My TT has a slide where the kitchen table and couch slide out and I was wondering if I need to be using some type of stabilizer when it is in the out position. If so, which ones are the best without costing a fortune?

No they are not required.Some use scissor jacks under the trailer frame. You can buy them at a junkyard for about $10. Look for ones with a 3/4" nut to raise and lower them, then get a cordless drill, and use that to put them up and down. This will keep the trailer from swaying side to side. Trailer leveling systems are a pair of scissor jacks mounted to a frame, with quick turning handle to deploy them and retract quickly, but the drill is much faster.. .Fred.

Crambo wrote:My TT has a slide where the kitchen table and couch slide out and I was wondering if I need to be using some type of stabilizer when it is in the out position. If so, which ones are the best without costing a fortune?If anyone does, they are just asking for a big problem. So...No, to your question.Think about it, if a stabilizer (or jack) should fail or sink, what do you think is going to happen to the slide if the stabilizer under it doesn't sink?The slide out are designed to carry a whole bunch of weight, probably much more than you could on it normally.Ron

no, was always told that if you put something under slide out, and you have a flat tire on that side it will ruin the slide out

Some people do. I never would. There is no need and the problems already posted are the reasons I would recommend against it.

Does anyone use stabilizers under their slide out?

72 Replies

Huntindog
Explorer
Nov 25, 2015
jaycocreek wrote:
It's unfortunate that some of the thousands that use these without something terrible happening, can't chime in here or belong to the forum.

I personally have read review after review of these stabilizers and have not found one that said they did harm to there RV,not one!I find that amazing because there always is at least one Darwin candidate out there doing things the wrong way yet a couple here that have never used them keep saying what if...

What if/what if....I don't live that way!

The bottom line is they work and there are thousands of reviews out there saying just that.None that say they caused damage to there RV even used incorrectly...

I have only seen one TT using them.... And I see an awful lot of TTs out camping and at trials where an RV city springs up over night.

I talked to him. His had a spring mechanisim so that it wasn't a solid support.. He also said that it didn't make all that much difference, so a lot of times he didn't bother with them.
jaycocreek
Explorer II
Nov 25, 2015
It's unfortunate that some of the thousands that use these without something terrible happening, can't chime in here or belong to the forum.

I personally have read review after review of these stabilizers and have not found one that said they did harm to there RV,not one!I find that amazing because there always is at least one Darwin candidate out there doing things the wrong way yet a couple here that have never used them keep saying what if...

What if/what if....I don't live that way!

The bottom line is they work and there are thousands of reviews out there saying just that.None that say they caused damage to there RV even used incorrectly...
Huntindog
Explorer
Nov 25, 2015
rjxj wrote:
" lifting it a few inches ".

Is anyone actually using them that way? Snug is all I have ever done. If you had leveled up, wouldn't lifting 3 inches make the rig un level?
No but if the TT dropped it would have that effect. AND I seriously doubt you could do it without something expensive breaking.
Huntindog
Explorer
Nov 25, 2015
jaycocreek wrote:
I do get a kick out of people chiming in on this product with there opinion, having never owned or used them.E-trailer has tutorials on how to use there products correctly,in this case slide out supports.The people talking trash about them have absolutely no idea how they are supposed to be used because they have never used them or been told how to use them correctly,so there imaginations run rampant...

Just to address Dogs little post whom never has used them,E-Trailer has this little quote for his assumption of screwing the slide up a couple inches..

Now a little note, you do not want to just these to level or life a slide-out room, because they could occur damage to the slide-out mechanism. These are only used to stabilize it.

I suggest anyone who is not sure about them visit a place like E-trailer.com and ask the "experts" rather than listen to those here that have never used them.

Sigh..... You are intentionally mistating what I was saying.

What I said was that if one believes that lifting the slide with a jack was OK... Then read no further.
I then stated the ways that this can happen,,, when using slide supports, AND the way that it could be prevented.
dodge_guy
Explorer II
Nov 25, 2015
jaycocreek wrote:
I do get a kick out of people chiming in on this product with there opinion, having never owned or used them.E-trailer has tutorials on how to use there products correctly,in this case slide out supports.The people talking trash about them have absolutely no idea how they are supposed to be used because they have never used them or been told how to use them correctly,so there imaginations run rampant...

Just to address Dogs little post whom never has used them,E-Trailer has this little quote for his assumption of screwing the slide up a couple inches..

Now a little note, you do not want to just these to level or life a slide-out room, because they could occur damage to the slide-out mechanism. These are only used to stabilize it.

I suggest anyone who is not sure about them visit a place like E-trailer.com and ask the "experts" rather than listen to those here that have never used them.

Ummm! Etrailer is an expert at selling things. They don`t build the RV so they are only going by what sounds good to sell a product!

And a slideout stabilizes itself when fully extended, so again no add on devices are needed or necessary! You don't have to buy them to know they are unnecessary!
azrving
Explorer
Nov 25, 2015
" lifting it a few inches ".

Is anyone actually using them that way? Snug is all I have ever done. If you had leveled up, wouldn't lifting 3 inches make the rig un level?
jaycocreek
Explorer II
Nov 25, 2015
I do get a kick out of people chiming in on this product with there opinion, having never owned or used them.E-trailer has tutorials on how to use there products correctly,in this case slide out supports.The people talking trash about them have absolutely no idea how they are supposed to be used because they have never used them or been told how to use them correctly,so there imaginations run rampant...

Just to address Dogs little post whom never has used them,E-Trailer has this little quote for his assumption of screwing the slide up a couple inches..

Now a little note, you do not want to just these to level or life a slide-out room, because they could occur damage to the slide-out mechanism. These are only used to stabilize it.

I suggest anyone who is not sure about them visit a place like E-trailer.com and ask the "experts" rather than listen to those here that have never used them.
Crambo
Explorer
Nov 25, 2015
I'm not getting any. I just ran across them in a magazine and got to wondering
Huntindog
Explorer
Nov 25, 2015
As usual, in an effort to win the debate, some little details are not being talked about very clearly.

The first thing I want to say is that if you think that extending the slide, then putting a jack under it and lifting it a few inches is not going to cause any damage.... Read no further.

Because of the way MOST TTs are constructed today, slide supports are generally a high risk/low reward idea.

If you want to use them, then you must make absolutly SURE that the TT itself cannot lower in relation to the slide. This can happen in the case of a slow leaking tire... It doesn't have to go completely flat... As for the jacks holding up the TT in this event... It probably won't work. Most TTs today use scissor type STABILIZING jacks, which are well known as not to be used as the sole means of suupport... And they are typically mounted towards the ends of the TT, which is not where the support would be needed if a tire was to lose air... In order to be effective a jack would need to be close to the axles.. Jayco said that he uses a screw jack.. This is different than the common scissors jack. They are not commonly used any more. This type of jack CAN be effective IF it is used under the frame close to the axles, AND it is on firm ground that will not sink under heavy weight. Think concrete or asphalt here.... And that brings up the other concerns... If one attempts to do this with the factory mounted scissors jacks, which we already know are not meant to support the TT, where they are mounted will not prevent frame flex, which can be a problem depending on how long the TT is, and how strong the frame is... In addition if the TT is not on a pad of concrete or asphalt, then the jacks can easily settle at different rates. My jacks are about 30' apart. The soil can be quite a bit different in 30'... Add some rain and the probability of a the jacks sinking unevenly goes up a lot.

To sum it up... If you want to use slide supports, then in order to be SURE that your TT will not inccur expensive slide damage, then you must make sure that the preceeding issues are addressed... EVERY single time!! The one time that you skip it will likely be the time that you have a problem....

Or you can just rely on luck.

One thing is quite certain... No manufactrer will warranty this type of owner inflicted damage.
Dtaylor
Explorer
Nov 25, 2015
twxsby89 wrote:
Is this type of banter common around here? I left a Jeep forum for the same thing. If we were all camping together, would this same conversation have a different tone? Just curious.

This is the first time I have been here in a long time and I see the same thing and mostly from the same people. It seems some of those who are more high and mighty cannot resist the urge to either insult someone or their RV. I frequent a lot of other forums and by far this is the worst. This is it for me as I will not return. If a moderator would, please delete my account

Forum Discussion

Does anyone use stabilizers under their slide out?

72 Replies

About Travel Trailer Group

Related Content

Anyone from Mexico?

EFB camper batteries -- has anyone used them?

Stability control

Drill motor for stabilizers

stabilizing power steps