Rear leveler jacks on Ford F53 Chassis

I got the Jack Kit from Equalizer two weeks ago and contacted a local welding shop. The owner said to prep the brackets by grinding the paint off the edges where the weld would be and grinding a bevel along that edge as well. In addition, he said to grind the paint off the frame area where the jacks where to be installed and clamp the brackets in place. The welder suggested going down to Harbor Freight and to buy a hand grinder if I didn't already have one. He said I could buy one there for $12.00. I thought that sounded way too cheap but to my surprise, I found one with a grinding wheel for under $20.00! It lasted long enough to finish the job (and is actually still working). I also bought the C Clamps at Harbor Freight. Doing this prep work saved me a ton of money at the welding shop. All the welder had to do was lay 8 vertical beads on the brackets and they were done. Total welding cost was $300.00. I had a friend that said he could do it for free but it would have cost $135.00 in gas and delayed the project by two weeks. Me, being the impatient type, went for the quicker, more costly solution.

Next (after driving the MH home), I bolted the jacks to the brackets, ran the hydraulic lines, mounted the leveling "Brain" under the floor, ran the electrical harnesses, wired the pump to the battery and mounted the control panel near the driver seat (actually it is still laying on the floor beside the driver seat). I found a large rubber grommet near the steering column that was easy to pull down from below and modify to run my new wiring harness up to the driver's control panel. It isn't rocket science, just a lot of labor.

The Equalizer jacks are quality constructed and work great. My only beef was that the instructions could use a little editing to make them clearer.

Thanks Dale, your photos are exactly what I needed to get going on this project. I talked to two of my friends that have welders and both said they would help me with the welding portion of the project. My wife and I bought the Hurricane last weekend and are getting it ready for the maiden voyage tomorrow. I'll have to use leveling blocks this time but hopefully, I'll have the jacks installed for a trip in May.

I agree the holes weren't punched specifically for the jacks. When you talked to Equalizer did you ask about ordering the brackets, or a local dealer who could?

I had to make brackets to go around a floor support welded to the frame when I installed the rear mounts on mine. With the cylinders, tank, and pump you'll probably have to make quite a few mounts. Look for convenient holes and keep them simple.

crasster wrote:
^^^ Is there any type of emergency release on those? I like em!

Hydraulic up and down. The pump unit has an override switch that will open all the solenoids at once and do a slow dump of pressure but without a working pump I would need to manually push the jacks back into a full retract. The jacks move pretty easy when the system is open so manually pushing a full retract isn't that hard.


Pump and reservoir bolted to a bracket welded to the frame. The small toggle switch on the left is the all retract. I mounted it in the area that Four Winds installed the pump on the model if the buyer orders the option. The whole install I did in my drive way and other than the welding it took me a Saturday to do.

The dull gray top is just a plastic splash cover that I can pull and have direct access to the solenoids, pump and power solenoids. Real simple system. Bottom half is the reservoir.

Worse case scenario if the system is dead I can loosen the hydraulic lines and manually push the jacks up. It's a dicey option since I would be under the coach when it drops plus it can get real messy with the oil going everywhere but back into the reservoir tank.

^^^ Is there any type of emergency release on those? I like em!

Images of the rear jack(s) installed. I needed about another foot or so of the retract hydraulic hose to make the install look a little bit better but it works for now. I had the mounting bracket welded over the fuel tank bracket. If I need to drop the tank four bolts and the jack is removed and the jack bracket is open in the center so I can get to the tank mounting hardware. I had room on the curb side to install the jack further back and avoid the tank mount but not on the street side. Only place without waste tank lines of the fuel fill was over top of the hardware. I have to watch for signs of corrosion on the jack mounting hardware. The bolts can not be replaced without cutting and re-welding the jack bracket. The silver stuff on the hardware is a heavy zinc antiseize.

Same coach just five years older. Install Bigfoot Levelers last spring and had the mounting brackets welded to the frame just behind the leaf spring mounts (Front and rear). No problems welding on the outside for the frame rail in the vicinity of the fuel tank. To help minimize your concerns do the welding with a full tank of fuel. Liquid gasoline doesn't burn the vapors do. More liquid in the tank leaves less room for vapors. With 70 gallons of fuel you will have a large mass to absorb any heat before reaching a critical temperature.

With regards to any predrilled hold in the frame, Ford didn't put them there for after market applications. The frame is utilized in more than just RV applications. Plus if Ford predrilled to fit every manufacture's jack specification, other aftermarket devices an owner might want installed the frame would have more air than steel.

All I have at the moment is a pic of the front jack. I'll post a rear later.



The jack is bolted to a bracket that that came with the install kit.

TRY WWW.RV-Leveling.com 1-800-826-6267 Very nice guy & loads of information . Stocks PARTS & does repairs.