bottle jacks for stabilization?

OleManOleCan wrote:

solismaris wrote:
I've always used the 4 scissors jacks to stabilize the trailer. Never did a very good job: there's stil considerable movement.

But recently to cope with a very unlevel site I used a bottle jack under one side of the frame. The site was so unlevel left-right that I jacked up that side enough that the wheels were off the ground. And that's how I camped for the 3 days. I did not use the scissors jacks at all.

I was impressed by how stable the trailer was. Still a little movement though. So I put a second bottle jack under the frame on the other side and jacked it up just enough to make it tight. So the weight was now being supported at 3 points: the tongue and the two bottle jacks. The trailer was now rock-steady!

This seems like the way to go. Forget about the scissors jacks entirely; jack up the two sides and take all the weight off the tires. Leveling and stabilizing in one! Pros and cons?

I redid a 1975 Fleetwood Prowler.
The old jacks were broken and welded on. I was gonna have to cut em off.
I put 4 jack stands ender it on the frame. Solid as a rock.
I finally used a Sawzall and cut the old jacks off.
I lower the front jack, install the rear jack stands, then used the front jack to raise the front end. Then I put 2 under the frame. near the tongue. Quick and easy.
Faster than hand turning the old jacks into position.

I did the same thing and for those interested I discussed this method in some detail in THIS THREAD and you have to read ALL MY POSTS in that thread from the beginning to get the entire story. Two critical keys in using these jackstands are the locations (close to the axles) and getting sufficient force on them to eliminate the suspension and tire "bounce". You CAN NOT hand tighten them to get this and must use the tongue jack to get the necessary force on them. As one poster mentioned extending these jackstands too high w/o sufficient force then you WILL NOT get the stability needed.

Larry