Jack pads - whats your choice?

[DiRon]

Regarding painted or bare wood jack pads:
The paint could probably come off on the black top in the hot weather so the bare wood is preferred I would think???

[tom wilson]

the best i have used are oak 4x14x10. they have not split nor cracked like other wood. i only use them if the park demands it. i dont stay if the park is too unlevel for the hwh to get me level.

[Summit1]

I too learned some practical knowledge about the do-it-yourself leveling pads for the RV world after reading these posts. I work for Summit Stabilizers/Summit Products - we make jack pads and outrigger pads. I would like to share a few things that we have learned in the past few years about this product line.

First, I think wood based products are a good product. You can not beat the dollar value. The best way to make them is like Rob and Sue’s product mentioned in August of 2008. A Thompson’s waterproofed Baltic birch plywood when screwed together make for a very durable product. They are used daily by heavy equipment companies across the country and they take a lot of abuse. The drawback is that they do not last forever, water does have an effect on them despite the waterproofing treatment, and they take up more cargo space compared to a similarly rated UHMW pad. 2x12s and 2x14’s are a short term solution because they tend to split easily. 4x4s and larger make for great cribbing, but can also be a bit bulky in the storage bay.

Plastic outriggers. If money was not a issue, then I would use Nylon based pads. They are truly indestructible, but alas, they are 4x the cost of UHMW PE. This stands for ultra high molecular weight polyethylene. This is the material we use to make jack pads for RVs and construction equipment. We have not had one failure yet with this material. The next product material down the ladder is high density PE (aka HDPE). It is about 2/3 of the strength of UHMW. Low density PE is further down the scale. I believe the cutting boards are made of HDPE. Some people also promote the electrical insulating values of the plastic (think lightning strike), but we have not tested this product for that type of liability.

How thick should the jack pad be? In the RV market, I can only offer some guidelines as there are too many variables to be definitive. These variables include: soil density, the diameter of the foot on the hydraulic jack, allowable deflection, jack pad surface area, and jack pad thickness.

For vehicles with 4 jacks below 24,000 lbs, then 12x12 jack pads are great. Either ¾” or 1” thick will work. I am not a believer in pads ½” thick or less. They generally warp too much. Remember, the stiffness of the pad goes up by the cube of the thickness so a small increase in thickness adds up to a lot of strength. ¾” pads with a 16x16 footprint are good in most soil conditions for vehicles weighing up to 30,000 to 35,000 lbs. This is not an exact science. Step up to 1” thick pads above this vehicle weight range. For customers going into softer, loamy soil conditions, use cribbing or a possibly an 18x20 pad. The trouble is that these pads can be expensive and hard to justify the expense.

I hope this was useful information.

Albert Marasco
Summit Products, Inc.

[Gadget Man]

Albert,

Than you for the informative reply. You make some very good points.

Craig

[Spikester]

I fooled around making my own out of everything from wood, corian, GRP, and CW specials, last year I finally bit the bullet, turned a blind eye and bought a set from DICA.

Wish I would have done it 23 years ago, I would have saved myself a lot of time and money!

Spike

[Keith & Sharon]

Here is an interesting video set on rv electrical systems, the first video at abt th 4 min mark has an interesting comment on jack pads.
http://www.progressiveindustries.net/video.htm

[Eddie Foy]

I haven't found pads to be necessary. My jacks have 12 inch diameter round feet on them. Works for me.

[Eddie Foy]

They don't want the paint to transfer. Plywood layers are laid up so the grain in the layers are at 90 degree angles so the surface grain is not important.

Originally posted by Bob (WA0MQE):
I also made mine from 3/4" plywood. Two pieces 12" square. Each piece is glued and screwed together with the grain offset on each one. I sealed them with wood sealer and painted them.

Now I have a question. When I attended the FMCA International Convention in St. Paul, we were required to use jack pads on the blacktop parking which is understandable due to hot weather softening the blacktop. But, they also mentioned only plastic or bare wood, not painted. Can anyone explain what difference painted as opposed to unpainted would make?

[Bob (WA0MQE)]

Thanks for the reply Eddie Foy...

To follow up, I went ahead and used them anyway, because as hot as it was I didn't want my jacks to sink in, and some did that didn't have pads. In any case when I pulled out the day we left, I checked where my pads had been sitting just to see if there was a problem, and I couldn't find any. No paint from my pads left on the pavement, however, there was a bit of asphalt and small gravel stones stuck to my pads.

So maybe we as owners should say no fresh asphalt or loose gravel allowed where we intend to use our jacks and jack pads.

[Jim Stewart]

How about these, 16x16x1 inch, plastic, built in handle, lifetime warranty and includes carry bag for $150.00

http://www.outdoors-for-life.com/rv.html

[theroc]

Interesting thread.

Man, if any of you are at the campsite next to me when I pull in and set up, you'll laugh your heads off! Many of you have really thought this through and have gone to a lot of time and expense to really do the job right. Kudos!!

I, on the other hand, use 4 plastic cutting boards that I bought at the dollar store for $1 each and 2 x 12 PT wood that I had as scraps. I'll use a combination of one or both depending on the circumstance. Very little cost to me but obviously, I'm not doing things correctly.

Now I'm going to be extra embarrassed when throwing those things under my levelers when I'm setting up knowing that all of you are using carefully crafted homemade pads or an expensive specifically made product.

I may have to rethink what I'm using now. Thanks for the suggestions.

[wazone3]

I don't use jack pads unless I'm on soft ground, then I use 4X4 rail sections, about 18" long. They never break, although you may have to dig them out on wet soft ground. It's not a major problem.

[RVDude]

Either DICA or Summit. I jack 48,000lbs on either and can't bend them. Can't boondock a bloated rig without them.

[Horknee]

Love this idea.going to give it a try.If it does not work I will not be out much