Scissor Jacks?

[bmg]

Just bought an sv264 and found on our first trip that leveling was a bit more involved than the pop up I had years ago. We like to go the mountains along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and NC. The national park service has done a lousy job of creating level sites, even though they're paved. Some of the private campgrounds aren't much better. Some trailers had one side up as much as 6''. We have boards, but after hassling with the stabilizers and a small hydraulic jack, I thought scissor jacks might be in order.

We checked out some Ultra Scissor Jacks and they seem to be priced at about $55 for a pair at Camping World. Is this a good quality product? Also I noticed that some trailers had jacks only in the back, while others had 2 in the front as well. Which is the best way to go?

[LadyWindrider]

I managed to buy a couple of scissor jacks direct from Lippert for about $32.00 each, if I remember correctly. If you are thinking of picking the trailer up with them, it won't work. You must keep the wheels on the ground.

Easiest way to level is to have enough boards, lynx levelers, lego blocks, whatever, to put under the wheels to get the side/side level correct. Then unhook, and use the tongue jack for front/rear level, then and only then put down the scissor jacks. I can adjust my side-to-side level an inch or so with the scissor jacks on each corner, so that doesn't have to be perfect. Never lift the wheels off the ground as this will cause an unstable condition since the top of the scissor jack even bolted to the frame will not prevent a forward or backward shift, and subsequent collapse of your trailer.
My 2 cents, others will chime in I'm sure.

[milzat]

I second what windrider stated.

[flyrotor]

Same here, not made to lift, only stabilize, and to answer your questions on how many, you need one for each corner, including the front.

[bmg]

Originally Posted by windrider

I managed to buy a couple of scissor jacks direct from Lippert for about $32.00 each, if I remember correctly. If you are thinking of picking the trailer up with them, it won't work. You must keep the wheels on the ground.

Easiest way to level is to have enough boards, lynx levelers, lego blocks, whatever, to put under the wheels to get the side/side level correct. Then unhook, and use the tongue jack for front/rear level, then and only then put down the scissor jacks. I can adjust my side-to-side level an inch or so with the scissor jacks on each corner, so that doesn't have to be perfect. Never lift the wheels off the ground as this will cause an unstable condition since the top of the scissor jack even bolted to the frame will not prevent a forward or backward shift, and subsequent collapse of your trailer.
My 2 cents, others will chime in I'm sure.

Thanks Windrider,

If you only use them for slight adjustments, why not just use the stabilizers? In addition to the boards for leveling, I plan to get a good set of wheel chocks.

[flyrotor]

Originally Posted by bmg

Thanks Windrider,

If you only use them for slight adjustments, why not just use the stabilizers? In addition to the boards for leveling, I plan to get a good set of wheel chocks.

I read it as using both, just don't try to lift the weight off the wheels, rather to stabilize the movement and if you lift a little that's ok

[rockwood06]

I use a 2x6 treated lumber that is 4 1/2 foot long under the wheels and i carry two of them with me. The yellow blocks are great because they are lite weight but I have found that if i but them on the ground under the jacks they have a tendency to walk into the dirt or sand so I place a board that is just a little larger then the yellow blocks under the blocks so that they are on something solid which helps. Now the other thing I have found is that the higher I go with the yellow blocks the more flex there is. It would be better if the yellow blocks were solid.

[MtnGuy]

bmg, I have the sister ship to the SV264....the SV263. The frame is a lite-weight I beam. No way would I try to lift much weight at any point on the frame, except maybe near the axles. If you notice, the axle connection points have extra support there.

I level my camper as close a possible with blocks, and might "tweak" it a little with the stab jacks on the low side, put the jacks down on the opposite side, then call it a day.

[bmg]

Originally Posted by mtnguy

bmg, I have the sister ship to the SV264....the SV263. The frame is a lite-weight I beam. No way would I try to lift much weight at any point on the frame, except maybe near the axles. If you notice, the axle connection points have extra support there.

I level my camper as close a possible with blocks, and might "tweak" it a little with the stab jacks on the low side, put the jacks down on the opposite side, then call it a day.

I hope there's no prohibition against asking dumb questions, because I'm probably about to. I've tried to research some of this, but both the owners manual and my Woodall's RV Handbook don't even talk about the stabilizers/jacks.

I'm under the impression that the stabilizers are not referred to as jacks since you can't raise any weight w/o breaking them. In talking to Camping World it seemed that they wanted to remove the stabilizers and replace them with the scissor jacks. From what I'm sensing here is some of you have both and have the scissors installed closer to the axles. Am I understanding that correctly? If so it would seem that the sequence would be: 1. leveling with boards under the wheels, 2. chocking the wheels, 3. using the scissor jacks for minor leveling, and 4. putting down the stabilizers to secure the corners. Am I on the right page here? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[LadyWindrider]

Most have found the "1 arm" stabilizer jacks don't do a good job, too much flexing, especially if they have to go past half way. My trailer came with scissor jacks on all four corners. I purchased two more to make a deck out of my "toy hauler" tailgate. The scissor jacks will pick my trailer up, but a toy hauler has a very strong frame, some campers don't. Is not advised to do this when not connected to the tow vehicle, as there is nothing to keep it from being pushed over. Always leave some pressure on the tires, but lower jacks enough to stop any suspension movement, or in other words, raise trailer slightly.

[LadyWindrider]

Procedure for leveling trailer that works for me.

1. Park trailer where it will be unhooked. Check awning and door clearance, and slides if you have them.

2. Read side/side level on trailer and determine low side and how many boards I need. I carry 2x6's and figure 1 inch per board.

3. Put boards down beside trailer tires.

3. Pull trailer up, move boards over, back on to boards.

4. Check side/side level, hopefully within 1 inch. If not, add/subtract boards. When side/side level is good, chock wheels with ground chocks, unhook trailer. Do not install "X" chocks yet!

5. Level trailer front/rear with tongue jack.

6. Check side/side level, and start making adjustments with corner scissor jacks, low side first. Raise this side till level, then add one or so turns. Now lower the high side jacks, adding a couple of turns after ground contact.

7. Now install "X" chocks if you have them. Putting them in before the front/rear is level may cause them to get loose or very tight as the suspension moves when leveling front/rear. These should be the last things added, and the first removed. You also should install ground chocks front and rear of tires on at least one wheel or one side of the trailer before unhooking, and leave until you are hooked back up. Also when unhooking, I leave my safety chains connected until my coupler is clear of the ball. This is in case the trailer start to roll off on it's on, the chains should catch it before it gets too far or does any damage.

This procedure may or may not work for you, but it works for me. Feel free to use any or all that you like. I think it took longer to type it than it does to do it.

[masonga]

So would everyone suggest buying a pair of stabilizers to go along with my "1 arm" stabilizer jacks?

[MtnGuy]

Originally Posted by bmg

I hope there's no prohibition against asking dumb questions, because I'm probably about to. I've tried to research some of this, but both the owners manual and my Woodall's RV Handbook don't even talk about the stabilizers/jacks.

I'm under the impression that the stabilizers are not referred to as jacks since you can't raise any weight w/o breaking them. In talking to Camping World it seemed that they wanted to remove the stabilizers and replace them with the scissor jacks. From what I'm sensing here is some of you have both and have the scissors installed closer to the axles. Am I understanding that correctly? If so it would seem that the sequence would be: 1. leveling with boards under the wheels, 2. chocking the wheels, 3. using the scissor jacks for minor leveling, and 4. putting down the stabilizers to secure the corners. Am I on the right page here? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

There are no dumb questions......everybody had to start exactly where you are at some point in their camping history.

I think most people that have the scissors jacks are in the far corners where the original stab jacks were......I don't think people have both.

In have the 1 arm stabilizer jacks, and yes they are flimsy. If the time arises after those puppies break a couple of times, then I might add scissors jacks, being sure not to tighten them too much. So far, the 1 arm jacks that I have seem to work great, and I am in no hurry to replace them if they continue to work.

I another post on this thread, someone asked whether 2 rear jacks are enough. They are a plenty if you don't mind the trailer rocking a little.......and it will always rock some unless you put it up on blocks. . Those rear jacks, along with the tongue jack give you decent stability acting as a tripod. If you just have the rear jacks, I would suggest using that setup for a couple of camping trips before going to the cost and time of adding 2 more up front.

[bmg]

One tip I picked up from the park manager on our first shake out weekend, was to make sure the refrigerator was perfectly level. He recommended using the 360 degree level that came in our starter kit. So to fine tune everything we adjusted to that level and everything was fine. He said that a big mistake new owners have is not leveling the fridge and after 5 or 6 outings they quit working.

We had an unlevel site,but was finally able to get it level with the help of a portable hydraulic jack. I'm hoping that by installing the scissors we can level everything much easier.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by windrider

Procedure for leveling trailer that works for me.

1. Park trailer where it will be unhooked. Check awning and door clearance, and slides if you have them.

2. Read side/side level on trailer and determine low side and how many boards I need. I carry 2x6's and figure 1 inch per board.

3. Put boards down beside trailer tires.

3. Pull trailer up, move boards over, back on to boards.

4. Check side/side level, hopefully within 1 inch. If not, add/subtract boards. When side/side level is good, chock wheels with ground chocks, unhook trailer. Do not install "X" chocks yet!

5. Level trailer front/rear with tongue jack.

6. Check side/side level, and start making adjustments with corner scissor jacks, low side first. Raise this side till level, then add one or so turns. Now lower the high side jacks, adding a couple of turns after ground contact.

7. Now install "X" chocks if you have them. Putting them in before the front/rear is level may cause them to get loose or very tight as the suspension moves when leveling front/rear. These should be the last things added, and the first removed. You also should install ground chocks front and rear of tires on at least one wheel or one side of the trailer before unhooking, and leave until you are hooked back up. Also when unhooking, I leave my safety chains connected until my coupler is clear of the ball. This is in case the trailer start to roll off on it's on, the chains should catch it before it gets too far or does any damage.

This procedure may or may not work for you, but it works for me. Feel free to use any or all that you like. I think it took longer to type it than it does to do it.

Windrider, One addition (don't ask how I know) is to check the pedestal with a power tester, the water spigot for water, and where the freakin sewer connection is located BEFORE you level, disconnect, etc.

Oh and since space is a real issue in my shortbed TV, I use 1 foot long pieces of pressure treated 2x6 and 1 foot long pieces of pressure treated 1x6 decking for leveling. That way I can back up onto them 1 foot at a time stacking if I need to. (Back onto the first board. DW says stop. Stack 2 boards. Back again till DW says stop.) By mixing 2x and 1x I can always get it perfect. I store them in an old milk crate.

[milzat]

I received a set of scissor type jacks yesterday. I'm going to replace the stabilizer jacks, on the rear, with the new scissor jacks. Then, I'll install the stabilizer jack, removed from the rear, under the center of the trailer.

I'm also going to make a set of jack supports.
See photo below.

This, along with wheel chocks, will stop the shaking.

[bmg]

Thought I'd update everyone on my research to this point. First of all in reading a lot of threads here and other places, there seems to be a difference of opinion between those that own the lite trailers and others with heavier, more substantial frames.

In general, the lite owners are saying not to put the scissor jacks on the rear since too much torque could twist the frame. The heavier trailer people are not concerned about bending anything. The main concern with both types is to use the jacks for minor adjustments, an inch or so, and to make sure the wheels maintain good contact with the ground.

Ours is a lite, an SV264, and loaded should only be about 5000 pounds. I'm planning on leaving the rear stabilizers in place and installing a pair of scissor jack just behind the wheels. That way in leveling, we can get the side to side level within and inch or so with boards and then use the scissors to finish the level. The 4 stabilizers, front and back, should give little or no motion, especially with the roto chucks I've ordered.

I'm leaning toward the BAL 24'' jacks. I can get the pair locally for $60.

24" Scissor Jacks - Product - Camping World

Let me know, if I'm missing anything. This seems to be the best option for our lite trailer.

[MtnGuy]

Just be careful with those scissors jacks on an I-beam frame. If you notice, there is extra support bridging the gap between the I-beams where the axles are mounted....... there is a reason for that.

[bmg]

Originally Posted by mtnguy

Just be careful with those scissors jacks on an I-beam frame. If you notice, there is extra support bridging the gap between the I-beams where the axles are mounted....... there is a reason for that.

Thanks for the tip. I'll be extra careful. I think if they're close to the axles and are used for slight adjustments, I'll be ok. I may have Camping World install them. I don't know about drilling through the beam; although I do have the tools to do it.

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.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by bmg

Thanks for the tip. I'll be extra careful. I think if they're close to the axles and are used for slight adjustments, I'll be ok. I may have Camping World install them. I don't know about drilling through the beam; although I do have the tools to do it.

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.

Do you have access to military bases? Quantico has an awesome Famcamp.