Another topic I'm sure has been beat to death, but my research is turning up TOO many options. Looking for some first-hand experience.I have a 33' Jayco White Hawk 33RSKS.....kitchen has a slide and dining/living area has a slide. I have x-chocks to help with some of the back/forward movement but this thing rocks like crazy from side to side.My thought is to install more scissor jacks on the frame under the slides....maybe just 1 on each side? Have heard MANY bad things about slide stabilizers.Any suggestions?

Supports under the slide wont keep the rest of the RV from moving. Also, you really don't want the rest of the V to move while the slide is supported - something will have to give.Finally, most manufacturers say not to use them.

Yes, more scissor jacks will help, but unless you get the weight of the trailer completely off of the suspension, you will always have movement...nature of the beast. Yes, stabilizers under the slide outs is a no-no.With my TT I used THESE. I had one under the back of the frame running cross wise, and one under one side running length wise. However, TT still moved somewhat, but much better than without.Hope this helpsRon

I installed 2 extra stabilizer jacks on my previous trailer (31 feet long). I tried using all 6 but somehow always had an issue and I finally quit using the 2 middle. The problem was, getting all 6 on the ground with equal pressure. It seems that 1 jack was never snugged up right. When that 6th one was in place, it would cause one of the other 5 to loosen up. After a year of that, I simply quit using all 6.You can add extra jacks, it won't hurt anything (it might not help anything either. A little trick you may try is to put the new jacks at an angle, rather than square to the frame. And if you add more, add to the main frame of the trailer, not to the slides. The slides need to move with the trailer, like a wing on an airplane. If you tie the "wing" down and the airplane moves, it will break the wing off. A little exaggerated example, but the idea is the same for a trailer with a slide. The slide and the body of the camper should move as one unit. Support the main body and the rest will be OK. Let the "wing" hang free. One other thing about movement? OK, when was the last time you went shopping for a new house... specifically a new house construction? Ever go to the second floor and have your kids jump up and down at one end of the house, while you are at the other end on the second floor? If not ... you should! You'll be shocked how much the floor shakes under YOUR feet when they jump up and down, not to mention the wall wabbling too!After that experience, I realized a trailer will never be rock solid unless the wheels come off and the frame is placed on solid concrete.... then? Maybe?

Stabilizing jacks on frame under slide out.........YESEven bottle jacks on frameAnything to help firm suspension up will improve the 'no bounce zone'

travel trailer stabilizer | Good Sam Community

25 Replies

BigSur2
Explorer
Aug 08, 2015
Sorry for the late response on this......decided to forego the kit and send it back. Had a need for the money elsewhere. Have decided to live with it as-is.

Thanks MUCH for the responses.
jasoncw
Explorer
Jul 06, 2015
I put the SteadyFast on my trailer, and it made a world of difference. Very similar to the JT Strongarms, but a bit cheaper, and only 3 bars instead of I believe 6.
jasoncw
Explorer
Jul 06, 2015
BigSur2 wrote:

Hoping I can still get a response out of this post. Bought the JT Strongarms and guess what.....bolts are too short for the model of scissor jacks on my trailer. Cannot get ANY assistance from the manufacturer. It's either return these bad boys or rig them.....just not sure what to do.

I'm about to pack them up and ship them out today......figured I'd see if I get any suggestions first.

If all you need is longer bolts, just stop at the hardware store for longer ones?
tragusa3
Explorer
Jul 04, 2015
Most of our movement comes when people are at a leverage point, the slide or steps. Putting a support under the steps eliminates 75% of our gripe.
myredracer
Explorer II
Jul 04, 2015
The photo below shows all the parts that come with the JT Strongarm kit. Is there anything missing? If you have electric stab. jacks, if you haven't got them yet, you also need the Lippert adapter kit #314597 shown in the 2nd photo otherwise the arms touch the stab. jack when retracted and won't fully retract.

I just installed a pair of BAL Lock-arm stabilizers. They mount to the base plate of a jack using a standard hex head bolt, but you need to go buy them as they aren't supplied. The 3rd photo shows this (not the best of photos). As everyone says, they do an excellent job of reducing movement.

On the "bounce" issue, with a 33' TT, you'll almost definitely need a pair of jacks or jack stands of some sort ahead of the axles to take out the flex in the frame otherwise you'll still find the movement objectionable. Could be scissor jacks, Camco stacking jacks or bottle jacks. The JT Strongarms will make a tremendous improvement. What I've found is that the most objectionable movement is when someone walks up or down the entry stairs as it causes the frame to rotate about an axis in a fore/aft direction. It's possible you may still have some annoying movement even after installing the Strongarms in which case, a jack stand (or bottle jack) will help at each of the 4 corners of the frame. Electric stabilizer jacks do a poor job of "stabilizing" and oughta come with some bracing like the Strongarms.

After trying just about everything known to mankind, I've come to the conclusion that there's only so much you can do to minimize movement in these things. You may even find that a TT has annoying movement from flex in the subfloor due to the spacing of floor joists and the subfloor thickness and material in which case you can't address that at all. Our friend's Keystone TT is like that.
camp-n-family
Explorer
Jul 04, 2015
Hoping I can still get a response out of this post. Bought the JT Strongarms and guess what.....bolts are too short for the model of scissor jacks on my trailer. Cannot get ANY assistance from the manufacturer. It's either return these bad boys or rig them.....just not sure what to do.

I'm about to pack them up and ship them out today......figured I'd see if I get any suggestions first.

Odd, mine came with short and long bolts.
BigSur2
Explorer
Jul 03, 2015
camp-n-family wrote:
I had the same issue with my 31'tt. I tried adding support to the center between the wheels, in addition to scissors jacks at each corner but I never could get the rocking to stop. It was so bad that several of the bolts holding the jack to the frame snapped the heads off.

The scissor jacks are the problem. They weaken the more they extend and they are only stable in the one direction they are mounted.

I finally bit the bullet and invested in some Jt Strongarms. A little pricey, but WOW what a difference. No more wiggle or bounce even with the kids running and jumping around. The jacks are now braced in all directions so they can't move. Best mod I've ever done.

Hoping I can still get a response out of this post. Bought the JT Strongarms and guess what.....bolts are too short for the model of scissor jacks on my trailer. Cannot get ANY assistance from the manufacturer. It's either return these bad boys or rig them.....just not sure what to do.

I'm about to pack them up and ship them out today......figured I'd see if I get any suggestions first.
DSDP_Don
Explorer
Jun 09, 2015
Here is something to check. Some manufacturers mount their jacks so they run parallel with the frame. You either stand directly behind the trailer to jack them down or you stand directly to the side to crank then down. This puts the jacks all facing the same direction and they tend wobble. The jacks should be mounted diagonally in each corner. This reduces wobble since they're all opposing each other.

If yours are already mounted this way, I would just replace the rear with a one piece jack, like the BAL jack. This may be a more reasonably priced fix.
RinconVTR
Explorer
Jun 09, 2015
This is what you want...

http://norcoind.com/bal/products/consumer/stabilizing_products/lockarm.shtml

$80 per set of 2.
http://www.amazon.com/BAL-23216-Lock-Arm-Stabilizing-Bar/dp/B001UGNJ60/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433871836&sr=8-1&keywords=bal+locking+arms
dfm
Explorer
Jun 09, 2015
BigSur2 wrote:
camp-n-family wrote:
I had the same issue with my 31'tt. I tried adding support to the center between the wheels, in addition to scissors jacks at each corner but I never could get the rocking to stop. It was so bad that several of the bolts holding the jack to the frame snapped the heads off.

The scissor jacks are the problem. They weaken the more they extend and they are only stable in the one direction they are mounted.

I finally bit the bullet and invested in some Jt Strongarms. A little pricey, but WOW what a difference. No more wiggle or bounce even with the kids running and jumping around. The jacks are now braced in all directions so they can't move. Best mod I've ever done.

I put the JT Strongarms on my previous trailer, Jayco 322fks, and they came as standard equipment on my present trailer. They make a
HUGE difference !!