A-Frame & Leveling Jacks

[RDTS]

Thanks for the info for the stabilizer jack wrench. Much appreciated.

[JohnB]

I'm late to the party.... Been out camping!

I see you have a fix in place. Good. As was said, the scissor jacks are not intended to lift the camper to the point the tires are off the ground even if they might. They can exert some pressure but not in the amount to lift the camper that high. They can fail or unscrew. (yes, enough weight and they will unscrew)

Leveling out the camper left to right has several options from home made to store bought. In my case I did the home made. I use short 2 x 8's for my tire size. They are a little wider than the tire to allow for some misalignment and the tire still be all on the board. I have a double set of 3 heights for one side of the camper ( 6 boards). The ends are cut on a 45 to allow the tire to roll up on them easier. And the lengths of each are such that I can stack them and the 45's allow a transition from the longer to the next size all line up.

See this pic from our prior T2499 which is smaller then our big T310SR. This setup will be closer to yours.




There is a 3rd board that will fit on top if needed. And I have found if I have to ever get up that high, I use my 4 wheel drive down in low low 4 x 4 (granny gear) Then the rolls right up. If not the board can slip out of position trying to get up on a 3rd block.

I have now beveled both ends of the wood blocks and moved them to the big camper. See here now moved to our bigger camper


The length of the boards is such that even when stacked I can slide them in between the tandem wheels so I can set them before backing up.

You may also notice the homemade wheel chocks. Since the tires are off the ground conventional wedge chocks do not work. These made out of 4 x 4's with a 5/8" or 1/2" threaded rod and a deep socket on a ratchet work very well. The bottom of the all thread is jam nutted in place to the lower block. The top block a clearance hole. They help take some of wiggle out of the camper and the camper is not going anywhere. I use the chocks on both sides of the camper. And do not forget to take them out when you pull out. All 4 wheels will drag....

Others have used a long board to go across both wheels. It has some advantages and and some draw backs. The main draw back is the long board will "pop up" sometimes when you pull off the board. If your camper has a dump valve right behind the tire, you can crack the dump valve. I tired the long boards once, and mine has that dump valve right behind the tire. It flipped up and bang it got hit. But I lucked out and did not crack it. But I learned it can and others have broke the dump valve that way.

But... like all things, what works for some does not fit all. I have a good camper buddy who uses the long boards all the time (years) and has not had an issue. His layout does not have the dump valve right by the rear tire so it works for him. So the long boards do work if your camper setup will allow it.

If you ever need to go up higher then 3, (1 1/2" x 3 high = 4.5") boards, then you need a different setup. 2 boards cover 90% of all our camping. 5% I need the 3rd board. The other 5% I need to get up on over 6" high. I have pics of how to do this if you need. Let me know. It can be done easily and safe but takes preplaning to know that site is that bad and you cannot or do not want to change sites.

OH, and I will make one recommendation!! If camping in the camper is getting more fun by the trip, start now letting Santa know that a power tongue jack is on the "list". Bad back, = need a power tongue jack. Once you convert you will "never" go back to the "crank"....

Hope this helps

John

[Draughty]

Glad to hear you were out camping that's what summer is for isn't it?
Yeah being Santa to a good many grandkids...ahem..13 with the 14th due end of next January...I know ALL about early hints!
I actually guessed correctly and bought a 2.5 ton A frame top wind by Bulldog and am very happy. It's extra tonnage is not needed for lifting or holding but the extra mechanical advantage they built in for lifting the 5000 lbs is very helpful! I put on a drop foot which also reduces the number of winds.
An electric is definitely in the future but this combo is putting it off a bit!
Thanks for the leveling tips. Have only had one site we needed the extra lift and next time I will definitely be using blocks under the tires! There will be a next time since we loved that site! It even had it's own trail down the river so I hope to go back!
Love your homebuilt screw together jacks! I was considering using a couple of old scissor jacks I have knocking around to maybe work the same way??
Working on a front porch 'skin' job covering an ugly but strong concrete step with some much needed 'pretty' skin in the form if cedar colored treated so I have a lot if nice 2x cutoffs I've been appropriating for use under the stabilizers. I also have an older 2x10 untreated about 12' in length I need to use for something so it may join the cutoffs in the trailer as blocking!
My dump valves are directly behind the wheel as well. Excellent for knowing where to stop at the dump station but I think I'll not take chances on breaking them! Already have a handle on the gray water valve that is only half there! Not sure what happened to it!

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by Draughty

Love your homebuilt screw together jacks! I was considering using a couple of old scissor jacks I have knocking around to maybe work the same way??

The wood squeeze block chock has been around a long time amongst the trailer RV'ers. I did not dream that one up. I took the idea a little further with the larger 5/8-11 all thread and the lock up on the bottom. Some use 3/8-16 thread, some 1/2-13. I went bigger from the longevity and mechanical advantage.

I have seen guys do all kinds of homemade wheel chocks, Some use chain binders, some toggle clamps and some scissors setups. They do sell an expanding scissors setup. Here a few of them

https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...l_2i0gry44lk_e

Bal makes them. They are not real cheap. If one like to build, you can pic wood, metal or whatever you want and go have fund and build something!

[Draughty]

The prices here are different than there but it appears the Maxx-haul brand at least has a smaller Canadian markup. And I like the idea of that quick lock handle! I park the trailer when not in use in an easily accessible but privately owned lot. The ability to padlock them when in place may be what gets me to order those!
Would be an additional deterrent to someone just pulling it away!
This is a very low crime area however with a population addicted to outdoor recreation all year round. Would be quite unpopular to steal someone else's access to the outdoors! Won't take much to deter most of the possible suspects!

[Draughty]

We finally had a site this year that needed some leveling boards. It was on door side so no danger to the dump valve and we needed 3 2x thickness to raise it enough.
Thanks for the info on how to do this correctly. If you get time to post how to use 4 high 2x's that would be great as I know of sites that may be needed!
So far I am very happy with the new scissors jacks and blocking under the tires. I had some from decking over our front step/porch last summer.
Glad that job is done should mean more time camping!!

[Shaw520]

Good thread here on leveling jack,.. I found these on flebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Set-5000-....c100005.m1851

THey dont seem to have a name brand but are US made and 'claimed' #5000 pnd,.. price is certainly attractive. Anyone have experience with them ?

As for the wheel chocks I bought (2) of these https://www.ebay.com/itm/Camco-RV-Wh...AAAOSwapdbupmH

Not as heavy duty as JohnB's homemade version,.. but I will try them and report back.

[Draughty]

Camco brand I've looked at them on Amazon..

[Shaw520]

Originally Posted by Draughty

Camco brand I've looked at them on Amazon..

Yes,.. Camco wheel chock,... what about the jacks,..good or garbage ?

[mainah]

I will add one thing be sure your wheels are locked I use the chocks that are a bit like scissors jacks before I even think of leveling none of the jacks will take any kind of sideways stress the ones you had are the same as mine they will bend very easily if your trailer moves at all they are strictly a vertical device.

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by Shaw520

Good thread here on leveling jack,.. I found these on flebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Set-5000-....c100005.m1851

THey dont seem to have a name brand but are US made and 'claimed' #5000 pnd,.. price is certainly attractive. Anyone have experience with them ?

On the leveling stabilizers. The word "jacks" can be misleading. They really are not jacks made for lifting, but stabilizers made to help take camper wiggly out. Do not use them to lift and level a camper. They will fail. Any one them.

I came across some really cheap (aka junk) ones put on my neighbors Gulfstream entry level camper. They were so thin they really did not help stabilize. He hit one on something and twisted it all up. I took it off and changed it for him to a different brand. I could not find a brand name on them, but I still have it in the barn and can take pics etc to help show what my point is going to be.

If you zoom in on the Ebay link and look real close at the stabilizer, it is made from thin sheet metal that has to be bent many times to give it strength. And when I mean bent, look at the very edges of the U shaped member. They have to do a 90 degree bend on the ends of the U to give it some strength as it is so thin. And they are also forming shapes in the U of the scissors members to give it strength. If my words are confusing, let me know and I will do a picture and tomorrow get some of the one I would "not" recommend that looks a lot like the ebay ones..

See this pic of a Harbor freight one. https://www.harborfreight.com/2-1-2-...ack-96406.html

That is a 5,000# stabilizer and the scissors members are just a formed U and not all that extra edge bending and side member forming. Since my neighbor was selling the camper, I bought one of the HF ones and installed it on his Gulfstream camper to replace the all bent up on. Even the Harbor freight one was majorly stronger and the metal many times thicker. Even the screw was larger and stronger, yet the same rating.

Bal is a long time standard in stabilizers. See here for the Classic Series. https://norcoind.com/bal/downloads/a...rs%20Jacks.pdf

The Classic series are good ones I can attest to them. I have then on my big camper, and on our smaller ones. Look at the formed C shaped scissors members. They are thicker, sturder and no extra bends in the metal needed to create support. They look like the Harbor freight ones I linked.

The Bal classic series do cost more though for sure. They now seem to have the LoPro ones and I'm thinking they are offering those weaker ones to compete with the new low cost ones out there.

Hope this helps

John

[Thomascine]

I just purchased scissor jacks last month. With the arthritis and all, using the manual jacks is becoming a bit much. They seem of decent quality. I will find out soon. Did not realize that HF sold them. Those seem to get good reviews. I will have to check them out. The ones I have are an overkill for my little trailer. Not sure if that matters.

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by Thomascine

. The ones I have are an overkill for my little trailer. Not sure if that matters.

Going larger on stabilizers is not a problem in most cases.

[Draughty]

I find the scissor jacks and my 1/2" cordless impact wrench are my back's best friends when it comes to setting up ..
All the advice and guidance from here helped immensely as well! I was doing it wrong and had no idea!