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03-18-2011, 05:18 PM
As with most trailer type RV's, our Rockwood fifth wheel falls a bit short in the area of stabilization. If person of the first part gets up in the middle of the night, person of the second part will be bounced clean out of bed, especially if person of the first part is going to the fridge.
I was thinking about one of those tripod stabilizers. But they are large and expensive.
Behold, Olympian Stack Jacks by Camco/RV.
Small and lightweight. And best of all, cheap, $22.22 for two or $43.33 for four, on sale at Camping World. I got the set of two.
Pros:
See the picture below. As mentioned, they don't take up much space in the storage bay. I haven't weighed them but my hands say about 4 -5 pounds for the pair. No sharp edges. Has a built in handle to turn the threaded rod. The threaded rod is not made into the stand, the nut you see at the bottom of the rod sits in a hexagonal hole. This allows the rod to be removed for compact storage. Also, you can run the nut up and down the shaft with your fingers very quickly and get a coarse adjustment, set the rod in place, then fine tune with the handle. Made of aluminum and plated steel they will not rust. Adjusts from 11" to 17" (28 - 43 cm)
Cons:
They have to go under the trailer (duh?) and make contact with the frame so you have to get down on hands and knees to get them in place.
You'll need to put a wooded pad underneath to prevent them settling into the ground.
Effectiveness:
We haven't had them out camping yet, but we did do a quasi-scientific shake test and the wobble factor has been reduced such that the trailer actually feels more like a house than a trailer. I suspect we can now both sleep through one anothers nocturnal urges.
I was thinking about one of those tripod stabilizers. But they are large and expensive.
Behold, Olympian Stack Jacks by Camco/RV.
Small and lightweight. And best of all, cheap, $22.22 for two or $43.33 for four, on sale at Camping World. I got the set of two.
Pros:
See the picture below. As mentioned, they don't take up much space in the storage bay. I haven't weighed them but my hands say about 4 -5 pounds for the pair. No sharp edges. Has a built in handle to turn the threaded rod. The threaded rod is not made into the stand, the nut you see at the bottom of the rod sits in a hexagonal hole. This allows the rod to be removed for compact storage. Also, you can run the nut up and down the shaft with your fingers very quickly and get a coarse adjustment, set the rod in place, then fine tune with the handle. Made of aluminum and plated steel they will not rust. Adjusts from 11" to 17" (28 - 43 cm)
Cons:
They have to go under the trailer (duh?) and make contact with the frame so you have to get down on hands and knees to get them in place.
You'll need to put a wooded pad underneath to prevent them settling into the ground.
Effectiveness:
We haven't had them out camping yet, but we did do a quasi-scientific shake test and the wobble factor has been reduced such that the trailer actually feels more like a house than a trailer. I suspect we can now both sleep through one anothers nocturnal urges.