Thinking of adding two Scissor jacks to my springdale...

Huntindog wrote:

LarryJM wrote:

ls1mike wrote:
I have a 32 foot Passport. I bet our frames our similar, both Keystone.
I just got a set of these.

I put 2 before the tires and two after the tires half way back. Then I also have two larger ones that I put on both side up front just aft of the front jacks. With the kids running around it keeps it nice and steady and it takes an extra 5 mins at set up and break down. I don't use them to level, just to stabilize.

WOW you are one of the few IMO that have seen the light and found the secret in stabilizing longer trailers and something I have been using for over 30 years. I do exactly what you do except my placement is like 6' in front and back of each axle and long ago I took off those useless stab jacks and took them to the dump. These with the tongue jack make my 32' TT ROCK STEADY, NO BOUNCE, NO MOVEMENT, NO JIGGLE. Now one caveat is that we have a rear bedroom and it's just the two of us so if I go back in the back of the bedroom and jump up and down I can get some movement, but that is not an issue for us. However, for families with a living area back in the rear two addition jack stands might be require at the end of the trailer to stabilize that section of the trailer.

Doing what you and I have found out is exactly why folks that simple add a third set of jacks close to the wheels improve their stability to a large degree.

I use my tongue jack to get sufficient pressure on my jack stands by lowering the tongue about 1" nose down then put in the rear jack stands and snug up. I then raise the nose to about 1" nose up, do the same for the front jack stands and then lower the tongue to relieve all pressure then snug up the tongue jack. I even used my sherline tongue scale to measure the "force" on each jack stand and it was in the neighborhood of 400 to 600 lbs.

I side benefit of getting rid of the factory stab jacks is that I saved around 50lbs and now have no maintenance or need to carry things like cordless drills to use with the stab jacks and the aluminum jack stands I have I have had since 1981 and they are on their second trailer and will last another 100yrs and are basically maintenance free and weigh less than 5lbs for all four.

Two big issues with the normal stab jacks you see from the factory is that they are mounted at the wrong places, but are generally there because obstructions prevent proper placement. Also, they have many pivot and for lack of a better word "slop" joints which allow movement in one or even two planes. These two issue prevent proper stabilization of longer trailers especially. However, it seems the public in general are enamored with them and look for "BANDAIDS" instead of "SOLUTIONS/FIXES" to the stabilizing problem.

Larry

There is no doubt that this style of jack is the absolute best at stabilization, akin to setting the TT on cinder blocks.

There are of course some downsides to them.
Many of us don't relish getting down on our hands and knees anymore. Live long enough, and you will probably become one of us. And for those that boondock off of paved surfaces, the jacks will usually require readjusting every day or two... More crawling around on the knees.

NICE TRY, but being a certified card carrying "SENIOR CITIZEN" with the attendent bad knees I have learned long ago how to work with my limitations. No more down on the Knees and a simple step stool takes care of that and a lot of folks have to get down and put blocks of wood, etc. under the stab jacks to start with. Thus I sit to put the stands under the trailer and snug them up and don't have to "BEND" over screwing up the normal stab jacks.

With the standard type jacks, it can be snugged up easily while standing on ones feet.

Mine is a one step process all while sitting down and I even carry one of the special step stools that are a lot higher than the normal ones so getting up is a lot easier on the knees. Even with my factory stab jacks there was no way to extend them without bending down to get the crank one and you couldn't crank them up w/o bending over.

And finally, the standard type jacks are giving way on newer TTs to the self pressure equalizing power jacks like the Lipperts.
I have them now, and they are a signifignant step up in stabilization from the standard jacks. And when the ground settles, snugging them back up is just a push of a button.

The jackstands can be reset w/o messing with the rear ones by simply cranking up the tongue jack some more to get the tension and then it does require you to spend those HOURS getting out the trusty ole stepstool and snugging up the fronts ... DONE DEAL in about 5min max.

One can always find what appears "FAULTS" with anything, but the key is to separate those that are really issues with those that just need that extra finesse to make them doeable. Your drawbacks IMO are just one that is very simple to overcome.

For those interested below is the type of step stool I carry and sit inside the door so at rest stops we can get in and out of the trailer w/o having to "BEND DOWN" and mess with the steps. It also is handy for doing the sewer hook up and dumping. Just that several extra inches in height makes this model a boon for us "REAL SENIOR CITIZENS" :B



STEP ON STOOL

Which is available at Lowe's

Larry