Stabilizing hints please....
I have an 31' fifth wheel bunkhouse model. The bunks are in the very rear and when the kids even turn in their beds, the entire unit shakes. I stabilize the 5th wheel with the rear scissor stabilize...
Forum Discussion
Screw or bottle jacks work well to reduce vertical movement - at rear and ahead of axles for a FW. X-chocks help a lot. Electric stab. jacks are hopeless for vertical or horizontal control.
In some FWs and TTs, the floor joists are too far apart and/or the subfloor plywood isn't thick enough and the floor will deflect significantly as you walk along it. We have friends with a Keystone TT and when one of them walks on the floor it almost makes me seasick if standing nearby. You can watch it flex.
Sounds like you may be experiencing left/right movement. A set of stabilizer struts (BAL lock arm, UF eliminator, JT Strongarm, etc.) will help a lot. Definitely install a set left/right. Try at the rear only first but will probably want another set up front. Another set in a fore/aft direction may or may not help much.
Screw jacks will not control horizontal movement. They are very tall compared to the width of the base and allow a lot of horiz. movement, esp. the more the screw is extended up. We bought a set of the aluminum stacker jacks but they only extend up to max. 17" high. The underside or frame is 24" above the ground so I have to build up the difference with some cribbing pieces made from 4x4. Bit of a PITA to set up so only do it if staying for more than a few days and also a PITA to have to carry around in the truck (24 pieces total).
Scissor jacks will work better than elec. stab. jacks in conjunction with stab. struts as the foot pads are somewhat farther apart. Where you connect the bottom of the struts can make a difference too. The photo shows how I did ours. I initially had the struts attach to the horizontal bolt at the foot but noticed there was too much play because the bolt needs to be loose. I was installing the 8 x 8 x 3/4" HDPE pads anyway so relocated the attachment point to the pad so now it "connects" directly onto the ground. Makes quite a difference. I mounted the upper end to the bumper which also provides some fore/aft control. Had to weld in a 10" section of the outer tube because the inner tube kept sliding right out when the jacks were down.
If not on compacted gravel but on soft material like say grass, use pieces of 2x6 or 2x8 under the jacks and stab. feet. Or can use a plastic leveling block or buy a some Lippert elephant feet pads (expensive tho.)
If you have elec. stab. jacks, you will need to buy the Lippert adapter kit p/n 314597 (as in photo) in order to use stab. struts otherwise you can't fully retract the jacks. This wasn't mentioned anywhere when we bought the BAL lock arms.
In some FWs and TTs, the floor joists are too far apart and/or the subfloor plywood isn't thick enough and the floor will deflect significantly as you walk along it. We have friends with a Keystone TT and when one of them walks on the floor it almost makes me seasick if standing nearby. You can watch it flex.
Sounds like you may be experiencing left/right movement. A set of stabilizer struts (BAL lock arm, UF eliminator, JT Strongarm, etc.) will help a lot. Definitely install a set left/right. Try at the rear only first but will probably want another set up front. Another set in a fore/aft direction may or may not help much.
Screw jacks will not control horizontal movement. They are very tall compared to the width of the base and allow a lot of horiz. movement, esp. the more the screw is extended up. We bought a set of the aluminum stacker jacks but they only extend up to max. 17" high. The underside or frame is 24" above the ground so I have to build up the difference with some cribbing pieces made from 4x4. Bit of a PITA to set up so only do it if staying for more than a few days and also a PITA to have to carry around in the truck (24 pieces total).
Scissor jacks will work better than elec. stab. jacks in conjunction with stab. struts as the foot pads are somewhat farther apart. Where you connect the bottom of the struts can make a difference too. The photo shows how I did ours. I initially had the struts attach to the horizontal bolt at the foot but noticed there was too much play because the bolt needs to be loose. I was installing the 8 x 8 x 3/4" HDPE pads anyway so relocated the attachment point to the pad so now it "connects" directly onto the ground. Makes quite a difference. I mounted the upper end to the bumper which also provides some fore/aft control. Had to weld in a 10" section of the outer tube because the inner tube kept sliding right out when the jacks were down.
If not on compacted gravel but on soft material like say grass, use pieces of 2x6 or 2x8 under the jacks and stab. feet. Or can use a plastic leveling block or buy a some Lippert elephant feet pads (expensive tho.)
If you have elec. stab. jacks, you will need to buy the Lippert adapter kit p/n 314597 (as in photo) in order to use stab. struts otherwise you can't fully retract the jacks. This wasn't mentioned anywhere when we bought the BAL lock arms.
