Leveling jacks

[blk05m6gto]

I am to the point of adding leveling jacks and have a question for everyone...... How many jacks are people using? I am thinking of two in the rear and one centered in the front. then again i might do two in the front.... I am looking at going to the junk yard and get 3-4 sizzor jacks from vehicles that use them for there spare tires. any help or suggestions would be great thanks. Bill

[nubwon]

I used some stabilizers that i got when I gutted an old pop up we used to have. If I woulda known I was gonna build a tear later, I would have saved a lot of other things from it lol. So beings I had 4 of them, I put one on each corner.

[Dale M.]

When I welded up frame I put mounts on all four corners. At this time I'm planning to use two on rear and the tongue jack to stabilize trailer. IF that does not work out I can simply add the front two on the previously provided pads.

Dale

[Jiminsav]

car scissor jacks arn't tall enough to use as leveling jacks, unless you want to carry around some dunnage to put under them when you camp.

[mikeschn]

I typically use light trailer stabilizers by BAL. And I use 4. Makes it very easy to stabilize!

Mike...

[sdtripper2]

Hello,

"My opinion", In most cases two stabiliser feet can do the job on an 8-10 foot trailer.

(The feet fold uP and lock out of the way for travel and extend with ease.)
(There is a rod that goes with the stabilizer feet to cinch them down to the next balancing notch.)

My Tear has two stabilizers at the two rear corners. With a front wheel hitch
jack that can go up and down. Many small trailers that I have seen have this
configuration.

Visualize the two wheels chalked up so there is no movement. The two
stabilizer feet putting uPward stress on the rear of the trailer balancing the
pressure against the two tires. I think of it as a table balancing on 5 legs.
Two wheels, two stabilizers, front wheel and with a level bubble setuP, you
can have a stable flat bed and kitchen cutting board.

Note: I use my front wheel hitch jack to adjust my trailer so my head of the
bed is higher than my feet for better sleeping and use the stabilizer feet to just
shim up the slight slant from front to back that I desire. I don't feel the
need for two more jacks in the front because while getting into the trailer,
through the doors my weight is mostly distributed towards the wheels.
Even so I really don't ever feel any need for stabilization while setting in
the door of my trailer. So the front wheel, tires and rear two stabilizers
work for me.

One source:
http://tinyurl.com/o3xco

[angib]

I don't feel the need for two more jacks in the front because while getting into the trailer, through the doors my weight is mostly distributed towards the wheels.

Now, do I get to win this week's 'sad member' award? This comment made me wonder what it would take to tip over a teardrop, so I thought I'd try to work it out. This is the worst layout that I could think of - 4' wide, wheels well back, door well forward, 20% hitch weight, tongue jack offset heavily to one side.



The pivot line, about which the trailer will tip, is shown in red and if the trailer weighs 600 pounds (green CoG), the person sitting on the blue spot needs to weigh 1060 pounds, so I think we can say that there's quite a safety margin there!

Andrew

[blk05m6gto]

wow andrew thanks for the hard work with the diagram!!! I think I will be good with the two in the rear. thankx again for all your help. Bill p.s hopefully I can post pics here soon, im about to place the floor down!!

[sdtripper2]

Andrew:

I am amazed ... the way you take on a project like deciding how much
weight it would take in the doorway to tip over the Teardrop.

In my situation most likely it would even take more weight to do the deed.

You see my trailer jack is centered right behind the coupler. The width is
5 foot and the door location is well back so the opening is right close to the
fenders. With this scenario I would expect your figures would make the
weight to tip over my trailer to go uP.

As I said before with the pressure of the two rear jacks and the front jack,
pushing up and the wheels chalked the stability seems more than enough.
Setting right next to the wheels when getting in and the body position
inside the trailer while at rest again seems to distribute the weight such
that no movement seems to happen in my setuP.

Now, do I get to win this week's 'sad member' award?

Andrew ... Why would one want or not, to get the "Sad Member Award"?

I am a little confused ... but would it be that you thought in this case the
weight that it would take to tip over the trailer is not what your figures
proved, thus you are sad?

Was your thinking the need for two more or (4) stabilizers were needed
and your figures proved you didn't and that is why you are sad?

I need an across the pond translation if you please, Andrew?

[angib]

Steve,

All the points you mentioned would indeed make your trailer more resitant to tipping over - I'm guessing you're good to go for a 1500 pound sitter. You can supersize without risk!

The sad bit is being seen to spend part of my Sunday calculating an answer to a question like this.

But in my defence, this was done in the gap between the two races of the last World Superbike event of the year, which produced some of the finest bike racing ever seen - my pulse is still up several hours later. If you guys can see a highlights program, don't miss it.

Andrew

[Gerdo]

I only have a tongue jack, no sabilizer jacks. My axle/springs is a 3500 lb. It moves around a little but there is no way it would flip/lift its tougue. Do jacks keep all movement from happening?

[sdtripper2]

Gerdo

Do jacks keep all movement from happening?

The short answer is yes.

The longer answer is:
Visualize the two wheels chalked up so there is no movement. The two
stabilizer feet putting uPward stress on the rear of the trailer balancing the
pressure against the two tires. I think of it as a table balancing on 5 legs.
Two wheels, two stabilizers, and front wheel jack, and you have a firm
platform.
Key: Pressure from the stabilizers pressed
uP create a strong pressure against the axle and wheels. Makes for
keeping the frame from moving at all if your frame is solid on your trailer.

[mikeschn]

I know this is a slight tangent to the stabilizer jack question, but I gotta tell you what happened.

It was just a few short years ago, we took our first teardrop out on it's maiden voyage. Arriving in NY we proceeded to set up camp. I put the two rear stabilizers down, and then went to the front to finishing leveling the teardrop.

Meanwhile Chell had climbed inside and was straightening out the mess that the long drive had made out of our stuff. I figure she was almost in the front of the teardrop.

So I barely started leveling the teardrop using the front jack, when the attachment plate bent, and the jack rolled around the tongue member, effectively dropping the tongue on the ground.

All I could hear was screams coming from the inside of the teardrop... I guess the tongue hitting the ground caused Chell to lose her balance and hit the front wall of the teardrop.

And now you know the rest of the story!

Mike...

[Ron]

After camping in ours for about five trips now I dont really see a need for additional support. Ours does not seem to need them, it feels pretty firm and stable when entering and exiting. I wonder if this is another overbuilding item we tend to indulge in? Just wondering.

Ron

[blk05m6gto]

Well I have made up my mind...... (good thing since its all done now) I went to my local junkyard and bought four of the sizzor jacks from suv's. I used 2x2 steel and welded and bolted one in each corner for a total of four. I know its overkill but I was thinking if I ever camped on a hill or something I could level the TD out. I am going to try and put some pics up later this week. Thanks again for all you help. Bill