Scissor Jack or Power Stabilizer Jacks - Montana Owners Club

RMccord · 10-29-2006, 03:46 PM

I have a dilema. We have a 05 335RLBS Mountaineer which we like very much. I has two slides a living room/dining table slide and a bedroom slide. The trailer tows well and has a very good floor plan. The longest we have been able to stay in it for a period of time is 18 days. It was fine. We are looking at retiring in 24-36 months. With that in mind we have been seriously considering several options
1. Keep this unit we own it outright and just mod it to death and make it very liveable.
2. Sell or trade it and buy a 5th wheel. We have been looking at Montana's, Hitchhicker Campagnes, and Mobil Suites and Elite Suites. I llike something in all of them however the draw back with the Campagnes and Suites is I would probably have to buy a bigger truck I currently have a 05 GMC 2500HD Duramax/Allison Extended Cab long bed. It would handle a 3400Rl or any Montana I believe well. So I am struggling with these decisions at this time. The primary reason i would trade is for the impression of additional space the 5er gives with the higher ceilings and 2 additional slides which are more space generating. ALso storage is better on them.

If I should keep the 335RLBS and I am seriously leaning that way I have several things that I would want to do. The first of which is to get rid of the scissor jacks and go to a Twin Stabilizer jack. CW has two one has twin powered legs and the other is a crank down. i dont like the swaying the scissor jacks leave you with and feel the the Twin Stabilizer Jacks would offer TWO big advantages. Since they go down and out the would by nature resist the rocking that a scissor jack does nothing about. Also the fact that they are powered is nice.
I know the ones sold by CW are rated at 6000lbs each and can lift the trailer which is a no no, but I beleive they could be used to take the slack from the springs a bit which also would add a stabilizing feature. If I did this would it be beneficial to do so front and rear or rear only?
If you have any experience in having changed or removed the OEM scissor jacks for stabilizer jacks please let me know how it has worked out for you.

Another mod that I am going to do should I stay with this unit is blow out allot of the Entertainment center and redo it allowing me a 32" HD Flat Screen, and putting a Wingard Stationary dome on the roof. It appears that there is more than enough room for it almost directly over the entertainment center which would allow the lines to come directly down and into that cabinet. My hobby is wood working so I also intend to remove the two panels at the base of the built in entertainment cabinet (where the water heater resides taking about 1/2 of that room and putting a sub woofer behind it and making speaker grill inserts to replace the one panel and a matching fake one to go in the place of the one in front of the water heater. The Flat Panel TV will be recessed so it is flush and framed in nicely. On the back side of this area that I will have gained by removing the old tube unit that came in the unit I am going to build a built in cabinet for the bath room linens. Above the TV I intend to mount a Audio/Video reciever and route all the wiring up to there and it will include the DVD player and Satellite recieveer. I have a bunch of other mods that I will do as well. Any input from you experienced MOC'ers would be appreciated.

stiles watson · 10-29-2006, 04:20 PM

If it were me, I am totally perjudiced toward a fiver. The issue is not the things you listed as desireable, but the fact that it is a fiver, any kind of fiver. In my opinion fivers are just safer on the road. I have a dear friend that fulltimed in a Silverstreak, which is about the top of the line in TT's, at least at the time of his fulltiming. He is not and never has been an irresponsible driver. He rolled his Streak and totalled it three times in ten years -- two were weather related and the third was being blown off the road by an 18 wheeler. He has never had a problem with a fiver.

I realize that people also have accidents with fivers, but do not think that fivers are as vulnerable as TT's. All of this is based on my antecdotal experience and the instincts related to my mechanical designer background and not on significant research on my part.

If you have a lot of confidence in the stability of the Mountaineer, an the decision is financial, then an old Scot like me would go with the up grade dollars as opposed to the new rig dollars. But that is spoken from a true tight wad.

Bill and Ann · 10-30-2006, 12:09 AM

We have had the scissor jacks before but one of the things I wanted and got are the power stabalizer jacks. They sure beat cranking. But, on the other hand, don't throw away your old jacks as you can mount them before or after the wheels for added stability while set-up at a site. A number of members have already made this modification and that's where I got the idea. Although I had to buy the scissor jacks from CW.
I won't comment of the trailer re a 5th as I have never pulled a trailer.

ARJ · 10-30-2006, 01:13 AM

Three acidents in ten years sounds a little like cockpit error. I have been towing a TT for 12 years and have never had any problems-not even any close calls.
I recently upgraded to the 31rld and it handles wonderfully. The TT measures 36' and I was concerned about towing it. However, I had a pickup camper (sold it) and had installed a rear Hellwig sway bar on the truck. IMO the new TT handles better that my old 29' Prowler and there is much less effect from 18 wheelers passing me. I think this is a result of the sway bar/air bag combo!

richfaa · 10-30-2006, 02:21 AM

All of our previous campers have been TT's. We were weekend and once a year vacation campers. The TT's served us well, We are now going to be long timers or who knows maybe even full timers doing many miles on the road and the fifth wheel can't be beat in terms of tow ability. We purchased the biggest truck and camper our budget would allow..in this case the 1 ton Ford dually and the Montana 3400.When you spend a lot of time in these things even 400 square feet can get small. As for cold weather living,,folks do it in all brands although IMO none of them are really designed to do so.Campers are resourceful.Mod's..to each his own according to their ability , needs and budget.

fulltimedreamer · 10-30-2006, 07:25 AM

Bob,

We too, have the 335RLBS. We have been very happy with ours and have done many mods to meet our needs. We have looked at many different models of coaches and always come back to the fact that we are happy with our TT. I have a back injury and the steps in a fiver are an issue. We have spent up to three months at a time in our coach and have not felt cramped. The electric stabilizers seem like a very nice upgrade and the mods to the entertainment area would be relatively easy with your expertise. We have a flat panel TV in the entertainment area and a Splendide W/D behind it facing into the bathroom.

It is our hope to be able to fulltime in this coach. (Our home has been on the market for 4 months.) I suppose, if money were no object, we might consider upgrading to a fiver, but the coach we have is comfortable, it is in our budget and can safely be pulled by our truck. (Plus no steps inside

) So, we'll keep what we have, keep the $25K price difference and make modifications to meet our needs.

Whatever you decide enjoy the RV lifestyle!

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