Trailer stability while parked

myredracer wrote:
We bought a set of the aluminum stacking jacks but they only extend to 17" above the ground. Our frame is 24" above the ground so it means having to carry around a bunch of blocks (like 16 pieces of 6x6) of some sort to put under them. These jacks have a lot of lateral movement and will only help vertical movement. We may end up never using these things unless I can come up with something simple and lightweight to put under them.

One solution for the height is to buy 4 sets of the Lynx blocks and caps and use those to increase the jack stand height. You wouldn't even have to take them out of the nylon bags. Also, these can double as "ramps" to work on your vehicles. Yes a little bulky, but light weight. Another option would to buy two sets of the "Race Ramp" wheel cribs to use as bases for the jack stnads. As far as movement, the key to using these jackstands is that you have to get a good load on them which you can not do with just using the screw on them. I found about 500lbs of upward support takes all movement even side to side out of them. The exact placement and how much load is needed can vary between trailers and takes some experimenting until you find the best setup. An electric tongue jack is almost a must for doing this.

We also bought one pair of BAL stabilizer braces. I expect these to help a lot. Am only going to use a pair side to side at the rear of our 29' TT and see how they do. We have a set of X-chocks which do a pretty good job of minimizing fore/aft movement. I will wait and see if a set for the front is needed. As mentioned above, the price of the BAL Lock Arm braces is much better than others.

As I previously stated trying to stabilize longer trailers only at the corners is going to be a VERY POOR solution since it does nothing to reduce the frame span (i.e. frame flex) and getting enough load on them at those large distances from the axles risks "tweaking the frame". Also, with you exceptionally high frame height you are still going to need additional height so the stabilizers at the corners aren't extended so much.

Some frames flex a lot more than others and it can help to use some sort of jacks ahead of the axles (under the frame). If you can get enough vertical height out of the jacks, a set also at each of the 4 corners will definitely help a lot.

I disagree that putting any sort of additional support at the corners is going to help ... that's just too far from the axles to be effective.

If you have a set of electric stab. jacks, have someone walk up and down the entry stairs and watch how much the jacks flex. You may be surprised at the amount of flex in these things and it may help decide what you can do to reduce movement. A forum member re-enforced his and apparently helps quite a bit. I am thinking of doing something similar.

That is one of the major shortcomings of almost all of the stabilizer jack configurations normally found on TTs as OEM equipment

Some aren't bothered by the movement and just accept it but some, like myself find it really annoying.