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Old 07-22-2010, 02:12 PM   #21
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Just realized we'll be near your area the first week of August. We're want to stay between Charlottesville and Richmond if possible. We're considering the Small Country Campground in Louisa or the KOA just south of Charlottesville. We need a good wifi and a site where we can put the satellite dish. Anyway, we'll hit a few more Civil War sites (or is it the War of Northern Aggression sites?) while we're in the area.
I am not familiar with the KOA south of Charlottesville. I have rode through Small Country, and it is a nice little campground. PM dimurrrw here on the forum for further information......he has a permanent site at Small Country.
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Old 07-22-2010, 08:51 PM   #22
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bmg,
Visit Class A Customs .

I bought a pair of 7500# scissor jacks for $40. Same jacks that CW sells. Look here to view the pics. I replaced the rear stabilizers with the new scissor jacks, then installed the stabilizers just ahead of the front axle. The improved stability of the trailer was very noticeable. No more bounce of the tires while walking and moving around inside.
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Old 07-22-2010, 10:14 PM   #23
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bmg,
Visit Class A Customs .

I bought a pair of 7500# scissor jacks for $40. Same jacks that CW sells. Look here to view the pics. I replaced the rear stabilizers with the new scissor jacks, then installed the stabilizers just ahead of the front axle. The improved stability of the trailer was very noticeable. No more bounce of the tires while walking and moving around inside.
I had seen your set up before on another thread. I like what you're doing. But you have a heavy 5th wheel and putting the jacks on the back should not cause any twisting of frame. I'm concerned about jacking the rear of our lite sv264. On other discussions some lite owners have had problems or concerns about the jacks placed that far back. I think I can achieve the same stability as you have by placing the jacks just behind the wheels. Then there we'll have 7 points of support: the tongue, the 4 stabilizers and the 2 jacks. This coupled with the Roto chucks that just arrived today should keep everything nice and tight. Our tt is only about 4100 lbs.; maybe 5000 max loaded.
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Old 07-23-2010, 06:14 AM   #24
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bmg,

No matter what type of jack you're using, trying to level a trailer with said jacks is not the correct way. The jacks are only to stabilize the trailer, to help prevent unwanted movement. Boards, or something similar, are to be used under the tires to adjust side-to-side. Once this is achieved and trailer is un-hitched, the tongue jack(or landing gear) should be used to lever front-to-back. Again, once this is achieved, then stabilizers(or jacks) are deployed to stabilize the trailer.
Using stabilizers or jacks to lift a trailer, for leveling purposes, will flex ANY trailer, no matter if they're Ultra-Lite or not.
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Old 07-23-2010, 08:19 AM   #25
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bmg,

No matter what type of jack you're using, trying to level a trailer with said jacks is not the correct way. The jacks are only to stabilize the trailer, to help prevent unwanted movement. Boards, or something similar, are to be used under the tires to adjust side-to-side. Once this is achieved and trailer is un-hitched, the tongue jack(or landing gear) should be used to lever front-to-back. Again, once this is achieved, then stabilizers(or jacks) are deployed to stabilize the trailer.
Using stabilizers or jacks to lift a trailer, for leveling purposes, will flex ANY trailer, no matter if they're Ultra-Lite or not.
I agree with you. We use the boards and can get it pretty close. But we're trying to get as perfect a level as possible to keep the refrigerator working at max efficiency. So there's always a tweak. We use a hydraulic jack to make the half inch or so adjustment to bring it to level and then tighten the stabilizers to keep it there. Well, rather than using the hydraulic jack why not install 2 scissor jacks just behind the wheels to make the final side to side adjustments? I'm not looking to crank it up 3 or 4 inches like I've seem some try to do with their power jacks.
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Old 07-23-2010, 07:10 PM   #26
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But we're trying to get as perfect a level as possible to keep the refrigerator working at max efficiency.
I do understand the theory behind the Fridge being level to operate efficiently, but sometime one will take it to the extreme. I, and many friends I camp with, have never checked the level of the Fridge. In fact, we set up our trailers, tilted a bit to the street side and back, so the A/C runoff will drain away from the awning area.

My Fridge works great this way. Went I open a cold COORS Lite from the Fridge, a Blue Jenny appears.
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Old 08-14-2010, 08:10 PM   #27
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Well the scissor jack project is finally completed. Installed 2 BAL scissor jacks just behind the rear wheels. Then replaced the stabilizers on each corner with 4 more. The difference was incredible. Now with these and the rotochucks we have no noticeable shaking or wobble. I was considering another set about 4 feet ahead of the front wheel, but realized the black tank would interfere with the jack. Besides, it appears that we don't need additional stability.

I caught a break in removing the factory stabilizers from our SV 264. There was a cross piece that held 2 screws and 1 screw at the other end. No welds to chisel or grind!! Couldn't believe what cheap crap the factory installed. Anyway one project is done. I am thinking about having the jacks welded to the I beam, primarily, to keep them from walking away if we leave the TT at a campground for a day or so. Has anyone else done that?
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Old 08-14-2010, 08:54 PM   #28
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Pictures.....................Please.
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Old 08-14-2010, 09:31 PM   #29
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Pictures.....................Please.

Hmm, that means getting my wife's camera, taking several pictures, taking it back to her, having her mess with them on Photoshop, then sending them to my computer, me taking each one and downloading, then copying and paste them, etc etc.

I'll work on it, but at our age we don't buy green bananas and we're more technically challenged every day. I'll put it on the "to do" list.
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Old 08-14-2010, 09:35 PM   #30
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C'mon.
Posting pics ain't that bad, if you say it real fast.
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Old 08-14-2010, 10:17 PM   #31
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Mike's and my trailers don't shake any more. We're over 60.
It may wobble but no shaking going on.
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Old 08-15-2010, 12:02 PM   #32
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Mike's and my trailers don't shake any more. We're over 60.
It may wobble but no shaking going on.

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Old 08-15-2010, 06:39 PM   #33
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Mike's and my trailers don't shake any more. We're over 60.
It may wobble but no shaking going on.
It was necessary for us to eliminate as much shaking as possible to avoid snickers and eyes roiling when we camped. See we're a couple of old farts trying to get along and recently bought a TT. For years we have used a therapeutic massage machine for general well being and to help with the back kinks. There's no problem using the machine at home and it travels well when we stay in motels. The problem arises when we use it in the camper. If you look at the picture below you'll understand our concerns.

The recommended usage of the massager is 3 times a day for 10 to 20 minutes each. When we camp we seem to have lots of free time and tend to use the machine more. The difficulty in using it in the TT is that it shakes the camper. That was especially true with the cheap factory stabilizers. We're hoping that the new scissor jacks eliminate the shaking problem.

You can imagine the looks that we would get with the camper is shaking for 20 minutes, 3 times a day. Oh the shame of it all. I'm concerned we may be banned at some campgrounds. What would the kids think.

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