5th wheel shaking

tvman44 wrote:
JT Strongarm Stabilizers. :)

wouldn't be without my JT Armstrong s.

There will be movement due to trailer being mounted on tires & springs.

You can get the add-ons mentioned....

Just curious it being your 1st 5vr 'How are you setting up'?

We don't have any of the add-ons and movement is very minimal.

After unhooking from truck I run front landing gear (up/down) to level rig front to rear (I try to minimize how much inner tubes are dropped).........then lower front 1"
I then run rear stabilizers down using 6"X6" blocks under the stabilizer pads so that they extend as little as possible (wider stance---more stable).
I set rear stabilizers tight.
Then run front landing gear back up to level.

Been doing this for almost 7 yrs. of FT and rig sits pretty tight with just minimal bounce.....so minimal when rarely notice it.

When someone is walking around inside the 5er it will bounce/wiggle. Rubber tires will bounce, suspension systems are made to bounce. To eliminate the bouncing/wiggling you need to keep the weight from pushing down on the tires and suspension by making sure your stabilizers are tight between the 5er and the ground. Don’t just let them out far enough to touch the ground, turn the crank more to make sure they are tight so they will not allow the 5er to push down on the tires. Use a bipod/tripod under the king pin. Make sure it is tight between the ground and the king pin, don’t just adjust it till it touches, tighten it so the front overhang will not move. Make sure to check the stabilizers and bipod/tripod every couple of days because they will loosen up over time. Doesn’t make sense spending a lot of money on landing jack stabilizers when the landing jacks are stable and don’t bounce up and down. If you have properly adjusted the stabilizers and bipod/tripod then you shouldn’t have any bouncing/wiggling. This has worked for me over the past 15 years.
Chocks are to keep the 5er from rolling forward or backwards. They do not eliminate the weight of the 5er from pushing down and causing the bouncing/wiggling. If you park on a site that has a incline/decline then you probably want to use chocks to keep your 5er from rolling when you unhitch.
There are a lot of other options out there to “eliminate” the bouncing/wiggling if you have the extra money and want to spend it.

JT Strongarm Stabilizers. :)

JTs on mine also. Make a LOT of difference.

overthehillbill wrote:

patbren wrote:
we have a new 5th. wheel and when we set up it shakes when we walk in it,is there any thing we can do to stop the shaking, thanks

SteadyFast and X chocks.

X2, We have had the SteadyFast stabilizers on our last 2 Fifth wheels and wouldn't be without them! If you decide to trade in for a different camper they can be removed and installed on the new camper. Best money I've spent on any camper that I've owned. Also installed scissors jacks just in front of the front wheels, this eliminated the frame flex movement. Tim

There will always be some movement, but the following items (or equivalents) will get you about as stable as possible. They are available from most suppliers.

x-chocks

JT StrongArm

We just set up for a couple of months here in Florida, and have placed a tripod under the pin, which eliminated all the front to back rocking. With a large slide on each side we still have some motion from side to side, but don't find it troublesome.

patbren wrote:
we have a new 5th. wheel and when we set up it shakes when we walk in it,is there any thing we can do to stop the shaking, thanks

SteadyFast and X chocks.