How many jacks are needed?

[youroo]

This NEW Windjammer unit has (13) Jacks under it! If I ever see the owner I will try to sell him on Step Supports also! Youroo!!

[bob caldwell]

Motion sickness....

[Ford Idaho]

Great connections at HF?

[Oaklevel]

Wow a great jack salesman got a hold of them...........

Never can have enough jacks ?????

[bob caldwell]

Sewer hose might have a problem

[bob caldwell]

Sewer hose needs some help

[bob caldwell]

Forum e mail can't keep up with phone e mail....double posts.

[Harkerr]

Not much help in gravel

[SMUGMUG]

The reason he has too many jacks is because it has the electric jacks from the factory that are junk! They do not support nothing. I had to purchase extra jacks for the same reason. If anyone else is purchasing a trailer stay away from the electric jacks.

[bob caldwell]

They're stabilizers, not jacks.

[SMUGMUG]

Well, my Salem Hemiphere brochure says on the inside cover under popular options that they are called electric stabilizer jacks. I guess Forest River is wrond again??!!

[Eaglelover]

Bad idea putting them under the slides. That,s a no no for me. Frank

[Springerdad]

Originally Posted by Eaglelover

Bad idea putting them under the slides. That,s a no no for me. Frank

Agreed.

[Klbrown53]

My 2 cents worth:

I finally reconciled the shaking in my mind.....by reconciling I basically mean I ignore it. I lower the electric "stabilizing" jacks and snug them up on the ground then 3 or 4 hours later I hit them for just another second in case of any settling. On our second trip out with our new unit two years ago I kept hitting the switch trying to eliminate the shake and in the middle of the night that night one of them bent. I was fortunate that the dealer replaced it under warranty but it was really user error. That is a good lesson to learn early in the process. They are just not made to support the weight of the trailer.

It just took me awhile to come to grips with the fact that I was not going to eliminate the shake with the electric stabilizing jacks. To eliminate the shake I would need to put the trailer on blocks or use multiple extra jacks. But the jacks do "stabilize" it and minimize the shake. I DO NOT want to deal with 13 crank down jacks. It is not worth the needed effort or return on that effort when we typically do not stay in a spot longer than 3 or 4 days. There is enough to do already when setting up.


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[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by Klbrown53

My 2 cents worth:

I finally reconciled the shaking in my mind.....by reconciling I basically mean I ignore it. I lower the electric "stabilizing" jacks and snug them up on the ground then 3 or 4 hours later I hit them for just another second in case of any settling. On our second trip out with our new unit two years ago I kept hitting the switch trying to eliminate the shake and in the middle of the night that night one of them bent. I was fortunate that the dealer replaced it under warranty but it was really user error. That is a good lesson to learn early in the process. They are just not made to support the weight of the trailer.

It just took me awhile to come to grips with the fact that I was not going to eliminate the shake with the electric stabilizing jacks. To eliminate the shake I would need to put the trailer on blocks or use multiple extra jacks. But the jacks do "stabilize" it and minimize the shake. I DO NOT want to deal with 13 crank down jacks. It is not worth the needed effort or return on that effort when we typically do not stay in a spot longer than 3 or 4 days. There is enough to do already when setting up.


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Take the stabilizer jacks off and have the legs reinforced and the get rid of the blocks under them and get them as close to vertical as possible, the legs are at their weakest in the near horizontal position. VOE.

[Springerdad]

Good idea, Old Coot. I may do that to my stabilizers too. I have to agree with the shake/wiggle issue, my unit does move around quite a bit even with the stabilizers down. I'm spoiled; I used to have a Wanderlodge with HWH hydraulic jacks on it. Those were strong enough (and so was the coach) that you could literally lift that 30,000lb beast off the ground with them.

[Vern]

Originally Posted by Klbrown53

My 2 cents worth:

I finally reconciled the shaking in my mind.....by reconciling I basically mean I ignore it. I lower the electric "stabilizing" jacks and snug them up on the ground then 3 or 4 hours later I hit them for just another second in case of any settling. On our second trip out with our new unit two years ago I kept hitting the switch trying to eliminate the shake and in the middle of the night that night one of them bent. I was fortunate that the dealer replaced it under warranty but it was really user error. That is a good lesson to learn early in the process. They are just not made to support the weight of the trailer.

It just took me awhile to come to grips with the fact that I was not going to eliminate the shake with the electric stabilizing jacks. To eliminate the shake I would need to put the trailer on blocks or use multiple extra jacks. But the jacks do "stabilize" it and minimize the shake. I DO NOT want to deal with 13 crank down jacks. It is not worth the needed effort or return on that effort when we typically do not stay in a spot longer than 3 or 4 days. There is enough to do already when setting up.


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x13!

[Brother Les]

The 'Stabilizers' are still 'junk'..... I put 4 scissor jacks on my unit and use them for 'stays' of longer than two days.

Jacks under the slides.... not a good idea.

[RollingDownTheHighway]

depends where we stay, I'll use some extra stabilizing jacks with the OEM electric stabilizers and the X Choc between the wheels. The further down the factory stabilizers go, the worse they are, I put blocks under each one so they're not extended so much, and then adjust if needed the next day after settling. I stabilize under the bunk room more then anything if needed.

[FreddyCamper]

I personally do not use extra jacks under the slides..but not a bad idea to reinforce the ones I have now, like OLDCOOT illustrated above. I do give them a touch the next morning after the first night, but not to rest the weight of the unit on them.

Just found this on another RV Forum:
Slideouts are supported by the bottom of the slide resting on the rig's floor and by the lip around the inside edge of the slide pushing against the rig's wall when the slide is fully extended. In particular, there's a large header beam above the slide cutout that's designed to absorb the slide's tipping forces when the slide is fully extended. The top of the slide presses against the header which keeps it from tipping out.
With the slide fully extended, there's no bending pressure on the slide mechanism itself, it's only purpose is to keep the slide's inside lip pressed firmly against the rig's sidewall.
Putting jacks under the slideout can lift the slide and interfere with transferring the slide's weight to the header beam.
The older tip-out rooms are another matter - they're hinged at their base and can benefit from additional support.