Proper placement for stablizer jacks?

I actually moved my scissors jacks towards the center of the trailer about 18" or so front and rear. This was for two reasons. The first was by moving them I received a lot of ground clearance as they were mounted to the hitch A frame up front and the bumper brackets on the rear at the factory. I got an extra 5"-6" clearance which prevents the (rear especially) from dragging on the ground. Secondly moving them inwards makes the span of my long 33" trailer frame much shorter. Think of the trailer like a bridge, the longer the span the more flex in the middle. I also added another set of jacks in front of the front axle. I also use the Steadyfast system. My trailer is pretty solid.

If you have electric "stabilizer" (haha) jacks then you need stabilizers for your stabilizer jacks... :M The elec. stab. jacks simply do a poor job of stabilizing. If you watch one of them while someone walks up and down the entry steps, you will be surprised to see how much they move around. Elec. stab. jacks are inherently worse by design because the foot pads are significantly closer together compared to scissor jacks. The only good thing about them is the convenience. Sometimes the jacks aren't in ideal locations because of obstructions like stairs for ex.

Adding BAL Lockarm struts or equivalent do a decent job of reducing side to side movement. I installed a pair at the rear and they help a lot. The tongue jack helps to provide some stabilizing at the front and I don't think adding them at the front will help as much, plus it's harder to reach the nuts to tighten them. You can buy just 2 BAL jacks and the others are a set of 4.

If you have X-chocks, you'll be left with vertical movement to address. Bottle jacks or aluminum stacker jacks will work. I bought a set of the stacker jacks but only used them a couple of times because they only extend up to max. 17" and our frame is 24" off the ground. It was too much of a bother to lay down some cribbing each time plus the hassle of storing it all in the back of the truck.

Adding jacks just ahead of the wheels can help depending on length of the trailer and frame strength. Some have added a pair of scissor jacks and that's what I would do.

The photo shows how I installed the Lockarms. First, if you install any make of stab. struts, you will need Lippert's adapter kit p/n 314597 which extends the foot pads down otherwise the arms hit the jacks. If you mount the lower attachments to the jack pivot bolt, there is still some "slop" that allows some TT movement. Mount it to the lower bolt on the new Lippert bracket. In my case, I mounted it to the foot pad as I installed permanent larger pads to the OEM foot pads. I mounted the upper end of the struts to the bumper. It provides some fore/aft reduction in movement but I had to anyway as there was nowhere else.

mbopp wrote:
I have an opinion on electric stabs and it's not favorable. The same mechanism that lets them adjust for side to side height differences also allows the TT to rock on its centerline.

I put an automotive scissors jack under the frame in front of the front axle, almost under the steps. It goes a long way to stabilizing the TT. Actually, I leave the door side a bit low when levelling and use the scissors jack for the final adjustment, then run the electric stabs down.

Yep, without some type of JT Strongarm or similar, the electric stabs not only wiggle side to side, the same wiggling will loosen them.

I use a couple of the aluminum adjustable stands right in front of rear wheels, helps tremendously until I do JT strongarms.

I have an opinion on electric stabs and it's not favorable. The same mechanism that lets them adjust for side to side height differences also allows the TT to rock on its centerline.

I put an automotive scissors jack under the frame in front of the front axle, almost under the steps. It goes a long way to stabilizing the TT. Actually, I leave the door side a bit low when levelling and use the scissors jack for the final adjustment, then run the electric stabs down.

If your Jacks are electric Jacks you probably didn't want to move them. Rather, add the manual Jacks to the ends of your trailer. Level first with the electric, then snug up with the manual.

SoCalDesertRider wrote:
Jacks at the ends of the frame would make it more stable up front and in the rear. You plan will work fine. Just don't jack too much on the ends of the frame. You shouldn't be trying to lift the trailer and take weight off the axles' springs. Just tension the jacks enough to stabilize it from rocking.

Exactly what I was going to say. I would add that I have about a 16 inch 6x6 post under each scissor jack. The further they extend the less stability the provide. Between that and between the tire chocks this minimizes movement in our trailer pretty well. Another thing I read somewhere is use jackstands in the rear. I've tried this but it seems that our back end is usually too high off the ground to use them effectively.

Jacks at the ends of the frame would make it more stable up front and in the rear. You plan will work fine. Just don't jack too much on the ends of the frame. You shouldn't be trying to lift the trailer and take weight off the axles' springs. Just tension the jacks enough to stabilize it from rocking.