Community Forums

1bigmess · 11-26-2015, 09:54 AM

Howdy, folks!

I guess I've been lucky to avoid strong gusty winds so far since I started full-timing in August. Short of using bracing or guy wires, is there a strategy for the stabilizer jacks or something else to help reduce the shaking the wind is doing to the trailer?

I'm getting used to it, and it's not terribly bothersome, but I think maybe it's not allowing me to sleep well.

Texastbird · 11-26-2015, 11:10 AM

We use the BAL X-chocks in between the tires to help stop the fore-aft movement.

Highway 4x4 · 11-26-2015, 12:00 PM

It's not always possible but if you leave it connected to the TV and face it into the wind with all the jacks down that would be the best you could do. If it's sitting broadside in the wind it's going to move some.

1bigmess · 11-26-2015, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texastbird

We use the BAL X-chocks in between the tires to help stop the fore-aft movement.

I'm using them. I think being parked near a wall and the side of a large house is creating turbulence that shakes the trailer.

dcarver · 11-26-2015, 05:05 PM

I lived in lubbock tx for 3months in our TT so we had our fair share of wind. I bought a 4 pack of the crank up stabilizer jacks at Walmart and they helped tremendously. Only $40 so it wasn't gonna break the bank if it didn't work

Chowboy · 12-02-2015, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcarver

I lived in lubbock tx for 3months in our TT so we had our fair share of wind. I bought a 4 pack of the crank up stabilizer jacks at Walmart and they helped tremendously. Only $40 so it wasn't gonna break the bank if it didn't work

Out there for a time long ago, seemed really windy all the time. Asked a native if it always blew this way. He scratched his head, shuffled his feet and looked up at me and said, pointing over his shoulder, Sometimes it blows that way!

dcarver · 12-03-2015, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chowboy

Out there for a time long ago, seemed really windy all the time. Asked a native if it always blew this way. He scratched his head, shuffled his feet and looked up at me and said, pointing over his shoulder, Sometimes it blows that way!

Haha ya that sounds about right

dagmandt · 12-04-2015, 03:14 PM

I've been in the wind quite a bit, we camp close to the ocean a lot. Generally it isn't really an issue if you use your stabilizer jacks. Big gusts will shake the trailer no matter how well you brace it. Just learn to live with it on those rare days

Gordon Dewald · 12-04-2015, 03:30 PM

If you are parked for a longer time the better you block your trailer the more stable it will be. If you can place concrete blocks under the frame and take a good amount of weight off of the tires (axles) it will steady up.

Using substantial blocks with large footprint helps. I helped a friend put his up on concrete construction blocks. We angled the blocks on the corners at 45 to the frame and put a center blocking close to the axle. It steadied up substantially.

1bigmess · 12-04-2015, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dagmandt

Generally it isn't really an issue if you use your stabilizer jacks. Big gusts will shake the trailer no matter how well you brace it. Just learn to live with it on those rare days

I sort of am, at some pace or another.

I have the scissor jack type of stabilizers. I have found that they can lose som of the pressure they exert against the ground as the trailer shakes. I've been checking them every other day or so and finding them feeling loose comapred to when I tightened them up last. I think I am partially figuring out part of my problem here.

wrvond · 12-09-2015, 02:00 PM

I think the further you extend the scissor jacks, the shakier they become.

1bigmess · 12-09-2015, 02:48 PM

Yes, if they are very extended, but if the legs are around ninety degrees to each other where they have the joint in them, they should be quite stable. I happened to find a nice level spot where I am now, so they are all pretty much extended the same distance.

cwsqbm · 12-12-2015, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1bigmess

I sort of am, at some pace or another.

I have the scissor jack type of stabilizers. I have found that they can lose som of the pressure they exert against the ground as the trailer shakes. I've been checking them every other day or so and finding them feeling loose comapred to when I tightened them up last. I think I am partially figuring out part of my problem here.

I always figured it was the ground under the jacks settling. I've got the older-style jacks that can't be cranked that hard, so I had to find a different way. The older jacks don't have much leverage until they're pretty far extended and my trailer sits really low to the ground.

My setup routine:
(1)to level the trailer, and then lower the nose some. I have a manual jack so I go down 15~20 revolutions.
(2) I put the rear jacks down snug.
(3) I then raise it up until its level.
(4) I then raise it more (about ~7 revolutions) and put the front jacks down.
(5) I lower the front until most of the weight is off the tongue jack and check the level.

Doing this usually gives me a inch or so more gap between the tires and fender as an indicator of how much weight is off the tires.

TDI-Minnie · 12-14-2015, 02:25 PM

Fill the water tank and keep plenty of liquid in the black and gray tanks.
The extra 500-1,000lbs. of liquid down low makes it that much more stable.

The water should be free and dumping it when you leave just means your black and gray tanks are well flushed.

I have found towing with the water tank full makes my trailer more stable on the road, too.