Scissor Jacks

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Raz

Carl mentions installing stabilizers at an angle. I mention mine are parallel to my bumper. Next thing I know you're arguing how much better yours are than mine. You seem to look for arguments and when you can't find one you create one. Life's too short.

First a little levity...
I would say you are wrong about my motives, but that might be misinterpreted as argumentative and I wouldn't want you to be wrong twice!

On the other hand...Your accusation, though unfounded, could itself be seen as an attempt to create an argument where none existed...Oh! Say it ain't so!
(I'm sure its not)



Notice there is a concurrent thread in which I recommended stock stab jacks... I only saw this thread as a chance to be informative of the options available.

I merely wanted to point out the differences to illustrate that while the crossmember jacks are strong enough to be safe to use as service jacks on light fiberglass trailers...A truck jack and jack stands, as you suggested, might be more appropriate for service work with the type you have (or of course with stab jacks).


This can sometimes be a difficult medium and I am truly sorry for your consternation.

[alan H]

Floyd
I honestly didn’t read anything into what you said as “looking for an argument “
I for one always find your comments well thought out and very informative
Keep them coming
I see way to many discussions turning ugly on what I used to consider a very friendly group
We are all here for one thing information and sharing of ideas on a hobby we all love
“Can’t we all get along “

[TheWanderers]

We use these Camco jack stands; fast, easy and they live in the tote with the lego pads...

I know this is not what you asked, but...jus' sayin'

bill (not laura)

[Carl V]

Got the stabs installed yesterday on sis-in-law's T1300.
They are used BAL crank-down stabs that came off a Coleman Popup. Got them at real good price.

Pictures are not super clear, but for the rear ones, I used a piece of steel to bolt the ends of the jacks together, then this steel piece is bolted in the middle to the rear cross member (which is an iron angle). Very stiff arrangement.

At the front, the cross member is a C channel, so the stabs were bolted directly on it.

We worked with the trailer backed up on ramps and the tongue jack cranked fully up, so we had lots of space to work under. Once the trailer was off the ramps, I realized that the front stabilizers are much lower and closer to the ground than I anticipated. This is not an issue for the rear jacks, as the frame is higher at the back. To make matters worst, the trailer is *slightly* nose down when hitched to the Sorento (hitch as a standard drawbar with about a 4" raise). Not sure at this point how much of an issue ground clearance will be, probably only when going over speed bumps or on really uneven camp sites. If I find that they drag or catch I'll take them off, find another solution, or live without them. Also, this trailer has it's original Rubber-Ride axle, which as you may guess isn't new, so the trailer probably sits a bit lower than it used to.

[Wayne Collins]

Our 2016 PL came with BAL jacks, (with the round pads included)mounted to the main frame rails at the rear, and positioned longitudinally. I would have preferred to have them mounted crossways and farther back; but they do work.
On our 16 ft Scamp, I had added a pair of BAL Jacks under the front too. with a length of flat bar stock bolted to the frame rails.

[mizterwizard]

I have a stick built alumisacpe 26' so it isn't quite the same thing as we are discussing here but I have a stabilizer problem I have been working on for a while and thought I would chip in what I have found out.

I have BAL scissor jacks in the back and electric landing gear in front. I use scissor type chocks between the 2 axles. All together they do a great job of holding the trailer in place and upright without the truck attached but do very little for stability side to side. It doesn't rock side to side but it slides side to side a lot.

The front pole jacks have a bit of slack in the telescoping mechanism and I don't think they are that stiff in the way they mount to the front of the trailer so they have a limited effect on lateral motion.

The rear scissor jacks do almost nothing to stop lateral motion. You might think the tires and suspension would hold the trailer in place side to side and they do but there is enough spring in it all to let the trailer sway quite a bit.

It's not like there is no control but if someone is walking around the trailer moves enough to wake up anyone who is sleeping.

To counter this I have tried putting a come-along between the front jacks to put them in a bind and remove the slack. I put it on an angle so that it provided a little triangulation too. That helped about 50% which seem logical since it may take out the front sway but would do nothing for the rear.

Being a cheapskate from way back, I've tried to come up with a solution that would cost little or nothing while still being convenient.

Since come-alongs are pretty cheap I considered using 2 at the front and 2 at the rear in an X arrangement to triangulate the setup. I think it would work but the thought of crawling under the trailer to install them every time we setup or take down didn't appeal to me.

I also thought about making brackets to mount brace pipes that could swing up and stow with clips when not in use and swing down to attach to the scissor jacks to stabilize things. Again that would require crawling around under the trailer which isn't appealing.

The ground clearance under the rear of my trailer is about 26 inches. Many support solutions that would work just fine on a fiberglass RV will not reach on mine.

The key to stability is triangulation. You need some kind of diagonal bracing to keep things steady. I like the stabilizing jacks: https://www.amazon.com/BAL-R-V-Produ...al+stabilizers

If my 5er didn't already have scissor jacks I'd probably buy this but the price is more than I want to spend. As is everything else.

I like these lock-arm stabilizers:
https://www.makariosrv.com/lock-arm-...bar-bal-23216/ Again they cost too much since I would need at least 2 sets but more importantly I don't like the way the bolt clamps the two tubes together. It seems to me that the inner tube will wind up with lots of dents in it from over tightening, the bolt will strip out it's nut from repeated use and the bolt may fall out if it isn't tightened again in the retracted position. The videos and instructions don't mention tightening the bolt in the up position. There is also a real possibility of forgetting to undo the bolt before raising or lowering the jacks.

I really like steadyfast stabilizers: https://www.amazon.com/Stabilizer-Sy...lock+arm&psc=1 I really don't like the price though.

I think I could make up something like the steadyfast stabilizers myself for a lot less using a piece of pipe, a heim joint, a piece of angle iron, some hardware and a wing nut I make myself from misc. junk I keep.

As far as clearance goes it's all a matter of where you mount the stabilizer. You will get more stabilizing action by having stabilizers as far to the outside of the RV as possible but it doesn't have to be at the very back.

What really counts as far as ground clearance is concerned is escape angle. That is the line between the tire contact patch on the ground and the lowest part of the rear of the trailer. If the stabilizer is above this line then it will be less likely to be the first thing to drag on the ground.

By moving the stabilizers forward a bit they can be ahead of this line and clearance will not be an issue.

Ground clearance in the front hardly matters unless you really get into wilderness off road camping.

[Lloyd (aka Santa) Coltman]

I'm not sure if there's any great difference in the styles, for your use, but I can tell you, there are advantages to the BAL style stabilizers, as well as advantages to mixed straight-across and angled mounting.
Mounting one set straight across, the other set split and at angle, they work to brace each other, against horizontal movement perpendicular to the screw.
We had a set-up like that on a 22' Layton, and it sat as solid as a rock.

[John in Santa Cruz]

our escape has 2 pairs of Bal style half-scissors jacks, both mounted perpendicular to the direction fo travel, and when jacked seems very stable in all directions, even with us fatties walking around.