scissor vs stab jacks

Ok, it's been awhile since I had my TT, but what is the difference? I thought they were one and the same.

Ron

Stab jacks is just a short name for stabilizer jacks.
There are two styles..





The second one above (scissor style) jacks are generally considered superior and more heavy duty.

I have two sets of the scissor jacks in my trailer shed. Their the first thing I take off any trailer as they don't eliminate side to side motion for my needs.

ezrydrs wrote:
What is the advantage/disadvantage of one style over the other? My FunFinder has stab jacks and I'm not a big fan of them although they work fine. Is it worthwhile to switch?

I wouldn't switch until I bent a stab jack. Good luck.

ezrydrs wrote:
What is the advantage/disadvantage of one style over the other? My FunFinder has stab jacks and I'm not a big fan of them although they work fine. Is it worthwhile to switch?

No it is not worthwhile if you have a perfectly functioning stabilizer of either type. If you MUST change wait until the ones you have fail. I have had mechanical and power stabilizers od thge extending arm type and they both worked/work well.

Both of them are designed to stop up-and-down oscillations at the stabilized end of the trailer and both of them do the job equally well. There is no need for overkill for this function. Neither stops all trailer motion between support points.

OTOH if it were to be used for jacking up the trailer then the "scissors" typpe is more efficient and stronger.

Got it. Thanks for all the info!

snip....
OTOH if it were to be used for jacking up the trailer then the "scissors" typpe is more efficient and stronger.

Not so sure about this advice. Using stabilizer jacks to actually jack up a trailer is not a good idea.

I was not telling him to use stabilizers to jack up his trailer. Just saying if for some reason it were to be used for that task then the scissors design is better. The scissors design is used both for stabilizers as well as jacks for motor vehicles.

One should not jack on the frame of any trailer, especially the "xxxx lite" ones as frame damage could result.

The scissors jacks are usually able to support more weight. And it doesn't matter how far they are opened.

The other jacks are set at an angle to the ground, and the weight they can support depends upon that angle. I saw a graph (Ultra-Fab IIRC) showing that one of their jacks could support 6000# when fully extended (almost vertical) to 30", but only 3000# when partially extended to 15", or something like that.

I've never bent a scissors jack, and have used them to lift a trailer to change the tire. Trailmanor said it was OK. So, a few turns at the rear, a few turns at the front, repeat. Of course they were 5000# jacks each.

But I have bent my fancy electric stab (?) jacks on the heavy new trailer, and am wondering if I could replace them with a set of four electric, geared telescoping jacks like my tongue jack... Well, maybe not.

While we do not use the scissor track to lift the trailer, we do use it to level the trailer if it is off a bit. We also jack the slide side a little higher before we open the slide.

You can feel when the jack is straining when you crank it.