? Why Leveling Jack Pads?

I use 6" x 6" x 12" treated blocks. I alos carry 6"x6"x6" blocks to place on top of the bigger ones if need be.

The less you have to lower the jacks, the more stable your TT will be, and like others have said, it helps distribute the load so you feet dont sink into the ground.

dcmac214 wrote:
Other than (1) having the jacks as even as possible so RV frame doesn't 'rack' or (2) soft ground...

Why bother with pads under leveling jacks? Makes no sense to me.

And if you insist on using pads, why all the work & whatever expense putting handles on them, painting them, &c? Again, makes no sense to me.

?

Since we only stay in pastures, most of which are not level, I keep many pieces of wood (about 20 of various sizes) for leveling and for minimizing the distance the support & tongue jacks need to be lowered. I too have found the more extended the support jacks the more movement there will be in the trailer. I have not added handles to my boards; I can pack more boards into the storage compartment without the handles.

We've been camped where the front of the trailer had to be raised such that the tongue jack was fully up with boards underneath while hitched to the van and then fully extended to level the trailer.

Keeps rust away and good for soft or unstable ground. Can also help make trailer more stable as far as horizontal movement goes, but one layer probably won't help much nor will a tall stack of them. Lippert sells "elephant feet" pads that are round, 10" dia.

I permanently mounted pads to our jacks - 8 x 8 x 3/4" HDPE bolted to the feet. Always there, always work.

I always use mine, even for a black top site, in this heat a small footprint can and will sink. I painted mine, easier to see in the grass or if sank down into the sand, I also put a screw eye on the end of them, I use my dowel rod which has a screw eye in it too, I use the dowel to pull the pads out without having to bend over so far. I swore ,after the last back operation that I am going to work smart, just a shame it took so long to figure "working smart" out

Okay, I've only had a rig with stabilizers since Feb of this year and only have about 30 days of camping using them and the remainder of the time the rig is on them when stored. One of the reasons that I bought a rig with them is that I am 76 years old, both knees and one hip replaced and spinal stenosis. Put simply, I have a hard time getting the darn blocks out and putting them in place.

We seldom worry about boon-docking in really weird places, mostly at "Q" and the ground is pretty hard there. We will be at the beach the end of the month and if I need to increase my footprint, I'll have the
DGD put some firewood under the pads. Otherwise, forget it. I'm using my levelers as they came to me.

PS, who ever it was that repeatedly used "Substrate", Base or sub-base is what you're talking about.

tdst51 wrote:

Gambit80 wrote:
I feel the same as poster above. The less I extend the stabilizers, the less motion I have. So I like to add a few pads under them.

That's the reason why. 'Nuff said.

Me too. Makes a big difference

Habit, And really, does it hurt? Can't see any negatives other than it takes about 45 seconds out of your camping time.

The less the stabs come down the more stable the trailer will be!

This thread has inspired me to make a new set - painted and with handles to replace the worn out 2X6's I currently use.

Why use them? Plenty of good reasons stated already. Why paint them and put handles on them? Personal satisfaction and pride in something I made.

Understand now?

Why not just attach the pads to the jacks?

We have a small TT, so I think we don't have as many stabilizing issues as larger campers. The only time I use pads is when the stabilizers aren't long enough to reach the ground. I do check and re-tighten the stabilizers if needed the next day after setting up.