helping with the vertical movement but lateral movement will still occur.

If you want more stability then you can install JT stabilizers or similar that also provide lateral support in addition to the vertical support. You should be able to get to closer to 100% using these in conjunction with stabilizers at the tires and springs.

For 100% stability then you need to spend even more and go for Level Up or Big Foot large scale (high price) stabilization systems. Owners of these are the envy of the RV "ocean". It's because of their strength they can completely remove the tires and springs from the support equation and provide the best in stability.

[shovelhead86]

Using bottle jacks should be just fine. I would check them to see that they do not leak down. Some do in time. Also they are heavier to carry around. The stacker jacks don't have to be in there super tight, just enough to take any further compression out of the springs.