Stabilizing Front End

[jaybird]

This weekend I witnessed many 5er veterans lower there front legs just a tad and using 4-6" blocks to steady there front-end. Is this old school or does it help steady the sway??? I seem to have allot of sway and I extend my legs most of the way to the concrete. is it worth purchasing the tongue tri-pod for vacation camping to help steady the "Play"????

Any Advise

[ols1932]

I lower my front legs a little before I extend the inner part of the leg. This allows me to be able to lower the front end a little if I have to. I do use a small block under the feet. This is just to protect the blacktop (if I'm parked on blacktop), plus it will keep the feet from going into the ground if I'm parked on grass or dirt.

You will always have a little movement, but sway?? I'm not sure what you mean by that. We just experience some minor movement but we don't use a tripod or anything else. We lock the wheels with Roto-choks and this keeps for and aft movement to almost nothing.

Orv

[bobgay]

You'll get conflicting opinions on tripods for the hitch pin. Many people swear by them. We used ours for a while, but didn't notice any significand reduction in movement. We leave it at home now, and use the storage space for other things.
Bob

[bsmeaton]

Jaybird - I understand what your saying and I wonder if you may be right. The telescoping legs on the landing gear suffer a little movement which is what most of the aftermarket stabilizers are trying to eliminate.

It would make sense to me that the less extension you used, the more stable it would be. Good catch if that is the purpose. I have seen people doing that (even last weekend), but never gave it a thought. I think next time I will ask.

[PowellsMonty]

I would not buy the tripod again. We still have sway to the point to where Debbie mentions it.

[sreigle]

I've gone to lowering the legs with the switch as much as possible and pulling the pin to drop the inner legs as little as possible. We also use more blocks to help with that scenario. From what we can tell this approach does make the rig a bit more stable. But it doesn't eliminate movement.

The tripod/bipod kingpin stabilizer also helps but does not eliminate all movement.

We also use scissor jacks behind the wheels. That eliminates the up and down movement but helps only a little on the horizontal movement.

I've not invested in the JT stabilizers but they do hold promise. After more than four years of fulltiming we have our movement down to a level we can live with so we have not yet decided whether we'd be willing to pay the price for the JT's. From all the firsthand reports they are excellent. We just have not yet decided there's enough remaining movement for the cost of the JT's to be justified. Someday we may change our minds about that but for now we're ok.

[H. John Kohl]

I am a member of the club to use a 6" x 6" landscaping timber under the front and back legs. I do it for two reasons.
First, this allows more of the front landing jack leg to be "double walled". If you let the legs all the way out then it is mostly single walled which allows for more movement.
Second since the block is about 12" long it also distributes more weight on blacktop or grass.
That's my story and I am sticking too it so there is less chance of a hole sinking in.
Good luck and safe towing.

[Montana Sky]

I only use blocks under the front landing gear if on blacktop. Otherwise, I lower the gear half way and then pull the pin to drop the adjustable section for the remaining half.

[bigmurf]

Had the trailer inside Mor-Ryde plant on big jacks (wheels off) don't think I could get it any better. Still had movement not frond to back or side to side. More of a frame bounce. JMO

[Broome101]

I am with John on this one, use the blocks.

[sailer]

I built upo blocks out of 2 x 6 and 2 x 4 to make a block 10" sq on the bottom and then screwed together as then it gets smaller like the top is up 5 thickness of 2" stock and is then up to a 7" by 7" piece and ues dry wood so its not so heave , no treated as its tooooooooo heavy ,, good luck john

[sreigle]

Re-reading my own post, I need to clarify. We, too, build up the blocks to minimize the travel/drop of the landing gear. We use 2x10's and stack several. The less the landing gear are extended the more stable the rig. But be sure your blocks aren't going to rock or you'll have movement anyhow.

[richfaa]

This is a many times repeated discussion.We to use the blocks in the front and rear and try not to extend the front landing gear and the rear stabilizers to far. We have the front hitch support but rarley use it as we don't think it adds much stability. Fore and aft stability is fairly good with the landing gear and rear stabilizer jacks properly set.The main problem is side to side movement..we have slides hanging out over the main frame affecting stability. Remember these are RV's. Only the tires are on the ground and that is not much surface area support whereas the stick house is on a foundation and firmly attached to the ground.If we are looking for zero movement then we need to put a foundation under the entire RV.We can minimize movement..not eliminate it.

[rickety]

I do bellieve BigMurf is right. I feel that it is frame bounce that gives the "jiggle" you feel when someone walks. As for sway (side to side movement) We installed the Plug it Right stabilizers and that seemed to eliminate the side to side completely. I also have installed a second set of stabilizer jacke behind the wheels to help offset some of the tire bounce. This seems to have helped in that regard also.We are level and stable, my world is happy We too drop the front stabilizer legs some distance before releasing the inside legs. I feel that this also helps with the side to side movement that the loose tolerances between the inside and outside walls of the front stabilizers allow.

[dieselguy]

Although I have the JT's and have very minimal side to side sway I got to thinking and ya know what happens when one gets to thinking ... Get a flashlight and maybe even an inspection mirror ... look inside your propane tank compartments and gaze at how your front jack legs are attached to the fiver frame. It isn't pretty, the entire front jack leg assembly fits between two small ledges on welded mounts on your main frame. The only thing holding each leg assembly to the mounts is a clamp bracket with two 3/8" bolts ... not a weld in sight. Next hold your fingers next to these brackets and have someone push sideways on your fiver about even with the landing gear legs ... talk about give! Check a Cardinal or Cedar Creek ... same setup. Since some of you swear up and down you have minimal sway just using some fashion of wheel chocks, are your front landing gear legs welded into place instead of the description above? Still thinking ... Dieselguy
On Edit: When I ask you to push on the side of the fiver, remove tripod, or loosen JT's or Plug It Right's.

[sreigle]

We have sway on ours when pushed from the side. Now I'm going to have to go look at how the landing gear is mounted.

[richfaa]

Dieselguy..Have you thought about joining up with "mythbusters" Your observations prove the saying that " knowledge is a dangerous thing"

[dieselguy]

Rich: Don't think I could grow the handlebar mustach! Ha!

[skypilot]

I also use wood blocks - normally one or two 2X12X12 (12 inch square, 2 inch tall). More to keep from sinking into the asphalt or grass -- learned the hardway about the grass -- woke up in the morning and had a major tilt to the 5er; at top max was just able to hook up to tow vehicle.

Now, as no one else has mentioned it -- if you use the blocks be sure to leave wheel chocks in place until AFTER you have hooked up. Witnessed a fellow camper push his 5er off the blocks he was using (while at the same campground we sank into). Ended up hitting his bedrails and damaging his 5er a bit as well.

[PowellsMonty]

I just installed the BAL leveling scissor Jacks and it made a whole world of difference. Behind the rear wheels as per Steve Reigles advise. Didn't bolt them on, just tightened between frame & blocks on ground. Galley drain pipe would have to be moved a bit, too close to the frame. Bought them from CW for about $70.00 and they did 4X as much as the tripod.
Wife is happy.