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Old 08-29-2010, 09:42 AM   #1
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stabalizing camper

we just bought a 34 ft. camper. it came with the stabilizer jacks front and rear. i have been camping for a few years but, need to know if anyone out there has come up with a way to keep the camper from"rocking" and making it more stable? have tried some small bottle jacks on axles. it helped some, but not enough. thanks for the replies.
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Old 08-29-2010, 09:46 AM   #2
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Ahhh, here's a use for the wooden blocks. If you make the distance from the bottom of the jack to the ground less by using blocks, your camper will be more stable. See pic here:
woodenblocks | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
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Old 08-29-2010, 10:20 AM   #3
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You can mount extra jacks near the center of the trailer for best results.

A cheaper way, with okay results, woud be using the "X" type chocks that fit between the tires.

Hope this helps.
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Old 08-29-2010, 11:33 AM   #4
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One of the problems I see on my Rockwood Windjammer is the crossmember that the Stabilizer attaches to is to small.

With the stabilizers down I can push on the back of the the trailer and rock it and I can see this 1 1/4" angle iron crossmember flexing a lot.

I currrently using automotive jack stands under the rear frame rails until I can replace or reinforce the crossmember. The trailer is rock solid for now.

What I did was level the trailer. measured the height to the rear frame rails. Set the jack stand and found some wood shims. Lowered the tongue. Set the stands and raised the tongue back up till the frame touched the stands. Works great sitting on concrete. Not sure I'd do this on any other surface.
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Old 08-29-2010, 11:57 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kappel15 View Post
have tried some small bottle jacks on axles. it helped some, but not enough.
Depending on the type of suspension, if you're placing jacks at the axle, the suspension is still active.

Mount a stabilizer on the frame, closest to the center of the trailer. Once deployed, the trailer tires and suspension become in-active.
A good set of wheel chock will help For and Aft movement.
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Old 08-29-2010, 03:26 PM   #6
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i use tire chocks on one side, and one of the tire gizmo's that wrenches between the tires on the other. i think alot has to do with the crank down stabilizers, which are not scissor jacks. the reason for using jacks on axles was to try and eliminate still being on a suspension system which will give. will have to try other means. if anyone is familiar with rockwood tt's, there is no framework exposed on the underside like most trailers. it would be an easy fix then with the I beam exposed. thanks for the info and keep it coming.
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Old 08-29-2010, 03:29 PM   #7
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i have been pondering the idea of building some type of adjustable stands for the back end, under the i beam. sure it would do better than the stabilizers they have on it. something similar to the braces they use to hold the slides in place.
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Old 09-01-2010, 09:53 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by DCRC View Post
One of the problems I see on my Rockwood Windjammer is the crossmember that the Stabilizer attaches to is to small.

With the stabilizers down I can push on the back of the the trailer and rock it and I can see this 1 1/4" angle iron crossmember flexing a lot.

I currrently using automotive jack stands under the rear frame rails until I can replace or reinforce the crossmember. The trailer is rock solid for now.

What I did was level the trailer. measured the height to the rear frame rails. Set the jack stand and found some wood shims. Lowered the tongue. Set the stands and raised the tongue back up till the frame touched the stands. Works great sitting on concrete. Not sure I'd do this on any other surface.
i too can rock the back of the camper and watch the channel iron move. poor design compared to scissor jacks me thinks
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Old 09-02-2010, 08:34 PM   #9
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I have the JT Strong Arms on our 30' 5th wheel. We get no movement in the trailer. They are expensive to buy but in my opinion worth every penny.

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Old 09-02-2010, 10:12 PM   #10
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I saw those JT arms on a camper just a few days ago, nice but extreme overkill. And the buyer pays a lot for all of those fancy attachments that will never be used. For all practical purposes, you only need two bars on the front, and two on the back; side-to-side and front to back. There is a less expensive version out there, I'll see if I can find the maker.
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Old 09-02-2010, 10:21 PM   #11
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Found them, called SteadyFast. And they actually only use 3 arms, which come to think of it, is probably all that's neccessary. The key, as they describe, is to have solid mounts and no slop in the attachment points.
About $300, not bad.
I will be making my own set for our new fifth asap.
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Old 09-02-2010, 10:23 PM   #12
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I have the JT Strong Arms and they work great, no movement and are easy to adjust when setting up. Would not be with out them.
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Old 09-03-2010, 12:09 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by crocus View Post
I saw those JT arms on a camper just a few days ago, nice but extreme overkill. And the buyer pays a lot for all of those fancy attachments that will never be used. For all practical purposes, you only need two bars on the front, and two on the back; side-to-side and front to back. There is a less expensive version out there, I'll see if I can find the maker.
That isn't exactly correct IMO. With the 6 tube system we use, not the same brand as mentioned here, the Front and Rear stabilizers installed cross ways take care of the side to side movement. The front stabilizers installed front to back take care of the forward to back movement. Diana
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Old 09-03-2010, 07:30 AM   #14
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If you understand the physics of movement, it is clear that one bar across the front legs plus one front to back is enough to stabilize the front of the camper. Then one across the back legs finishes the job. Doubling up the bars might add a small improvement, but is it worth spending twice as much? I don't believe so.
And if you look at how the JT bars are mounted on the back legs, the geometry is actually all wrong, allowing any slop in the mounts to be amplified.
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Old 09-03-2010, 07:54 AM   #15
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I replaced the jacks with scissor jacks and built my own version of the strong arm on the rear, one only. It goes from the frame to the scissor jack and travels up and down with the jack, I have two wing nuts to crank down and its all set. I turned the front jacks to a 45 degree angle. the side to side sway has been about 95 percent eliminated, my wife is very happy with the results. For front to back movement I made wheel chokes out of wood blocks. I have another jack that I might install at the axle to help eliminate bounce.
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Old 09-13-2010, 12:46 AM   #16
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[QUOTE=kappel15;59314]we just bought a 34 ft. camper. it came with the stabilizer jacks front and rear. i have been camping for a few years but, need to know if anyone out there has come up with a way to keep the camper from"rocking" and making it more stable? have tried some small bottle jacks on axles. it helped some, but not enough. thanks for the replies.[/QUO

There are things available from using chocks and blocks to tri pods to permanently attached stabilizers. These do the best job to help eliminate interior movement. We use the Plug It Right brand. Diana
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