3rd electric stabilizer jack?

[myredracer]

Has anyone installed a 3rd elec. stab. jack just in front of the wheels to minimize frame flex while camping? There doesn't appear to be any physical reason why you can't, at least on our trailer. We have a fancy new trailer with lots of bells and whistles and it just wouldn't seem right to have to stick some manual jacks in there along with some blocks and have to jack it up manually. I'm not getting younger and the electric jacks are really nice..

The only negative thing besides the cost I can think of is that it would add weight which is a concern for us. We'd be putting bottle jacks in the truck.

[mguay]

The Lippert one is the one I used in the center. Works great!

[myredracer]

I can't find a weight for just the jack, but the shipping weight is listed as 93 lbs. We'd have to weld on some square tubing to the frame to match the existing. There's a few more pounds. We're 200 lbs away from our GVWR on our TT and haven't got everything loaded into we want to for a long trip. We're thinking of adding shocks and some crossmembers. More weight. We have to watch our weight because of frame issues we've been having (on a 2 month old trailer). But our dealer is going to rectify our frame problems and hopefully weight won't remain the problem it is now.

The jacks we have now are like this:

http://store.lci1.com/electric-stabilizer-jack-kit-p67.aspx

This one is currently on ebay. The seller says he does not know who the manufacturer is. It looks interesting because the bracing goes right down to the landing pads which should make it a bit more stable.

electric stabilizer jack on ebay

[blugrassbassman]

Huntindog wrote:

myredracer wrote:
I don't know much about these. The ones on our trailer are Lippert with one motor on the side. They seem to work well. What is the benefit with two motor ones?

There is one on ebay right now that has the angle bracing going right down to the landing pads. That seems nice because it should make for more stability? Have not seen one like it yet in ding a little googling.

Yes, these are reallly slow. Too bad they don't have a pressure sensor to make it automatic.

Still wishing there was a trailer that had one button to push and it would automatically set up everything while you go have a cool drink and just watch.... 😄

Those are the ones that came on my TT. They are really slick. Not self leveling as some call them as they don't level the TT. What they do is keep equal pressure on both legs. This is a big deal as with the independent ones it is easy to rack the frame. That causes doors to stick and can even damage the TT.

But for a middle install I prefer the independent jacks. I lower them first, and since they are in the center of the frame they can be used to make small leveling adjustments. Once level, then run the other jacks down.

Ditto, I have a 35 ft TT and added a set in front of the wheels and it made a world of difference. Manual is the way to go, like said above you can adjust side to side, you can't do that with the electric ones.

[Dennis_Smith]

Your worried about 20 pounds of jacks. You are pushing it if thats a concern.

[Huntindog]

myredracer wrote:
I don't know much about these. The ones on our trailer are Lippert with one motor on the side. They seem to work well. What is the benefit with two motor ones?

There is one on ebay right now that has the angle bracing going right down to the landing pads. That seems nice because it should make for more stability? Have not seen one like it yet in ding a little googling.

Yes, these are reallly slow. Too bad they don't have a pressure sensor to make it automatic.

Still wishing there was a trailer that had one button to push and it would automatically set up everything while you go have a cool drink and just watch.... 😄

Those are the ones that came on my TT. They are really slick. Not self leveling as some call them as they don't level the TT. What they do is keep equal pressure on both legs. This is a big deal as with the independent ones it is easy to rack the frame. That causes doors to stick and can even damage the TT.

But for a middle install I prefer the independent jacks. I lower them first, and since they are in the center of the frame they can be used to make small leveling adjustments. Once level, then run the other jacks down.

[myredracer]

I don't know much about these. The ones on our trailer are Lippert with one motor on the side. They seem to work well. What is the benefit with two motor ones?

There is one on ebay right now that has the angle bracing going right down to the landing pads. That seems nice because it should make for more stability? Have not seen one like it yet in ding a little googling.

Yes, these are reallly slow. Too bad they don't have a pressure sensor to make it automatic.

Still wishing there was a trailer that had one button to push and it would automatically set up everything while you go have a cool drink and just watch.... 😄

[mguay]

I installed another in front of the wheels. I found it on eBay and bought it for a song. It matches the rear stabilizer and is the self leveling style with one motor. I added another circuit breaker and it's own power and ground. It works great. The only thing I've found is that when setting up, if you run the rear down first then just snug the center it works the best. If you go too far with the center it will unload the rear and be shaky!

[Huntindog]

Which style electric are you considering?
The ones with a motor for each jack/leg or the one that has one moto lowering 2 legs.
They both have different advantages for a middle installation.

I chose to go with standard manual jacks and a drill for mine, due to cost, and the desire to be able to use the jacks independently to make small leveling corrections with them.

It works great.

[Marsland]

I've thought about it. Does that count :B ? And I've thought it would be a good idea.

As far as it being electric I would have to say that I can lower and raise my manual ones far quicker with my little 12V drill driver fitted with a 3/4 socket. The electric units are fancier and I thought I would retrofit with motors but after using the drill I've reconsidered. Add to that the cost of the retrofit it was an easy decision. I did replace the manual tongue jack with electric. Got the dealer to throw that in the deal for the RV.