Leveling Jack Pads

[Renipladlo]

All - HWH does not recommend leveling jack pads, but, without them in many cases your jacks will sink out of sight, overextending them possibly which can cause damage to that leveler.

If you are on a concrete pad, you won’t' need them, but if you are on asphalt pad and it's hot, you will need them as the weight of the coach could cause them to sink into the asphalt.

I have searched around, and there are several models to choose from, but I finally settled on this company (see link below), as they have a good product, made out of tough material, and will hold 40K pounds per pad average. I purchased 4 of them, and got the bag included, plus if you use the code WEB, you can save 10% off the total sale. http://www.dica.logo-shop.net./

Several companies make pads, and many RV Stores have them, but I wanted at least 15" square since that will spread the load enough so I won't sink into the mud in a wet spot. I won't guarantee that you won’t sink in Florida since much of that state is sand. The advantage of these over nice thick wooden blocks is weight, and convenience of something manageable without splinters.

I checked on two other brands, but the yellow ones you see in CW, don’t have a wide enough base, even thought rated for 40K lbs, and the other brand you might see have the metal handles but those would it seems get in the way for storage.

When I was building high voltage substations and we had any kind of lifting equipment, or backhoe’s working in the yard, when the stabilizers went down we always put down big pads first so they would not sink, because when moving extremely large 125/250/500 KV rated circuit breakers and the like, if the crane would sink at the wrong time people could get killed from the swinging load, which could impact another energized component. So that is why in almost every case I put down pads under my leveling jacks, I don’t want to sink at the wrong time, and tweak the coach out of true, maybe damaging it.

[Refuse1]

I would highly recommend Summit Products. I bought 4 of their 1" thick x 16" square pads and they work great. I also bought one of their polished stainless step covers and they are a perfect fit.....easy to install and look great !

Summit Product Home


Jeff

[EngineerMike]

My thoughts on jack pads, as gleaned from experience:
1) buy cheap plastic jack pads from, say, CW.
2) place cheap plastic jack pads under landing spots for jacks when camped on loose, swampy soil; observe jack punching a neat round hole in cheap plastic pads then driving a foot or so into loose swampy soil, requiring a shovel & pry bar to remove jacks from mother earth, leaving a small excavation large enough to swallow a small farm animal.
3) don't repeat #2, unless you are hosting a rally and (i.e. you must meet both criteria) you have sufficient soy sauce to marinate the collection of small farm animals you expect to accumulate for use in the 'heavy hors-d'ourves' gathering at the rally.
4) observe 1-3 carefully, carry your cheap plastic jack pads religiously at all times, and you will never need jack pads again.
That has worked flawlessly for me for a few years now. Hope this helps.

Another great system is to purchase several of the cheap, spring-loaded collapsible orange trouble marker cones available at Harbor Freight for under 10 bucks, and carry them at all times. This will prevent you from being involved in any accidents requiring cones, but only if your collapsible units are readily available & taking up valuable space that could be used for other more useful stuff. Hope that helps also.

[clarkgriswold]

Wow....pretty pricey jack pads! It may be simple luck but I'd used cut 2x8 treated lumber and haven't had an issue of sinking or breaking. I will admit that they do take up a little more space but much better than the CW jack pads and a lot cheaper than the 'engineered super pads'. Just my thoughts and experience.

[Dave and Jaime]

Originally Posted by EngineerMike

My thoughts on jack pads, as gleaned from experience:
1) buy cheap plastic jack pads from, say, CW.
2) place cheap plastic jack pads under landing spots for jacks when camped on loose, swampy soil; observe jack punching a neat round hole in cheap plastic pads then driving a foot or so into loose swampy soil, requiring a shovel & pry bar to remove jacks from mother earth, leaving a small excavation large enough to swallow a small farm animal.
3) don't repeat #2, unless you are hosting a rally and (i.e. you must meet both criteria) you have sufficient soy sauce to marinate the collection of small farm animals you expect to accumulate for use in the 'heavy hors-d'ourves' gathering at the rally.
4) observe 1-3 carefully, carry your cheap plastic jack pads religiously at all times, and you will never need jack pads again.
That has worked flawlessly for me for a few years now. Hope this helps.

Another great system is to purchase several of the cheap, spring-loaded collapsible orange trouble marker cones available at Harbor Freight for under 10 bucks, and carry them at all times. This will prevent you from being involved in any accidents requiring cones, but only if your collapsible units are readily available & taking up valuable space that could be used for other more useful stuff. Hope that helps also.

Thanks, EM, for being "that guy." You know, the one who carries an umbrella to ensure that it WON'T rain and who washes his car to ensure that it WILL rain.

[GG1]

Lowes or Home Depot sells jack pads very reasonable,,,,
2X10 or 2X12 pressure treated wood, depending on size needed for jack feet, 2 screwed together opposing grain, attach 1/4 inch line in a loop to remove them easy, drill holes in one end to place them eaiser under jacks use awning pull rod. They take up a little more space but a lot more reasonable, for the last 12 years we have used the same ones,,also used to use wood reinforced with long bolts for outriggers on utility bucket trucks never any problems.

[okie-dokie]

I manufactured mine out of 5/8 inch OSB. 12" X 12" squares, laminate 2 squares with wood glue, screw 1 drywall screw in each corner, 1 drywall screw in the center, and screw 1 eyebolt in one side to insert your awning rod for moving. I sawed about a 1/2 inch off the corners. I painted them with a home depot paint that someone rejected. I then installed 1/4 inch cloth inserted rubber 12" X 12" on one side. ( for lighting strikes ). Hopefully the rubber will help. I once saw a jack shatter a plastic pad into a 1,000 peices. If anyone had been close by, they may have had serious damaged to their legs.

[OldForester]

Well, I use the orange plastic cheaper 12"x12" jack pads that I bought at CW, which have a honeycomb pattern on one side and smooth on the other. They turn one way for gravel or sand/grass and the other way for asphalt/concrete. They warp a little but the next time I use them if turn them the other way the warp corrects itself.

For all the reported issues with these pads, I have found after nearly 4 years of use, 4 1/2 to 5 months/year, they still hold together and they still work. I have used them in sand, muddy ground, gravel, and soft grass and they do the job. They don't weigh very much and they're easy to stow.

Having been in the wood products business, I insisted on carrying various sizes of lumber and OSB for jack pads, until I decided they took up too much space and weighed more than I liked to put under and remove from the coach. So I bought the lightweight plastic and they have worked well.

[Barbaraok]

We also use the orange pads from Camping World - going on 5 years. Seems like we usually alternate from place to place so that over time they are doing just fine. We use them all of the time, even on concrete, sort of a habit by now. I'm trying to figure out why HWH would have a problem with you using them? And we've been enough places that not using something wasn't an option!

Barb


Barb