Cheap Rear Jacks

[prariepoodle]

Well gang I don't know about you all but once we bent the rear jacks it seemed that they just got worse. So today we invested in a set of scissor jacks and put them on, it was not too bad a job and the rear of the Montana is more stable now. They had two sizes one was about $80.00 and the better one was just a little over $100.00. Has anyone else replaced the rear jacks on your Montana???

[Bob & Lee]

we had our rear jacke bend, the two braces bent out not long after we got it, from me trying to crank them down to hard, So I put chain links from one to the other and they havent bent Yet! but I have been looking at other jackes an figuring if it would be worth puting more on up futher on the frame.

[sreigle]

Those aren't really meant to be jacks used for leveling. Just for stabilizing. Crank them down to snug and then a little more if you want. I don't go more than one more turn.

Yes, I put some scissor jacks under there but put them just behind the wheels as additional stabilizers, not leveling jacks. They take out the vertical bounce very nicely. We still have a little of the horizontal movement, though.

[lightningjack11]

Still have the originals on mine. Been lucky I guess. They stabilize pretty good but my trailer is small.

[foggyb]

added two scissor jacks by the front of the front axle. Helped the shimmy-shake tremendously. Just a different spot than Steve's. Dan

[OntMont]

I noticed that our new 05 trailer has more substantial rear stabalizers than our 02 did. I may still add additional scissor jacks amidships to provide more stability.

[sreigle]

I doubt it makes a lot of difference whether in front of the axles or behind. In front seems more logical to me but was a more difficult position to work with on ours so I put them behind the axles. I had tried those triangular stabilizer stands, TT type, both in front and behind and pretty much got the same result. So probably whatever seems to work better for you is best.

[Random Line]

[quote]Originally posted by prariepoodle

Well gang I don't know about you all but once we bent the rear jacks
---------------------------

I'd say that those rear crank downs are just lateral stabilizers. I doubt that the rear of the trailer can actually be lifted with that mechanism. We have a sturdy trailer hitch back there so we put a hydraulic jack under it to pick up some of the the trailer weight from the springs and just count on the rear stabilizers to balance that support.

[steves]

I too noticed my 05 is much more stable than my 03. I really haven't used it on a trip yet but noticed the better stability when we set it up to check it out. I will probably not have to use my king pin stabilizer on this rig. Scissor jacks on the rear would have to help if you are having a movement problem.

[sreigle]

I think part of the improved stability of the later models is also that they put the landing gear farther apart, closer to the edges of the rig. The wider stance gives better stability. I think they started this with the late '03 models. So those with a flat floor upstairs (non front living room anyhow) should have the wider stance. Does that make it a Pontiac? Or am I the only one old enough to remember the 'wide track Pontiac' ads from the late fifties?

[Broome101]

Steve, can you take picture of the way you have th escissors installed at axles and send to me?

[prariepoodle]

Well we now understand what thoes are for but when we first got our montana and was trying to learn how to level it we did the big no no, had the back jacks down and forgot and raised the front and bent the back ones... now one side of the back was out of line and we found out that you can not straiten them once they are bent.... Sooooo! what we decided to do was replace them, we do have the late 2003 3280RL
Well I guess we all learn something new everyday,,,Right????

[PackerFan]

I would like a picture of them also. Makes sense adding them to the frame to help stabilize it more.
Scott

[sreigle]

Sorry this isn't too clear. It's 17F outside and I was shaking a bit taking this.

[prariepoodle]

Steve I think it is very clear and you are a gem for doing that with it being 17 degrees outside.... It is 32 here and I don't know if I would have went out in the cold to do that.... Thank you very much ....

[Broome101]

Steve you are the man. Thanks, I guess that is why you are a MOC legend. Merry Christmas

[sreigle]

Another word for it is "stupidity". I wasn't out there very long, had the camera ready to go so I could work it with gloves on! By the way, drilling the holes for the mounting wasn't very bad. Just have a good steel-cutting drill bit. And the self-tapping screws came with the jacks and have stayed tight over a lot of miles.

Also, hold the jacks up to the where you want to mount them and make sure the long screw will clear everything as the jacks go up and down. On the other side of our 3295RK I got it a bit close and the end of the screw would clip the dump pipe from the galley tank. Over time it was notching the pipe and I figured some day it would wear through. So did figuring and figured I could cut off 3/4 inch of that screw, no more. That was enough. Don't go more than 3/4 inch, though, or that screw might drop out of the end of the jack. You might get away with a little more. 3/4 inch worked fine.

[rames14]

Steve -

Do you use an eletric drill to put your jacks up and down? I know it works well for the stabilizer jacks in back, thought it would work on the scissors jacks as well.

[sreigle]

I don't use an electric drill. I used to but every time I went to use it the batteries were low and I didn't want to plug in my normal electric drill. But you could do that. It takes the same size socket as the rear stabilizers. The jacks came with a handle very similar to the one for the stabilizers but nicer in that the socket swivels. Don't have to bend over so far when cranking them. So we use this handle for the rear stabilizers too. The scissor jacks don't take any more cranks than the stabilizers.