Wobble Stopper

We have Steadyfast on our 5er now. It helps a lot, however, my wife, even though she is very small, has heavy feet. If I'm trying to take a nap and she moves around in the trailer; every step sends shock waves throughout the 5er. Maybe I'm looking for something to cure something that cannot be cured. I don't know for sure. But this looked interesting, so thought I'd ask all the experts for there opinions.

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.

Trailer Life. Page 150

I use wheel chocks and don't extend my jacks very far with blocks under them. I don't feel much movement. If it wiggles a bit I don't even notice it. I don't understand why it needs to be rock solid...For me it just isn't an issue. There must be others that feel the same way.

B.O.

I kinda like home made products and it would be easy to improve on the wood idea. It will work so fella get to work and enjoy the solid feel.

chevman

Valterra bought out the Wayne's RV Stabilizer.

It is called the Universal RV Stabilizer. It costs more than homemade, but it is lightweight and folds for easy storage.

http://valterra.com/product/rv-stabilizer-14-28-universal-boxed/#

Okay, I can see that helping when you are on a nice level pad, side to side AND front to back. What happens with those precut lengths when you are on a site where you have to lower or raise the front significantly? The board lengths will be too long or too short

Where we frequently camp (mountains and beaches) these would not work well but I could see them being fine for someone who mostly parks on nice level pads. I'll stick with my Steadyfast System.

May 2014 Trailer Life magazine. I looked at this and wondered the same thing. Things that come to my engineering mind are, wonder how this would work on the average gravel ground. Bet it would be more effective on concrete. Also wonder about the protruding lumber on the outside the sides of the RV (mine would be covered by the slides in the rear). I'd worried about someone tripping on the lumber especially after dark (folks staggering home after happy hour!) :) Think that treated lumber, as it is harder and therefore more robust. Wonder about using 4X4 instead of 2x4 (would be heavier to deal with and carry)? Thought that you'd have to countersink the eyebolt holes on the outside so the nuts and washers would be seat flat in the lumber. Just my thoughts and analyzing...no actual experience. Be interesting to see what others experience. rockin'

http://www.trailerlife.com/trailer-how-to/wobble-stopper/

That is a home made version of the old Wayne's RV Stabilizer. I used them on my previous travel trailer.

It works pretty good. Fine if you are at a site for a while. But, does require set up, take down and storage.

Trailer Magazine? Trailer Life? Travel Trailer Magazine? Trying to figure out where to find this article. Do you have a link?