BAL jackstand customer service

[Meadowlark]

I'd like to compliment BAL. They make jacks, among a lot of other stuff.


We have four of the BAL jacks welded to the frame of our Casita.
We use them for stabilizing the camper.


We originally had just two jacks. We had replaced the Original folding stabilizers on the Casita because the original stabilizers are, to be blunt, junkola. Poorly designed especially for aging backs.



SO...we had the jacks installed on the back, and were so pleased with the results that we had a second pair installed, this time on the tongue. With all four cranked down, it made the Casita solid and stable.


The second pair of jacks came with a speeder wrench with a swiveling, movable socket. While that helped our backs while cranking the jacks up or down, on our most recent camping trip, the bolt securing the socket to the bar broke, making the wrench useless.


We still had the original, non swiveling wrench so we weren't left without the proper tool, but still. I was irked.



THere's no warranty on something like that wrench, but still, I called BAL to complain. I expected I was going to have to argue with the tech support to get a new one, or at least get BAL to admit something was wrong with this new design.


Oh, was I wrong.


I ..and later, my husband, who sent him pictures of the broken swivel socket..spoke with John at BAL. He said,"BAL stands behind it's products. I'll send you a new one, the old fashioned style with the non movable socket."


It showed up about a week later..if that long, wrapped for the ages. It works like a champ.



No charge. No argument. No having to explain, nothing like that. I got tremendous service from BAL.



Good folks!!

[Casita Greg]

I agree with Michelle, (Meadowlark,) about the upgrade to the BAL scissor jacks. A major improvement for sure.

I removed the old Attwood "drop down" rear stabilizers, which I also thought very little of from the beginning. They were always problematic and not, (IMO,) user-friendly at all. I ground them off, and good riddance.

I also installed 4 BAL scissor jacks on my Casita. Two just behind the axle and two on the "A" frame just forward of the bend. Doing so creates 3 different angles for stability, so as to avoid the "domino effect" that having them all attached in the same plane would create. Very solid. And each jack, in and of itself, is capable twice over for lifting the entire weight of the trailer. The Attwoods are only stabilizers and can only support a couple of hundred pounds, but these BAL jacks can serve to lift the entire trailer off the ground safely. Also doubles as a handy ready-to-go jack to change a flat tire on the road if you need to.

I mounted mine to some pre-fabricated plates from Little House Customs, which sells them in pairs. The plates are welded to the frame, the jacks bolt onto the plates, so if for some reason you ever needed to replace a jack, I can simply unbolt it and swap it out in 10 minutes.

From the Little House Customs website store:

SCISSOR JACK MOUNTING PLATES
Wish you had the fabulous BAL 7500lb scissor jacks but can't make it to Texas? We have a solution. We have our 1/4” thick steel mounting plates laser cut to fit the BAL 24002D jacks perfectly. This is the ideal jack as it's easy to deploy with a cordless drill, is strong enough to lift the trailer to change a flat and with 4 of them on the ground, the trailer is rock steady. If you have a high lift axle and mount them according to our included instructions, ground clearance will never be an issue.

The plate fits the jacks perfectly and the head of the bolt, when the plate is properly centered, clears the frame.

These plates MUST be welded on so your local welder can help you with this project. After welding on the mounting plate, the jack simply bolts to it using the included 3/8” bolts.

While we stock the scissors here in the shop, we don't sell them mail order since freight is high and many of the online resellers have special deals on them so shop around for the best buy on the jacks themselves.

Our standard kit (as pictured) comes with 2 plates, hardware, and instructions. If you wish to install 4 plates please order two kits.

IMPORTANT NOTE: These plates are made for the BAL 24002D and we have no idea if they fit any other brand. The BAL's are the best for our Casitas.

Scissor Jack Mounting Plates Kit $29.95

https://littlehousecustoms.com/store.html#gen

And the BAL speed wrench has a shear pin in the socket. It all boils down to "legaleze" in CYA for the company. By installing a shear pin, the company saved a lot of money in liability insurance because they were designed to fail before you could lift the trailer off the ground with that wrench. The jacks are more than capable of lifting the trailer, it's just a money saving insurance liability issue. Personally, I use a regular 3/4" socket and an electric cordless drill, to run mine up and down. I can set and level out my trailer in a campsite while looking like a one-man NASCAR pit crew going around to level the trailer.

[Meadowlark]

We did the same thing, got the mounting plates from LHC.



I didn't know that the 'swivel' socket on the BAL wrench was meant to fail should one overtax it. We never even attempted that, it just sheared under normal use. It sheared even before any weight was on the jack.


John at BAL asked us questions in that vein and I told him we use the jacks only to stabilize, NOT lift the camper. I mentioned that we had a Casita, adn that we have the labels applied that state where to put the jacks should we need to jack it up. He said he was well acquainted with Casitas as he lived in Corcicana and he may even have said he used to own one...so he knew what we were talking about.
No matter. We have a new, solidly welded speeder wrench for the jacks.

[Mr Lynn]

I think the new Casitas come with standard sissor-type leveling jacks (2 or 4?). See here:

https://casitatraveltrailers.com/wp-...sor-Jack-.jpeg

The old spring-loaded drop-down stabilizers were indeed a pain, as Casita Greg says. Had to crawl around on the ground to reach them.

[Casita Greg]

Originally Posted by Mr Lynn

I think the new Casitas come with standard sissor-type leveling jacks (2 or 4?). See here:

https://casitatraveltrailers.com/wp-...sor-Jack-.jpeg

The old spring-loaded drop-down stabilizers were indeed a pain, as Casita Greg says. Had to crawl around on the ground to reach them.

True, the newer Casitas do come with BAL jacks, but only two, which are mounted behind the axle. The only thing I don't care for is the way that Casita mounts them at the factory. They actually weld the jacks themselves to the frame, so if you ever damaged one, you would have to grind it off to replace it. While the scissor jacks are much superior to the old Attwood fold-down stabilizers, my BAL jacks bolt onto the mounting plates I welded onto the frame, so now if I should need to change one out, I simply unbolt the old one and bolt the new one on in its place. A simple 10 minute "exchange of parts" repair.