Stabilizer Jacks Necessary?

[k0wtz]

well my setup is quite simple. I run my drill on the lowests speed and power sttingg I have! With rods in my back I cant bend over and I certainly have no strength left!

I have never had a problem with not enough strength to hold the drill. I must be doing something wrong! LOL

bob

Originally Posted by NW Cat Owner

Tried that once and I didn't have the strength in my hands to hold on to the darn thing. Plus, the noise is horrible. I've been next to campers using them and .... um, yeah, it's noisy. And I'd like to keep my hearing, thank you very much. (yeah, yeah, wear ear protectors)



Basically anything tight around my belly kills it due to various reasons. Why I wear dresses now. Bending over far enough to do the stabilizers puts too much pressure on the affected area.

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

I was shown to connect the break-away cable to the pin that holds the hitch in the hitch receiver. The cable loop goes through the R clip and around the pin. Then the R clip is attached to the pin.

The hitch receiver is bolted to the vehicle frame in many places.

The arrangement you were shown includes the hitch pin and the clip as part of the connection, adding two additional potential failure points to the brake cable connection.

I'm not trying to be harsh and I don't have any statistics or stories of failures to share. I simply think that eliminating as many potential failure points as possible makes sense. As they say, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Personally, I connect the break-away cable directly to the receiver, looping it through the same hole where the safety chain is attached. The loop is then connected to the cable with a cheap little spring-loaded carabiner-style clip, which in itself bothers me enough that I've been considering what I might replace the clip with.

I'll be the first to admit, I tend to be a two-belts and suspenders kind of guy. Sometimes I think that's helped me, other times it's been less than helpful.

[Glenn Baglo]

Reace, former owner of Escape Trailer Industries, showed me this method. It may be because there was only a loop on the break-away cable - no clip.
The cable in this method only passes through the R clip to loop over the pin holding the hitch.
A clip on the cable connected to the same place as the chains is a potential failure point, so I think there is only one additional failure point.

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Reace, former owner of Escape Trailer Industries

I only saw the August thread announcing his retirement on the Escape forum a few weeks ago; good for him!

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by computerspook

Get you an extension and a cordless tire impact wrench

A cordless "tire impact wrench" is not necessary, or even desirable. Way more torque than needed, and they have an impact drive that is loud and pounds on the jack. A simple cordless drill with a 3/4" RV socket, available at RV stores or Walmart is the best tool. If the torque makes it too hard to hold, many styles have adjustable clutches that limit the torque.

When stopped for more than the night, I set all four stabilizers, and I usually make a couple trips around the trailer to get it level with equal pressure on the jacks.

The drill can also come in handy for other projects too.

[WaltP]

I use a simple drill on my stabilizers when i do use them. It works very easily and smoothly provided when I retract them, I roll them all the way up, then back them off a quarter turn. Otherwise by the time I use them again they tend to freeze and may need to be loosened up manually.

Walt

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Civilguy

Personally, I connect the break-away cable directly to the receiver, looping it through the same hole where the safety chain is attached. The loop is then connected to the cable with a cheap little spring-loaded carabiner-style clip, which in itself bothers me enough that I've been considering what I might replace the clip with

get a small marine carabiner, they are far superior to the cheap imitation carabiner key-chain stuff.

like one of these, https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-...23?recordNum=1 but I'm sure you can find them cheaper elsewhere.

[WaltP]

John is right but carabiners are available at any hardware store for less than $10

Walt

[k0wtz]

Yes raspy I always carry a small battery drill I don't know why someone would want a big impact for running your jacks up and down.

The cordless drill makes life so much better

bob

Originally Posted by Raspy

A cordless "tire impact wrench" is not necessary, or even desirable. Way more torque than needed, and they have an impact drive that is loud and pounds on the jack. A simple cordless drill with a 3/4" RV socket, available at RV stores or Walmart is the best tool. If the torque makes it too hard to hold, many styles have adjustable clutches that limit the torque.

When stopped for more than the night, I set all four stabilizers, and I usually make a couple trips around the trailer to get it level with equal pressure on the jacks.

The drill can also come in handy for other projects too.

[John in Santa Cruz]

you DO want a 'drill driver' that has the 'high low' gear switch... in low gear mode (usually '1'), they have a lot more torque. I have something like this,
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-18...215K/309677412

the 1/2" drills also have more pookah than the smaller ones, yet aren't much larger.

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

get a small marine carabiner, they are far superior to the cheap imitation carabiner key-chain stuff.

Originally Posted by WaltP

John is right but carabiners are available at any hardware store for less than $10
Walt

Yes, thanks guys, I should see what's available.

We have a Master lock on our hitch pin. It looks to have wafer tumblers, and appears to be of poor quality in general.

I guess what struck me about connecting the brake cable via the hitch pin is that I'm not happy with our pin, and losing the pin while driving would be an excellent time to have the trailer's brakes properly engage as intended.

So, I'm in the market for a couple of improvements here.

[Lisa M.]

Back about 12 years ago I met up for the weekend with a number of single women on this forum at Mt. Madonna State Park, CA. I think there were maybe 5 of us, an assortment of dogs, and every size Casita. It rained like crazy and we found that the 16’ had the most room, even with a very large Rottweiler in the trailer. As a few of ladies moved to the back, the trailer tipped and everything went flying! In setting up in the rain, the owner of the trailer forgot to put her jacks down! Nothing was harmed and from time to time I remember that weekend. Are any of you ladies still around?

[Thane]

I use a cordless drill that uses the same battery pack as my cordless lamp and flashlight. I also carry a small charger just in case I need to top off a battery.

I use Ryobi cordless tools from Home Depot, they are good enough for my small jobs. My lamps, work light, flashlights and 7 or so battery packs come in handy when the power is out. Ryobi stuff seems to be frequently on sale and you can buy some tools without a battery.

I use this lamp https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-18...P781/300225308

And this flashlight https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-18...P705/300509751

This is too strong for camping but really lights up a room https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-18...P727/207017500

[Hsmith]

Outstanding!!

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

the 1/2" drills also have more pookah than the smaller ones, yet aren't much larger.

Yeah. Pookah.

According to Wiktionary:

Alternative form of púca (Supernatural creature of Irish folklore that takes the form of an animal)

Seems like fine characteristics for a drill, and looks like the same one I'm using.

[Geronimo John]

Originally Posted by Raspy

The drill can also come in handy for other projects too.

Very true. If purchasing, I recommend a 3/8" VARIABLE SPEED drill. The higher the voltage the lighter it will be.

1/2" drills tend not to be cordless and if battery are heavier. Besides they can put out a lot of torque, more that us older folks need or can handle if the bit locks up. Hence go 3/8".

[Casita Greg]

Originally Posted by Geronimo John

Very true. If purchasing, I recommend a 3/8" VARIABLE SPEED drill. The higher the voltage the lighter it will be.

1/2" drills tend not to be cordless and if battery are heavier. Besides they can put out a lot of torque, more that us older folks need or can handle if the bit locks up. Hence go 3/8".

All my corded drills as well as my four cordless drills have 1/2" chucks. I wouldn't even think of buying a weak 3/8" chuck drill, power or cordless. And fwiw, I'm 68 now and still use them all the time.

[Geronimo John]

Casita Greg:

I respect your opinion, but I stand by my recommendation for a 3/8 variable speed drill.

At home I too have both 1/2 and 3/8 drills, both cordless and battery. However for RV use, a good quality 3/8 drill is a better choice overall from a weight, safety, ease of use and cost perspectives.

Sure, if you are needing to level a really large RV, go for the larger, heavier, more expensive 1/2" drill. But frankly it just is not as suitable for most of our RV uses.

[John in Santa Cruz]

my old nicad powered dewalt 1/2" drill-driver was a bit of a beast, but this newer Ryobi lithium is as compact and light as I could ask for.

Its a drill-driver because it has the twospeed gearbox with a low range for driving screws and such, and a high range for drilling smaller holes in softer materials. it still has a variable speed trigger, and an adjustable clutch.

[Geronimo John]

Sounds sweet. I'll gladly trade two of my old beasts for your new one!

Seriously though, with the LI batteries and their current higher voltages, the torque that these drills can produce is tremendous. And therein lies the problem.

I' a big guy and still relatively strong. In my younger days I found when drilling heavy metal, my Miller Falls 1/2 drill (One speed 600 RPM) with a "T" handle could lock up a drill bit and damn near flip me over in the process. During sudden lock-ups a person can not let go of the drill fast enough to keep from getting "crossed arms". It was a hazard that would easily have snapped both
forearms. For this reason, I only use that beast when I must.

For normal sized RV's, their stabilizer/jacks should not subjected to such torques. If it does not go up under normal torque application, then having twice that will just tear up equipment... or operators.

So, for a lot of reasons, I remain convinced that a 3/8" drill is a better choice for most RV users.

Nice try though!

That said, I have an older 1/2" Ridgid MZX 18V, two speed ranges, variable speed drill that weighs about 7 pounds. After a couple hours of use with this beast, it begins to feel like a boat anchor. Maybe I'll check out the newer lighter ones.