Stabilization

[chuck100]

Lot of side to side movement in 5'er--considering BAL telescopic jacks--also adding another xchock as only have chock on one side--please advise

[overthehillbill]

SteadtFast and X Chocks. Tripod takes up storage space and is a pain to install.

[Tango__AE7UI]

I installed the Cross Brace Stabilizers, front and rear, from Winfield Products.
http://winfieldrvproducts.com/Home.html
Simple, no holes to drill, installation.

[2-MTnesters]

Another vote for SteadyFast. Had it on our last 5er for 5 years then removed and installed on the current Montana. Wouldn't be without it. Also have the X-Chalks for the wheels. With longer 5er (38ft) I experienced some "bounce", installed 7500# scissors jacks in front of the front wheels and camper is rock solid now.

[B_O__Plenty]

I use X-Chocks. That's all. But I'm thinking most of my movement disappeared with the installation of my Michelin XPS Ribs. Their stiff sidewalls seem to really help take out the shake when parked.

B.O.

[wandering1]

When someone is walking around inside the 5er it will bounce/wiggle. Rubber tires will bounce, suspension systems are made to bounce. To eliminate the bouncing/wiggling you need to keep the weight from pushing down on the tires and suspension by making sure your stabilizers are tight between the 5er and the ground. Don’t just let them out far enough to touch the ground, turn the crank more to make sure they are tight so they will not allow the 5er to push down on the tires. Use a bipod/tripod under the king pin. Make sure it is tight between the ground and the king pin, don’t just adjust it till it touches, tighten it so the front overhang will not move. Make sure to check the stabilizers and bipod/tripod every couple of days because they will loosen up over time. Doesn’t make sense spending a lot of money on landing jack stabilizers when the landing jacks are stable and don’t bounce up and down. If you have properly adjusted the stabilizers and bipod/tripod then you shouldn’t have any bouncing/wiggling. This has worked for me over the past 15 years.
Chocks are to keep the 5er from rolling forward or backwards. They do not eliminate the weight of the 5er from pushing down and causing the bouncing/wiggling. If you park on a site that has a incline/decline then you probably want to use chocks to keep your 5er from rolling when you unhitch.

There are a lot of other options out there to “eliminate” the bouncing/wiggling if you have the extra money and want to spend it.

[thmterry]

The guy that did this install says you have to do the back too.

STEADYfast install

[Dutch___Di]

I have to respectfully disagree. We have been fulltiming for 17 years with our Carriage our only "home". The only downside was the unwanted movement while parked and in heavy winds. We tried various things over the years to improve this situation. We installed permanently mounted aftermarket stabilizers on the front and rear. While I agree that nothing will "totally" eliminate movement, they took care of 95% of the movement which was and is absolutely wonderful and makes living on the road sooo much more enjoyable. Di

AlabamaTraveler wrote:
In my opinion, the only way to totally eliminate movement in an RV is to switch to a tent.

[shadows4]

I installed the.BAL LOK-ARM stabilizers. Similar to the JT's. Made a huge improvement.

[Norskeman]

cekkk wrote:
People talk about just installing the Steadyfast on the front to see if that is adequate. So if you need it in the rear also, do you buy two systems?

I installed the front set first and used the fifth wheel and then installed the rear set and used it again - installing the rear set did help some more.

With any RV on a suspension and wheels it is hard to get rid of all the movement - it just gets minimized.

I was looking for an option to the pin tri-pod and the Strong Arms met my needs.

[AlabamaTraveler]

In my opinion, the only way to totally eliminate movement in an RV is to switch to a tent.

[cekkk]

"1: buying a pair of tripod adjustable stands for the slideout took care of side to side movement (Amazon $ 46 pair?)"

That can be a really bad idea should a heavy rain or anything else cause the unit to shift. Trailer moves. Slides don't.

We were setting up on a gravel site in an RV park. Extremely heavy rain on already saturated ground came and the tongue jack slipped off the block. fortunately I was still setting it up and had not lowered the stabilizers or I'm pretty sure they would have been damaged. If that happened while slides were out and they were stabilized separately, the trailer would have been totalled as far as I'm concerned.

[mileshuff]

Thumb wrote:
1: buying a pair of tripod adjustable stands for the slideout took care of side to side movement

Generally slideout supports are not recommended. The supports can cause significant stress on the slide rails as the trailer bounces vertically but the slide cannot. Its possible some older trailers were designed for use with supports so I'd check before ever using slide supports.

[cekkk]

People talk about just installing the Steadyfast on the front to see if that is adequate. So if you need it in the rear also, do you buy two systems?

[goducks10]

I too made some stabilizers.