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auto levelers and 5th wheel stability


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Sometimes our Travel Supreme would have wheels off of the ground on one side when the Big Foot was done leveling.

 

How stable? As much as four heavy duty hydraulic jacks can provide. You have to remember this is a trailer, not a house on a foundation.

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With Quadra Big Foot ours it really stable. Most noticeable is if I'm laying in bed and DW goes up or down the outside steps, then I feel the shake. You might want to consider JT Stabilizers or their equivalent. We just had a washer/dryer installed and I had the stabilizers added to the front Big Feet. I haven't had time yet to see if they decrease the shake when DW uses the outside steps. Greg

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The movement comes from part of the weight sitting on the suspension, which will never be completely solid. Leveling systems will probably stabilize it some, but unless you lift all weight clear of the suspension, not likely to do so completely. heavier RVs tend to move less and some people find that it helps to use one of the king-pin stabilizers.

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As Kirk suggested we use the kingpin stabilizer and I also put good quality jack stands under the very rear of the trailer. It greatly reduces movement but again as Kirk said it will never be completely solid. Our landing gear is hydraulic and is angled out at 5 degrees and that also helps a little.

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Kirk hit the nail on the head. You have to remove the suspension from the equation if you want a steady rig. Adding a leveling system goes a long way to achieving that goal, so long as you program it to lift high enough to get the weight off the wheels.

 

A less expensive solution is to get two to four bottle jacks and put them under the frame right by the wheels. I don't think I would completely lift the rig this way, just take enough of the load to take some of the flex out of the suspension. Another product I had great results with were rotochocks. They were a fraction of the weight of a bottle jack and took up virtually no space in storage. Unfortunately, Rotochock went out of business in 2014 (owners passed away and family did not continue the business), so the only way to get these great little devices is on eBay or Craig's List.

 

Still, the key is to remove the springy-ness of the suspension to get a more solid set-up.

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Do auto levelers prevent side to side movement of 5th wheel after set up? We are experiencing a lot of movement when someone walks about in the unit.

 

Thanks for your help

 

Al

 

You do not state whether you currently have auto levelers or you're considering adding some.

 

We have the Lippert 6 Point Hydraulic system on our 38' fifth wheel and it works great. You will always have some movement in a TT/Fifth Wheel but ours is minimal. We are full timers and early on with our levelers found that we would achieve peak stability if we would place wooden boards approx 2 x 10 x 12 under each pad regardless of the surface we are parked on. In my opinion the "king-pin stabilizers" mentioned earlier are a waste of your money and MANY people wind up having to give them away to someone who will also give them away later. Ask a man who has one and if his wife is present he will say"works great" but if wife not present will say"I wish I hadn't bought that junk".

Fulltiming since September 1, 2010

 

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2012 Montana 3585SA

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We still have the old electric stabilizers in the rear corners. Right after adding the 6 point Big Foot system I would put them down to make the trailer more rock solid. But after a short time I decided the little movement it cured was not worth the effort to push the buttons to put them down. I will likely remove them them to reduce weight.

 

Jim

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Lippert 6 point leveling system on a 5th wheel that weighs about 15K or so. Remember slides stick out over the frame of the RV and as long as some of the weight is on the suspension there will be movement. We have the Mor Ryde IS suspension and that adds to the stability.

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Kirk hit the nail on the head. You have to remove the suspension from the equation if you want a steady rig. Adding a leveling system goes a long way to achieving that goal, so long as you program it to lift high enough to get the weight off the wheels.

 

With all due respect I disagree. Once all 4/6 legs are on the ground bearing SOME weight the connection between the unit and the ground is solid, period. The suspension is out of the equation. The legs would have to compress (like a shock absorber) to allow movement.

 

Now, lateral stability is another story. That depends on how beefy the legs are, how they are mounted and how much flex there is in the frame.

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Once all 4/6 legs are on the ground bearing SOME weight the connection between the unit and the ground is solid, period. The suspension is out of the equation. The legs would have to compress (like a shock absorber) to allow movement.

With all due respect I disagree. Lateral stability is exactly what we were posting about. As long as there is significant weight on the suspension, you can't remove 100% of the movement. My experience supports what jperry29 was saying and neither of us confined our statement to vertical movement, which pretty much stops with anything you put between the RV frame and the ground. There are dozens of products available that will stop vertical movement at most RV supply stores but you have to relieve the support of the suspension to stop lateral movement.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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Glenn is right, the shorter you run the legs/rams out the more stable it will be. Sure the add on's will help also, but I would try shorting the length the jacks or legs are extended. Only problem is if you do block up the front jacks make sure you have the tires chocked real good in case the RV rolls a little. If the RV should come off the blocks you will have a mess.

 

Ron
US Army retired
2010 Tiffin Phaeton 40QTH
2016 Ford F150 XLT

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Glenn is right, the shorter you run the legs/rams out the more stable it will be. Sure the add-on's will help also, but I would try shorting the length the jacks or legs are extended. Only problem is if you do block up the front jacks make sure you have the tires chocked real good in case the RV rolls a little. If the RV should come off the blocks you will have a mess.

 

Ron
US Army retired
2010 Tiffin Phaeton 40QTH
2016 Ford F150 XLT

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