5th Wheel Hitch Stabilizers - any good?

[Baja_Man]

I was considering one of those tripod stabilizers that are supposed to stabilize the trailer when parked.

For some reason I have the thought that the front jacks are going to give out in the middle of the night and BOOM! the front of my 5er is going to fall to the ground!

My jacks work fine and I always check to ensure they are properly lubricated. The jacks don't make any unusual or grinding noises.

Thoughts on these stabilizers for 5th wheel use?

BTW....my 5er is 24' and has a GVWR of 8500#

Thanks!

[rperrym]

Could you share the tripod information that will hold up your trailer. Is it the 5000lb version that I have seen advertised.
Thanks,

Rick

[reluyog]

I purchased an aluminum tripod for our 5th wheel (22k gvwr) and it will hold the entire front of the rig up without the landing gear on the ground. I do split the weight between the front jacks and the tripod though. It's light weight and easy to store.

[CabinetmakerII]

I have used a king pin tri-pod since our coach was new 5 years ago. This winter I installed a complete set of JT stabilizers. What a difference! I will probably continue using the tri-pod for extended stays because that is where we hang our Welcome sign....

[Miles_Away]

Baja Man wrote:
Will the JT stabilzers hold up the 5er in the event of jack failure?

NO - and neither will a tripod.

[kennethwooster]

I'm one that likes my stabilizer. I've had it for about 13 years and have always used it. One plus it keeps me from running into the pin or pin box. In 2011 we bought a Cameo with Big Foot leveling system. The trailer is pretty steady, but when I added the stabilizer and put a lot of pressure on it, we really don't notice andy movement. We also use Rotochocks, between both sets of tires.

[fj12ryder]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
Due to their design, the trailer isn't going to fall if the stabilizers fail.

OTOH if you didn't put the stabilizers down, and the 6-way leveling units failed, then the trailer could fall on its nose.

First time I hit auto level it was an eye opener as for a bit it seemed the front was going to the ground!

Yeah, I've heard those things can take a nose dive before they do the level out thing. 🙂

[Cummins12V98]

fj12ryder wrote:
Due to their design, the trailer isn't going to fall if the stabilizers fail.

OTOH if you didn't put the stabilizers down, and the 6-way leveling units failed, then the trailer could fall on its nose.

First time I hit auto level it was an eye opener as for a bit it seemed the front was going to the ground!

[larry_barnhart]

bpounds wrote:

Baja Man wrote:
...the front jacks are going to give out in the middle of the night and BOOM! the front of my 5er is going to fall to the ground!...

If that has ever happened, I've never heard of it. Surely you have more plausible things to worry about.

I saw one that the pin broke on the right side and as we entered the park several guys were helping the owner. One was swinging a sledge hammer. later I talked to the owner and the broken pin wedged between the shaft. Finally it was removed and a new pin and all was good again. The fifth did have a twist I wouldn't want to have for ours as it was being worked on.

chevman

[Miles_Away]

I had a tripod and it did an OK job in reducing trailer shake. Like I said, it worked OK, but was a pain in the butt because you had to set it up every time you camped, then take it down, and store it (the biggest pain in the butt). I eventually went to landing gear stabilizers and found that they not only worked better than the tripod but they were self storing and took only about 90 seconds to set up.

[Dave_H_M]

i nick named my tripod " the octopus" :B

I sold it for 50 bucks a few years back when camping in FL and switched to Winfield stabilizers.

For me the best move I made.

[cpaulsen]

Have used our tripod stabilizer for over 10 years on 4 different 5ver's....it helped on everyone of them. Never have had any front landing gear failures.

[valhalla360]

Landing gear is incredibly unlikely to fail and the tripods aren't designed to hold the trailer anyway.

We wondered what the big deal was as we didn't have any for 6yrs of full timing. Last summer, we had a leaf spring fail so we swapped them all out and while it was apart, we flipped the axles.

With the extra height, there was dramatically more wiggle.

A couple weeks ago, saw a tripod on sale so we tried it. It does make a big difference.

[bpounds]

Baja Man wrote:
...the front jacks are going to give out in the middle of the night and BOOM! the front of my 5er is going to fall to the ground!...

If that has ever happened, I've never heard of it. Surely you have more plausible things to worry about.

[Coach-man]

Walk around a campground, anywhere in the USA, and probably Canada as well, and you will find at least one person trying to sell their"s! Should tell you something about there effectiveness!