BAL 23026 20" Light Trailer Stabilizing Jack

[SteveZimmerman]

Has anyone replace the Atwood stabilizers on a 16' Scamp with the BAL jacks? If so, best choice or stay with the Atwoods. Mine I believe are shot.

[Bob Miller]

I hung a set of BAL levelers on the back of my Hunter and it added so much weight that it effected handling. I took them off after 1000 miles of squirrely driving. It's for sale in Chelan, WA, but no shipping available, here's what they looked like:
https://wenatchee.craigslist.org/rvs/5219152054.html

[SteveZimmerman]

Bob, wow, that's a huge set up. The one's I'm looking at are about the same size as the Atwood's. You can copy the title into amazon and see what I'm talking about.
Thanks!

[Byron Kinnaman]

I believe that these work just as well, deploy easily without the added weight.
LINK

[SteveZimmerman]

Byron, that's the one's I have now, only in the longer version. (Stock Scamp) I was just curious if anyone had tried the BAL's and if the extra $ if I need to replace.
Thanks

[Bob Miller]

Ya, it's huge. It was new and a freebie to me that didn't work so well. I didn't write down the number when I took it out of the box it came in.....


The advantage was to be that it is rated to be a leveler as well as a stabilizer. I was able to raise it high enough to change a tire if need be.... lol

[Wayne Collins]

Originally Posted by SteveZimmerman

Has anyone replace the Atwood stabilizers on a 16' Scamp with the BAL jacks? If so, best choice or stay with the Atwoods. Mine I believe are shot.

Yes, I did replace the "kickstands", on our 2000 16 ft dlx, with BAL single leg screw jacks - at the rear, and also added a pair at the front just next to the body.
They required adding cross members to the frame. At the rear I used 1 x 2 rectangular tubing. At the front a piece of flat bar stock.
All are just bolted on, so no welding required, and easily removed if you would at sometime want to trade up for a newer rig.
No problem with balance/handling as long as you load so it keeps about 10% of the weight on the hitch.

[Wayne Collins]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

I hung a set of BAL levelers on the back of my Hunter and it added so much weight that it effected handling. I took them off after 1000 miles of squirrely driving. It's for sale in Chelan, WA, but no shipping available, here's what they looked like:
https://wenatchee.craigslist.org/rvs/5219152054.html

There are lighter weight jacks made for our smaller rigs,

[Island Claire]

There are a number of people in our Boler group that have those ones mounted on their bolers and trilliums.

[SouthwestOregon201]

I put a pair on my Hunter Compact front and rear. After leveling with the tongue jack, I drop all four and really like how stable the trailer remains.
With cross member and jacks, I believe they were about a 10 pound addition in weight. I have a storage box on my tongue and can adjust weight to what is needed.
I like their ease of use so much, I just added a pair to the rear of my 1979 Scamp 16.

Dave Heffner
Roseburg, OR

[bullfrogeh]

Hi Dave Heffner;
Couldn't avoid noticing your location, shown on the previous posting.
My family's sympathies, and likely those of many other FGRVers are entended to you and your neighbours, today - following the events of just yesterday in your town.
- dave in Ontario.

[Harvey]

Pretty sure I posted this info a couple of months ago but I can't find the post?? Don't have a 16' Scamp so not sure how relevant this would be for your trailer. We have a 2001 Casita 17SD so the info may not fit at all. When we bought our Casita in January this year I immediately began making plans to replace the factory Atwood stabilizers with 17" BAL 'crank-down' stabilizers for a lightweight trailer. I had on hand a 'used' set of 4 plus a couple of NIB that I'd bought for my Scamp 13 (if I ever get finished re-habbing it ). After a trip 'out west' in June I began the process in earnest. Spent a couple of days crawling around under the rear of the Casita, eyeballing & measuring. Found that the 'foot' of the Atwoods rest against a piece of steel angle that is 'boxed' in the area I needed support for the rear of the BAL lightweight stabilizers. The 1 1/2" angle is ideal to support the rear of the BALs except it isn't level with the bottom of the 3" 'C' channel side rails where I'd hafta bolt the 'front' of the BALs. I cut a couple of lengths from some 'formed' 1/8" thick 'C' channel & fabricated some 'drop' angles to bolt the rear of the BALs to. I mounted the BALs making sure that in 'storage' position the 'feet' didn't intrude into the angle of departure between the bottom of the tire & the rear bumper. They work great & are much easier for me to operate with a crank than getting down on my 75yr old knees to deploy the Atwoods. Haven't removed the Atwoods as they're welded on to the frame rails but if anyone wants 'em bad enough to cut/grind 'em off without doing too much damage (cosmetic or structural) to my trailer chassis, they can have 'em 'gratis'.

a few pix of my 'redneck' engineering job -

[Pam Garlow]

I have the same style crank down levelers on my UHaul. Love them! so much easier than the click-lock type that was on the back.

[SouthwestOregon201]

Dave in Ontario, thanks for the nice note. A tough time to get through indeed.


As for the subject at hand. I also added the round sand pads on the Bal stabilizer. Individual stabilizers allow for secure footing on some uneven ground, even soft soil with those pads.


Dave Heffner
Roseburg, OR

[jen b]

Originally Posted by Wayne Collins

There are lighter weight jacks made for our smaller rigs,

I'm looking into this now...curious what you have found? Thanks!

[Harvey]

Originally Posted by jen b

I'm looking into this now...curious what you have found? Thanks!

The 17" BAL crank-down jacks (mfgr part # 23025, 17" & 23026, 20") weigh about 6 1/2-7# each without the 6" steel 'sand pad' which weighs about a pound.

The heavier duty 'C' series 'lifting' jacks like Bob installed & removed (5 heights available 19" to 31", model #s 232xx with final 2 digits representing extended leg length 19, 22, 25, 28 & 31) weigh about 12-16# each without the telescoping 'C' channel cross member. Max height, frame to ground is approx 3"-4" less than leg length, & the static load capacity decreases with each leg lenghth increase, in 500# increments from 5K# to 3K#. The optional telescoping 'C' channel mounting rail weighs 6-10# depending on whether you use the 31" or the 42" length, & the optional rectangular 'foot pads' weigh a pound or more each,

I don't know of any crank-down, lightweight stabilizers other than BAL, & the 23025 & 26 models are the lightest available. They have 700# lifting capacity & 1K# static load capacity. They are more than adequate (as stabilizers) for any except maybe the heaviest of the 13' to 16' or 17' fiberglass trailers.

I have plans to add the other 2 BALs to the front of my Casita 17SD but it is working so well with the 2 at the rear along with the tongue jack in front that I may never get around to it... Either model(s) surely beat the 'swing down' Atwoods IMO.

I think Wayne may be referring to the lightweight BAL jacks as preferable to the heavier (duty & actual weight) 'C' series jacks that Bob has.

[Joe Romas]

I have 2 BAL 23026 installed on the front of my 17' Casita. I had previously added 2500# scissor jacks on the rear part way between the bumper and axle and when I recieved the BALs I realized they would have been perfect for the rear too.

The only down side of the BAL units is the provided crank and how it engages to the screw.
I solved that by grinding down the end of the screw then drilled out a 3/4" outside nut and welded it over the shaft. I use a 1/2" "speed wrench" to lower them.

Joe

[jen b]

So do folks tend to prefer the BAL or Atwood type jacks to the scissor jacks? I want to go with the best combo of easiest to use and not adding a lot more weight overall than I have to.

[Joe Romas]

For our light weight trailers I think the BAL 23026 or the shorter 23025 are ideal with or without the pads. Here's a link to the BAL site.

But they will require mounting that may involve some welding and or fabricating brackets to fit.

BAL - Innovative Products for the RV Industry

Joe

[jen b]

Thanks Joe - I am handy with a lot of things but for this I'm planning to have a shop do the attaching for me.

I'm super tired of messing with the set of jack stands that came along with my trailer and can't wait to get something easier and more efficient and flexible put together.