Additional Stabilizers?

[GreatWhite]

After looking at some of the posts.. as well as a Mountaineer on the lot that had 6 stabilizers.. I got to thinking.. dangerous.

Wondering if anyone has added two crankdowns.. either fore or aft of the wheels. to add a bit of additional stability to the rig.

[bncinwv]

I use four aluminum stacker jacks on wooden blocks on the frame fore and aft of the axles to take the suspension bounce out of the rig. We are vacationer, weekender type campers, and this cheaper approach works well for us.
Bingo

[8.1al]

We have front legs,rear stabilizers and SteadyFast stabilizers,has been this way for 9 yrs. fulltiming and never felt the need for anything else. We don't have any children running around and that's a big difference

[BB_TX]

I added the JT Strongarm stabilizers several years ago. Really helped a lot in eliminating the shaking when someone is walking around, and especially when the washer goes in to spin mode.

[H. John Kohl]

I have the JTs but did add BAL scissor jacks mounted to my frame just ahead of the tires. Takes a lot of the "spring" bounce out.

[woodtic]

What type of stability? Side to side, rocking, fore and aft? Bouncing or frame/suspention flex?

Two different problems and a couple different solutions. Steady fast or JT strongarm will stop most of the side to side, rocking, fore and aft movement. Installing extra pair of crank down stabilizers like scissor jacks will help with the bouncing/flex issues. A kingpin tripod will help a little.

I added the Steady Fast first. It virtually eliminated the side to side type motion. Depending on the ground it may need to be readjusted as the landing gear and stabilizers settle. I still had a bad bouncing problem that irritated the DW. I installed one set of BAL 8000# 24" scissor jacks on the frame just in front of the front suspention mounting. It helped some. I then installed another pair of the same jacks about 2 1/2 feet behind the rear suspention mounting. Those made a large differance combined with everything else. I'm still learning on the best way to set up at the camp site to get it as solid as possible. My factory rear stabilizers don't have much weight on them any more but the rear steady fast brace still seems to do it's job well.

Overall I have to wonder if the level up system would be as stable without all the extras I installed. Any questions, fire away...

[1retired06]

We seem to do fine without any additions

[GreatWhite]

My prior post went to cyber heaven.. I'm looking for both side to side and bouncing... mostly bounce. I have Roto-Chocks on the wheels and that takes care of the fore/aft issues We are both on the heavy side.. so movement is heightened. Heck, even the dog running in the prior 5er shook it. I'll have to Google Steady Fast.. I've seen some Strong Arms on RV's but never had the opportunity to ask questions.

[H. John Kohl]

My JTs take out about 98 percent of the wiggle. The two scissors take out most the bounce. I would do it again if I don't upgrade to the levelup.

[Larry-P]

Whrn using jacks fore & aft of axles, how far from the axles give the best stablization.

Larry P

[Trailer Trash 2]

Here is what I use on my Monty forward of the first set of spring brackets on the frame.





it will help get most of the bounce out, depending how heavy of a walker you are.
I bought these at the Q a vew years back for 60 or 70 $$ each. no rust on them yet so they galvinised them good

[HOOK]

We are happy with front jacks, rear stabilizers, and between tire chocks. But then after all these years and a great variety of RVs , I'm certain that its easier to ignore a small amount of movement.

[woodtic]

quote:Originally posted by Larry-P

Whrn using jacks fore & aft of axles, how far from the axles give the best stablization.

Larry P

Tough question to answer. The factory rear stabs would work much better if they were mounted about 3-4 feet forward of their current location. After I installed the jacks forward of the tires, the front of the trailer was pretty good. Walking (even a 25# dog) in the rear half of the trailer caused quite a bit of discomfort for the DW up in the bedroom. I originally planned on installing the rear set just behind the rear tires. After testing them in that location they didn't seem to help as much as I though they should. I moved them back to about half way between the rear tires and the rear stabs. That seemed to help much more. When it came time to mount them I checked for clearance and found the fresh water tank was in the way. I ended up installing them about 1 inch forward of the fresh water tank.

[bncinwv]

Woodtic is correct, I do not think there is any optimum location since there are differences associated with each rig. On our 3400, the front set were placed immediately below the stackable washer and dryer for obvious reasons, the offside was placed in the same location with respect to the axles. The rear set were placed as close to the axles as possible. On our 3750, the stackables are over the axles so I place both sets as close as possible to the axles. I think it has to be a trial and error basis to determine what works best for your rig. There are better (more expensive) solutions as listed before, but the jacks seem to eliminate about 80-90% of the bounce.
Bingo

[oldelmer1]

quote:Originally posted by Trailer Trash 2

Here is what I use on my Monty forward of the first set of spring brackets on the frame.





it will help get most of the bounce out, depending how heavy of a walker you are.
I bought these at the Q a vew years back for 60 or 70 $$ each. no rust on them yet so they galvinised them good

Don, is there any name on those jacks? I like the idea....

THANKS.

[Trailer Trash 2]

Hi tom ( oldelmer1 ) I'll look for the paperwork about the stabilisers, I did that a few years back for another MOC member and I believe they purchased them I dont know if he was happy with them or not, but I like mine and that realy what matters there not as good as Keystones 6 point or JT Stabilisers, but they are much less money. I'll post all the information here for other that might be interrested.

Don

ON EDIT: The company I purchased the stabilzers from information is as follows.

Winfield RV Products. Home of the "Cross Brace Stabilizer"
12211 Holland Road
Poway, CA 92064
858-435-0720

Item # 4013 slide Stabilizer ( 1 pair ) @ $69.00 + tax .

now I bought these in 2010 so the price might be more or less.

Good luck

[oldelmer1]

Thanks Don, I just checked the company and they are out of stock.... figures....

[thekennys]

John
I have the JTs but did add BAL scissor jacks mounted to my frame just ahead of the tires. Takes a lot of the "spring" bounce out.

We also got the scissor jacks that i place in front of the suspension manually. two questions 1. i have been afraid of mounting them on the frame for fear of weakening it, ans 2. on my 3400rl the location would interfere with the plumbing or visa versa.
thoughts. ps i gor jt's and upgraded my x chocks
mikey

[LuckyNichol]

Hello, We like the 4 aluminum stacker jacks. Not expensive. Helps with the suspension bounce.

[uhftx]

I like the low profile for storage when not in use. I wish they were still available. Reminds me of the old slotted opening bumper jacks or the old cradle style of bumper jacks.

You still have to store these. I would rather mount scissor jacks and not have to worry about storage. But are limited to the 24 inches. I did find these 30 inch ones. Heavy Duty 30 Inch Scissor Jack (Double Set with Crank) 7500lbs They are $100.

Normally I can find almost anything on AMAZON.
Camco has these at amazon for $48/pair
Camco 57371 Olympian RV Telescopic Jack - 2 pack
16-30 inch adjustable
6K lb static load

Barker Manufacturing Company 31340 Universal Slidewinder $72/pair
19-47 inch adjustable
5K lb static load

quote:Originally posted by Trailer Trash 2

Here is what I use on my Monty forward of the first set of spring brackets on the frame.

I do have the aluminum stackable screw jacks. I just need to carry that much more blocking for the height of the Tana frame.
Space is always a premium.





it will help get most of the bounce out, depending how heavy of a walker you are.
I bought these at the Q a vew years back for 60 or 70 $$ each. no rust on them yet so they galvinised them good