Stabilizing trailer

Several years ago we did a Carnival Caribbean Cruise. One night in bed, we felt the ship make a movement. I asked my wife if she felt "that" and she "Yes." I said, that feels just like the travel trailer wiggling in the wind when we're in bed, doesn't it? She said, "Yes."

Ever since then, when the trailer wiggles and we're in bed, I now ask her, "Did you feel that?" And her (now) answer is, "Yes, it felt just the ship that one night on the cruise!"

Kind of like on that ship, we just got use to the camper making wiggle motions and simply enjoy it now.

Tighten, secure, fasten, they still wiggle, unless you take the wheels completely off and put the entire thing on a block foundation.

Enjoy the cruise! The "LAST" good night sleep you ever had was probably the night BEFORE your first child was born! As long as you have kids, even when they become adults themselves, you'll NEVER had a truly sound night of sleep again!

If you get the BAL Lockarm stabilizer struts, you only have to buy a pair of them and are cheaper. You might find a pair at the rear is all you need. I installed a pair at the rear only and it really helps. I mounted them to the underside of the bumper and get some fore/aft reduction in motion as well as side-side.

Adding a pair of jacks just ahead of the axle under the frame can help too. Having a larger surface area under the jack pads can also help on some sites, like a piece of 2x8. Some TTs simply have a weaker floor structure and frame.

My TT has a scissors jack at an angle on each corner. I noticed that they had a tendency to settle, so need retightening every couple days sometimes. I've been using a cordless 1/2 inch drill/driver to run them up and down, and finally found a torque setting that is tight enough to stabilize the rig without lifting the tires too much. And I've found that using that same torque setting at all four corners seems to work perfectly for avoiding squeaks, door closing issues, and wobblies.

No, not doing that, I level first, then secure with the stands. If I have them too tight, or too loose, then the floor squeaks, and the door sticks. Usually a 1/4 turn on the wrench one way or the other does it. I know those things wont support the weight of the trailer, and they will snap off if I do. I run them down with my drill at all four corners, then grab the wrench and give a snug up turn, and then check that the floor is quiet and the door opens and closes smoothly. This tells me I don't have a bow in the frame. If I put too much pressure on the frame from the jacks the door wont close smoothly, and catches, and if I don't have enough pressure, then the floor squeaks.

It's the wiggle that has me concerned, I saw the trailer physically moving sideways on the jacks.

Sounds like you are using the scissors jacks to level up. That's not what they are meant for. Level up with blocks under the tires and the front jack as needed. THEN tighten up the stabilizer jacks.

You should NEVER have so much pressure on the stab jacks that the frame is twisting!!!

Mine are welded to the frame front and rear, so not that simple to change around. Would it help them any if I stack pads and shorten the length of the stab? Been using the large plastic pads. I found that I have to go around several times tweaking them to make sure the frame isn't twisted in any way or the door doesn't close well and the floor squeaks. Needs just the right amount of pressure.

I will look into those two add on's.

Another thing to remember is that the day after you setup, see if the stabilizers need to be tightened up a little bit. Not much, but sometimes they settle over night.

Look at the Steadyfast Stabilizers, similar to JT Strongarms but only three handles to turn. Made a huge difference in our FW.

Scissor jacks are only stable in one direction. For best stability mount them at each corner on an angle to the frame / \ and opposite to each other.

For even better results invest in a set of JT Strongarms or something similar. Best mod I ever made. My tt wiggled to the point that it was breaking the bolt heads off the bolts that mounted the jacks to the frame. The JT Strongarms took all movement out of my tt, even with the kids running around in it.

My Coleman came with 2 stabilizer jacks in the rear, I bought 2 more for the front at HF and installed them myself, I also use 2X6 pressure treated pads under the stabilizers for added stability, the stabilizers are not made for leveling the unit, I put mine down after leveling and when touching the pads I go another 1/2 yo 3/4 turn and my unit is stable.