Power Stabilizers Destroying Themselves

[Lazurus]

We purchased our Heritage Glen LTZ last year.It is a 2019 and we have not had it even a year yet. We like it a lot and have had only a few miner things that needed to be fixed on it. We have only been able to camp in it for only 4 nights last year and one weekend so far this year.



Now a major problem has come to light.
We have the PSX1 Power Stabilizer on our unit and they are destroying themselves.
The rail that the jack arm lower and rise out of are bending and twisting all over.
The metal that they are made out of is so thin that it is hard to understand how they even hold up at all.
I have been a TT camper for over 17 years and have never seen anything like this. Hopefully the dealer will take care of this. Has anyone else had this problem?

[Witch Doctor]

These are not levelers that are stabilizers, if you over torque them they are going to bend. You should level with wood or block and then put them down just to snug on the ground. It's not lippert or FR fault they are not levelers. If I'm understanding you correctly.

[TheWolfPaq82]

Can't really level with power stabilizers. If they're anything like my Lippert electric stabs, they work in tandem. When one touches the ground it stops and the other catches up till there is tension on both. As soon as I hear the motor bog down....I release the switch. Same on the front and rear. I level the trailer first using blocks under tires, then the stabs come down.

[510Rick]

yep sounds like you have stabilizers . Do both sides come down simultaneously? If they do they are stabilizers . I level side to side before I unhook buy using leveling blocks under the trailer tires . Then chock and unhook and set front to back lever with trailer tongue jack . Then put down the stabilizers . The x chock between the tires of the trailer help eliminate the trailer rocking too much when walking around in it .

[aceinspp]

Stabilizers jacks are not intended to be used to level out your camper. They are just there to make the camper a little more steady when set up. The manual says to deploy the stabilizer jacks till both pads touch ground or blocks and hold button for no longer than 2 seconds. This will firm up camper and prevent you from bending the arms and destroying the motors. Later RJD

[Lazurus]

Originally Posted by aceinspp

Stabilizers jacks are not intended to be used to level out your camper. They are just there to make the camper a little more steady when set up. The manual says to deploy the stabilizer jacks till both pads touch ground or blocks and hold button for no longer than 2 seconds. This will firm up camper and prevent you from bending the arms and destroying the motors. Later RJD

I know that they are not levelers but just stabilizers. I have always set up by getting the trailer level and then putting the stabilizers down to snug the ground. I guess that 2 seconds is to long to hold the button.

I read a thread awhile back where a gentleman had the same problem with his and took them off and reinforced them with some heaver metal. has anyone done that? It seems like the one on the dump side is the worst. That is the side with the large slide out.

[D W]

Originally Posted by Lazurus

I read a thread awhile back where a gentleman had the same problem with his and took them off and reinforced them with some heaver metal. has anyone done that? It seems like the one on the dump side is the worst. That is the side with the large slide out.

I would never contemplate hanging more iron on them. The bottom line here is that the stabilizer motors and the threaded rods ARE NOT designed to lift the weight of the RV

[FordHauler]

Originally Posted by Lazurus

I know that they are not levelers but just stabilizers. I have always set up by getting the trailer level and then putting the stabilizers down to snug the ground. I guess that 2 seconds is to long to hold the button.

I read a thread awhile back where a gentleman had the same problem with his and took them off and reinforced them with some heaver metal. has anyone done that? It seems like the one on the dump side is the worst. That is the side with the large slide out.

I had the same problem you describe on my 2013 Flagstaff.
“Old Coot” was the gentleman who reinforced his stabilizers. Look up his previous posts to understand what he did. If Neil did it successfully, so can you. Sometimes he left us detailed diagrams under the ‘Library’ tab, referenced at the top of these pages. Good luck with your modifications.
Travel safe

[Lazurus]

Originally Posted by FordHauler

I had the same problem you describe on my 2013 Flagstaff.
“Old Coot” was the gentleman who reinforced his stabilizers. Look up his previous posts to understand what he did. If Neil did it successfully, so can you. Sometimes he left us detailed diagrams under the ‘Library’ tab, referenced at the top of these pages. Good luck with your modifications.
Travel safe

Thanks for the info but I did not find anything in either place. Is he still around?

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by Lazurus

Thanks for the info but I did not find anything in either place. Is he still around?

Neil is a great guy, he did a lot of mods on my 5er. Yes he reinforced my stabs to. What he reinforced was the arms , by welding metal over the arms. Yes that did make them stronger, but I'm assuming you bent the yellow guides not the legs. They will bend first before the two I guess 3' legs that the pads attach to. Reinforced that is what will bend F rist. You can buy them on eBay. I must have missed what bent on yours? What he did was to weld a cap over the top of each leg. Your still not going to be able to pick up the unit or anything, but you can snug them more. I remember that he put a set before his wheels to, now with that I think he used pipe instead of the yellow brackets, he could get more pressure on the center one he put on. Hope that helps...

[Witch Doctor]

I should also say by Neil putting that channel over both arms it will stop the arms from collapsing, but something has to give and those 2 yellow brackets or guides on each leg is cheaper to replace.

[Lazurus]

Originally Posted by Witch Doctor

Neil is a great guy, he did a lot of mods on my 5er. Yes he reinforced my stabs to. What he reinforced was the arms , by welding metal over the arms. Yes that did make them stronger, but I'm assuming you bent the yellow guides not the legs. They will bend first before the two I guess 3' legs that the pads attach to. Reinforced that is what will bend F rist. You can buy them on eBay. I must have missed what bent on yours? What he did was to weld a cap over the top of each leg. Your still not going to be able to pick up the unit or anything, but you can snug them more. I remember that he put a set before his wheels to, now with that I think he used pipe instead of the yellow brackets, he could get more pressure on the center one he put on. Hope that helps...

Nope, the yellow guides are not what is bent. What is bent is the long U channel that everything folds up into when they are retracted. Neither leg is bent either. The bent U channel is worse on the slide side. That would be the drivers side of the TV.
They have never been used to level the TT. I do all of that with level blocks.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by Lazurus

Nope, the yellow guides are not what is bent. What is bent is the long U channel that everything folds up into when they are retracted. Neither leg is bent either. The bent U channel is worse on the slide side. That would be the drivers side of the TV.
They have never been used to level the TT. I do all of that with level blocks.

Then Neil's reinforcing trick will work for you, I remember we dropped the unit down and then fitted the caps and he welded them on. That leg will become strong, I even held the button to long and my legs were fine I bent the yellow guides, believe it or not that motor is very strong. It's a good mod those legs are flimsy at best. Good luck

[fonzie]

Originally Posted by Lazurus

Nope, the yellow guides are not what is bent. What is bent is the long U channel that everything folds up into when they are retracted. Neither leg is bent either. The bent U channel is worse on the slide side. That would be the drivers side of the TV.
They have never been used to level the TT. I do all of that with level blocks.

Here is one thread on how to reinforce the U channel

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...end-40252.html

[aceinspp]

Originally Posted by Lazurus

I know that they are not levelers but just stabilizers. I have always set up by getting the trailer level and then putting the stabilizers down to snug the ground. I guess that 2 seconds is to long to hold the button.

I read a thread awhile back where a gentleman had the same problem with his and took them off and reinforced them with some heaver metal. has anyone done that? It seems like the one on the dump side is the worst. That is the side with the large slide out.

2 seconds is not to long if done right. I have never had a problem if 7 years of using this system doing as the manual says. Later RJD

[woo10-210]

It took a bit of searching but I did find that these have a maximum capacity of 3,500 pounds per pair (each TT end). The Lippert literature dated 4/15 says that the legs were were updated with embossing for better stiffness.

When we picked up our TT, the DW and I performed a 3-hour inspection and still missed a bent pad on one of the stabilizers until after we got it home. After unbolting the pad I noticed that it was heavily scraped on the bottom and rusty so it had evidently been moved while in the down position on the dealers lot or somewhere before that. Pretty thin metal so it was fairly easy to straighten it up in a vise with a little persuasion from a rubber mallet.

Is there any chance your TT is moving around a bit while the stabilizers are down which could cause the bending? The longer the TT is, the greater chance this could happen. Are the tires well chocked and the front jack not slipping around on gravel or a plastic pad? I use a large wood block with a hole for the front jack pad.

[DouglasReid]

Many posts on this thread reiterating that the stabilizers are not for leveling so I won't beat a dead horse. Just would lilie to offer a suggestion when deploying or storing them.

Listen to the electric motor as you aer lowering them. It is turning as fast as it is designed to. When one leg touches the ground check the clearance under the other leg.

Use thin wood shims (we use various sizes of plywood scraps about 6" x 6") to get both legs touching down at the same time.

Then lower it until you hear the noise change as the motor begins to slow down. At that moment STOP! You run the rusk of bending the mechanism and/or shearing the shear pins connecting the motor to the drive screw shaft.

Do the same when raising it. As soon as the noise changes, STOP!!

We have had no trouble with ours.

[JohnD10]

Photos usually help us to understand whats going on.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by DouglasReid

Many posts on this thread reiterating that the stabilizers are not for leveling so I won't beat a dead horse. Just would lilie to offer a suggestion when deploying or storing them.

Listen to the electric motor as you aer lowering them. It is turning as fast as it is designed to. When one leg touches the ground check the clearance under the other leg.

Use thin wood shims (we use various sizes of plywood scraps about 6" x 6") to get both legs touching down at the same time.

Then lower it until you hear the noise change as the motor begins to slow down. At that moment STOP! You run the rusk of bending the mechanism and/or shearing the shear pins connecting the motor to the drive screw shaft.

Do the same when raising it. As soon as the noise changes, STOP!!

We have had no trouble with ours.

Unless they changed them from my 1212 8289, the motor has a auto breaker, I think it is 40 amps, my button stuck 1 time in the up position, the motor finale stopped, I thought I burned it up, but it tripped the breaker it reset itself in a few minutes. That's if I remember right and I think I do...

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by Witch Doctor

Unless they changed them from my 1212 8289, the motor has a auto breaker, I think it is 40 amps, my button stuck 1 time in the up position, the motor finale stopped, I thought I burned it up, but it tripped the breaker it reset itself in a few minutes. That's if I remember right and I think I do...

On the front landing legs of my 5'ver, if you run them all the way up or down and hold the button for more than a second it will pop an inline 50A fuse right next to the battery.

When I first found out what was going on I bought a bag of those fuses...

Easy to replace, but I put marks on the legs so that I know where to stop them.

This is a common issue that's been talked about repeatedly over the years with all brands of trailers.