Leveling Jacks pro & con

[garmp]

Thinking about up sizing from a 22' to a 26' class C and am thinking about adding leveling jacks. We have blocks, but have only used them once in over 2 years, but with a 26 footer it might be a different story.
My question is: are leveling jacks really worth it? Not only in dollar amounts, but also considering the weight factor. The convenience factor is unquestioned. But there again, when do I put blocks under the jacks or don't you? What are the limits, etc?
FYI We mainly like COE, State, TVA, etc. and some municipal parks. Rarely do commercial.

[maillemaker]

What Drew said.

I have had to jack my front end enough that my front tires came off the ground (or nearly so), but never the back end. Back end tires have to touch or you will roll away!

Also as Drew said once your jacks are touching the ground and take even a slight amount of weight the bounce is gone. RV can no longer move downward once the jacks are touching the ground.

[DrewE]

The front suspension is attached to the frame, so if properly installed the jacks attached to the frame wouldn't put significantly worse strain on things. (The weight on the front wheels is basically carried by the upper coil spring seats; the other suspension connections are to keep things properly positioned and lined up.)

Lifting the rear end off the ground is somewhat more problematic, for a couple reasons. First, it eliminates the parking brake from keeping the vehicle from moving, which is not a great idea for rather obvious reasons when on an incline. Second, the rear jacks are usually mounted near the rear of the back overhang, on the frame extensions, and they may not be designed to carry the full weight of the vehicle when suspended that way.

It's not necessary to lift the wheels off the ground to eliminate bouncing; it's sufficient just to take a portion of the load off the suspension, not much more than just having the jacks firmly contacting the ground. Lifting beyond that would be for leveling.

[IAMICHABOD]

I got a question to ask,but first I want set this up.

There is a campground that we have visited a lot over the years 5 to 8 times a year,its close and we like it.

On a recent trip we had a larger group so we didn't camp in one of the spots that we usually camp at. While on a ride I passed one spot that we used and I told my Grandaughter it was a good thing that someone wasn't looking for us because in that spot was a RV identical to mine,same year and everything. I noticed that the front tires were off the ground with the jacks deployed.I did notice that the front ones were mounted on the frame just behind the front tire. I have seen this on other rigs.

Now I have parked in this spot a dozen times or more while it does slope a bit toward the road all I ever used was my Tri-Levlers and only on the first step. I have since been back,about 2 weeks later and it was the same as usual.

So is this how it is done? Is that the way to get all of that bounce out that the others have talked about to

It seems that doing this would put a lot of strain on the frame.

[maillemaker]

Also, while it is true that they help considerably with movement and bounce, don't expect them to eliminate it completely. They won't.

I don't know how they could not. They are bolted directly to the frame, so your RV frame is literally sitting on jacks when they are down.

I mean, it's not absolutely 100% rock-solid, sure you can feel a vibration across the house, but it's an absolute night-and-day difference jacks down vs. jacks up.

Maybe the blinds wiggle a tiny bit when I roll over in bed when they are down. As opposed to every blind in the RV going SLAP SLAP SLAP when I roll over when the jacks are up.

[johnwalkerpa1]

We have Bigfoot jacks and like them a lot.

The only downside is

1. Cost
2. If you are already on marginal terms with your OCCC, the jacks add weight

Also, while it is true that they help considerably with movement and bounce, don't expect them to eliminate it completely. They won't.

[sprint99]

Our first Class C did not have them. Our second came with the Big Foot Jacks and I love them. Can't see having a MH without them now.

[camperdave]

maillemaker wrote:
My 30-year-old Winnebago Warrior had jacks installed by the previous (first) owner. I'm so glad he did.

The best benefit of the jacks is not so much the leveling, but stability. Even on level ground, the RV is still floating on its suspension. So every time someone gets up in the night to go pee, or they flop over in bed, the entire RV bounces around.

With jacks, the house is rock-solid like...a house!

That was definitely my fear. In my old travel trailer, the motion was terrible. I went so far as to buy x-chocks in addition to using the drop stabilizers to steady the motion.

However, in the motorhome (an E450 chassis) it just has not been an issue. I can definitely tell someone is moving around, but it's nothing like the wobbling of the old travel trailer. The suspension and tires on these things are quite stiff.

Anyway, I certainly agree leveling jacks are awesome, and I wish I had them. But I'm also a-ok without.

[maillemaker]

My 30-year-old Winnebago Warrior had jacks installed by the previous (first) owner. I'm so glad he did.

The best benefit of the jacks is not so much the leveling, but stability. Even on level ground, the RV is still floating on its suspension. So every time someone gets up in the night to go pee, or they flop over in bed, the entire RV bounces around.

With jacks, the house is rock-solid like...a house!

[ol__yeller]

My 27' Winnibago Aspect didn't have levelers. I used ramps which worked OK. My new Entegra Esteem is at 32.5' It came with levelers and I love them. Drive in, push a button, presto, level. I think this will likely be my last RV but I'd pay extra for them. I'm getting too old to fiddle with ramps or blocks.

[way2roll]

IAMICHABOD wrote:

camperdave wrote:

Disagree. In my buying experience, the presence of jacks or not had no affect on the pricing. It's a total lost cost, only do so for your own personal usage, don't count on jacks adding resale.

I have to agree with camperdave,I also found that on a used Class C the jacks did not add much to the asking price,maybe$2-300 if at all to the price of the RV, a small return for a $4000+ investment. I spent a lot of time looking and ended up with a Former Rental

On the other hand on the Class A there was a bigger markup,seems that when a person is spending big bucks they want all the bells and whistles and are willing to pay for it. It seem that most Class A RVs have them and people are willing to pay extra for them.

I hadn't considered that, maybe it's a Class A thing that affects the price more. I guess Camper Dave has a point. I should probably stick to Class A topics 🙂

[IAMICHABOD]

camperdave wrote:

Disagree. In my buying experience, the presence of jacks or not had no affect on the pricing. It's a total lost cost, only do so for your own personal usage, don't count on jacks adding resale.

I have to agree with camperdave,I also found that on a used Class C the jacks did not add much to the asking price,maybe$2-300 if at all to the price of the RV, a small return for a $4000+ investment. I spent a lot of time looking and ended up with a Former Rental

On the other hand on the Class A there was a bigger markup,seems that when a person is spending big bucks they want all the bells and whistles and are willing to pay for it. It seem that most Class A RVs have them and people are willing to pay extra for them.

[way2roll]

camperdave wrote:

way2roll wrote:
If you don't plan on keeping it forever and will eventually sell it, the jacks will add a lot more value and be more attractive to buyers than a MH without them.

Disagree. In my buying experience, the presence of jacks or not had no affect on the pricing. It's a total lost cost, only do so for your own personal usage, don't count on jacks adding resale.

Then we can agree to disagree. I had 2 Class A MH's of almost the same make and model. I bought the new one mainly because it had jacks and sold the one without jacks. Long story short, we ended up selling the new one too for a completely different MH. They both had similar miles, were pretty much identical. The one with jacks fetched $8k more than the one without. I only paid $4k to have them added when I bought it. A bank was involved in both transactions and they valued them differently almost solely on the jacks option. Nada will reflect a difference too. As far as fair market value and buyer preference - I can tell you I wouldn't buy a MH without them. Not only for convenience but for the value in resale that I personally experienced. I think more people care about them than don't. Identical MH's, one with jacks and one without are NOT the same value and fetch different prices respectively. I think they are pretty much standard equipment anymore due to buyer demand.

[camperdave]

way2roll wrote:
If you don't plan on keeping it forever and will eventually sell it, the jacks will add a lot more value and be more attractive to buyers than a MH without them.

Disagree. In my buying experience, the presence of jacks or not had no affect on the pricing. It's a total lost cost, only do so for your own personal usage, don't count on jacks adding resale.

[Expyinflight]

blownstang01 wrote:
I installed Bigfoot jacks on my 31'. Love them. Really adds in the stability when "walking around" inside. The big "feet" that they use haven't needed any additional blocking so far after 2 years use, although I do carry blocks in case. I bought mine on sale for $1,995 and installed them myself. If they were 2-3 times that cost, I probably could have lived without them, but very happy to have them.

We had Bigfoot jacks installed on ours in June. Love them.