Reducing the rig rocking

[Yazoo]

for those of you that do not have JT's on their rig what other tips do you have to minimize rig movement. I have roto-chocks on the wheels cracked down fairly tight, the rear stablizers tight and a front king pin tripod. but when i lay in bed i can feel every movement from the dog or the kids walking around. sometimes i feel like i'm in a boat. suggestions welcome.

[trlrboy]

I have a 3400RL which is pretty long. I crank down my stabilizers in the back. Put big rubber chocks in front and rear of the wheels and that's it. No JT's. No rotochocks. No kingpin stabilizer. I hardly feel a thing ever.

I truly don't understand how "I feel like I'm in a boat". You are sitting on big rubber tires. Maybe we should all just change those into cement blocks and then there would be no movement. It's a trailer folks.

[bncinwv]

We use stacker jacks to minimize movement. It is about a $40 investment. On our 3400 we place two jacks near the axles towards the front of the rig and another set of jacks about half way from the axles to the rear stabilizers. I would guess this eliminates 80-90% of the movement. In essence what it accomplishes is to take the suspension bounce out of the rig by making the frame supports more solid. I place the jacks directly on the main frame that runs length-wise with the rig. I use wooden blocks beneath the jack stands to keep the extended length of the screw at a minimum. If you are interested, here is the kind of jacks we use:
Stacker Jacks
Bingo

[Tom S.]

To dovetail on what Bingo said, a lot of rocking comes from the springs. When the trailer is sitting, the springs are still supporting weight and flex with movement inside the trailer. The frame acts like a lever, so that even a small amount of force, say at the back of the trailer, is magnified by this leverage effect. Putting jacks under the frame as close to axles on each side of the trailer can eliminate this movement, Just remember to re-level the trailer - other wise, you are putting strain on the frame. Just imagine a straight line (your frame after you first set up). Now imagine lifting that line in the center (the above mentioned jacks). The line will sag on both ends, hence having to re-level.

[Trailer Trash 2]

This what I used it does stop a lot but I dont think getting all movement out will happen when trailer frames are not made of a solid I beam construction which Lippert frames are not. There will always be frame flexing, rubber wheels on springs there is where the problem lies.
THERE IS ANOTHER POST ON THIS IN THE FILES SOME WHERE AND IT SHOWS WHERE THEY CAN BE PURCHASED.



http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...5/DSC06438.jpg

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...5/DSC06434.jpg

[exav8tr]

Yazoo, Just for your information, I have the JT's and they DO NOT take all the movement out. I will be sitting for 6 months starting in November and I will purchase the stacker jacks as Bingo showed. They seem a little easier to adjust than what Don showed. I will store them before moving next year to eliminate the weight and storage problem. While on the road I don't mind the small movements, let's me know I am enjoying "The good life"!

[bigskyjimmy]

You have done everything I have done I can even feel the cats jumping around ,it's just the way it is, I have just gotten use to it and it does not bother me anymore

[JimF]

I use stacker jacks also except I put them between the wheels under the mor-ryde mounts, have fabricated a block that goes between the jack and the frame. I works to some degree but when the washer goes into spin cycle we feel it but other than that it's no big deal, it is a trailer. We looked at the TJ and have been in a rig stablized by them and then ours and there just isn't enough to justify the expense, sort of a man toy. We did see a rig that the guys wife complained about the "constant" movement, he had JT's, and 18 (yep counted them) jacks under the frame and 2 under each slide and she still complained. It was as steady as a stick house, what does that tell you.

[jimcol]

Placing blocks under your front landing gears and rear stabiliziers helps. The shorter the extensions the less movement you have in them. I added the steadyfast system. As someone else said in this post I don't feel the improvemnt was worth the cost. Jim

[racerjoe]

We use these "Ultra Deluxe Chock
Catalog Item # 49085 " from camping world. For us it feels to take most of the movement away

[jackel1959]

One of the things that I do that does help minimize movement, is after I have put the scissor chocks in and lower and tighten the landing gear and rear stabilizers, I snug up or expand the scissor chocks until they are tight again. After you lower the landing gear and rear stabilizers and run them down until tight, it takes some of the load off the suspension and the chocks will not be snug any longer. Works for me. I can still feel some movement, but it is greatly reduced.
Jack

[jimcol]

Jack, Thats a great point about resnugging the scissor chocks. I believe it was SREIGEL who suggested snugging up the scissor chocks after the tires cool down. The difference in hot versus cold tire pressure will leave your chocks loose. Jim

[ols1932]

No matter what a person does to reduce movement, you will never eliminate it. Unless, of course, that you set it on cement blocks with all the weight off the wheels. It's not a stick house, it's a mobile house. We reduced the movement in ours when we went to Bigfoot Levelers, but didn't eliminate it.

Orv

[klash]

We have a 2007 Monty 2955RL. My wife and I have been camping in some form or
other for 40 years. While in trailers she has always remarked about the bounce.
If you look at a simple lever, this is part of the problem, the distance from the fulcrum
(the wheels) to the jacks at either end. the other thing that comes into play is that we
are at the mercy of the springs, the air in the tires and the flex in the steel in the frame.
Just like in bridges, if the steel doesn't bend a bit it will BREAK.
One can literally increase the tension on front and rear jacks to the point where your frame
is going to be extremely bent upwards at both ends.
After reading another entry in the MOC, I ordered a set of slide stabilizer jacks from the
following supplier: ://www.winfieldrvproducts.com/SLIDE_STABILIZER.html
I think it was around $75 with shipping. Do NOT try to raise your trailer with these, they
were NOT designed for that.
After leveling front to back, we snug up the back outrigger type jacks, then place the
stabilizer jacks on blocks on the ground and just ahead of the front wheels. Come up
under the frame being careful where you place the upper jack pad. Just snug then up.
We are now about 95% bounce free. Got rid of my king pin jack, as I have a bad back
and was always trying to find a place to put it where I didn't have to bend to get it out
of the basement, or back of the truck. I think we also probably got rid of 35 lbs of weight.
We use the B&L wheel chocks in between the tires also. I think a second set of the
slide stabilizer jacks behind the rear wheels wold also ensure much, much more
stability.
In all of this don't forget the ground you are on makes a difference in just how solid you can or cannot jack up your rig. This summer we spent the summer in the Canadian maritimes in PEI at my sister in laws place. We set up the end of May in the yard down there and by the middle of July when we left the wheels had settled into the grassed
yard about 3".
As a point of interest one of my slide stabilizer jacks went on the fritz. I called the supplier and they sent me a brand new one, no questions asked, didn't want the old one
back, and sent it to me at no charge as it was within the 1 year warranty.

[ols1932]

I don't believe Keystone recommends putting anything under the slides. This type of stabilizer was designed for the very first "tip outs" that was the forerunner of slide outs. The "tip outs" needed to be supported because the weight of the "tip outs" was too much for the framing to hold the slideout stable. The slide outs were designed to be used without any type of support under the rails. If you should happen to tighten them too tight or you lose air in the tires on that side (tires do lose air), you may end up with bent slide out rails.

Well then, you may ask why do they make thes stabilizers? Because we buy them.

Orv