Camco or Bal?

[mjeronimo]

Anybody switched out their scissor jacks with some of these? Did it help stabilize the trailer better than the scissor jacks? Also haven't been able to compare camco to bal side by side. Camco's are cheaper, but you get what you pay for! Any info would help. Thank you

[chuckster57]

I could be wrong, but dont the scissor jacks have a higher weight rating? I use a stack of lynx leveler blocks to keep the jacks from extending too far. The longer you extend the jacks the more potential there is for wobble IMO.

[mjeronimo]

I was thinking the foot/leg coming down at an angle would help the side to side jiggle. If I raise my scissor jacks an inch off the ground and grab the base plate I can move it side to side couple of inches they pretty flimsy.

[PerryB]

My present trailer has the stabilizer shown in your picture. It provides better stability than the scissor jacks. The only downside is you can't achieve any leveling (side to side) because they are self balancing and put equal pressure on each foot regardless of height.

[mjeronimo]

What brand do you have Perry B? Both go down at the same time?

[Laredo291OH]

Hi mjeronimo,

I went the opposite of you, I removed the electric version of the stabilizers you are looking at and installed scissor jacks. I can't tell you which is better, I was tired of the electric version breaking (factory ones were really cheap, pins were always coming out, can't tell how much load you have on the stabilizers until the motors starts to groan, one motor finally died) and a new motor was about $300. I spent the $300 on 6 scissor jacks (four like normal and 2 in the middle, which is near the steps) and the BAL Lock Arm stabilizers. To me, this setup works much better than the electric version of the stabilizers you are looking at. I have a 10 year old and he likes running the jacks, so as long as that lasts I'm good with the manual setup over electric. :)

[{tpc}]

That is a interesting system. I think the biggest help with it is the added stabilization from the bar that connects the 2 sides across the top. However if both come down at the same time...leveling becomes a issue.

I think there are ones that are the same theory but can be placed one per side to allow bringing down each side separately. I'd only question how strong they are because I think the less they are down (giving more angle) the weaker they would appear to be.

[cw3jason]

Stabilizers are not meant to level. Use blocks under the wheels for that

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[Laredo291OH]

Hi mjeronimo,

I thought of 1 more thing, the other disadvantage of the stabilizers in your picture. As the arms are pivoting down the feet are getting closer together which means a narrower base that they set on. The scissor jacks go straight down, so if they are at the extreme corners of the camper your stabilizing foot print is much wider. I think you would get more our of stabilizer arms like the JT or BAL Lock Arm than switching the style of jacks.

[PerryB]

What brand do you have Perry B? Both go down at the same time?

Yes, they travel up/down together but the channel they are mounted to slides inside an outer channel so it finds the center of pressure and pushes straight up on the trailer once the feet come in contact with the ground. One screw deploys both legs. I cant tell you the brand offhand because the trailer isn't here at the house, but its just a little different that the picture. Mine has pivoting foot pads on the legs. I THINK they are BAL. As mentioned above, you should achieve leveling by using blocks/pads under the tires and not with the jacks. That having been said, when I had my last trailer with scissors on the rear I found I didn't have to get quite so particular with the blocking. Between the landing jacks up front and the scissors on the rear, you could fudge it level if it was fairly close to begin with.
With regard to the feet coming inboard as the legs go down, not really. If you look at the linkage, and watch them in use you'll see that the feet actually travel nearly straight down as they are being lowered. I do want to try the BAL lock arms. They look like they should help quite a bit. When we are going to be in one spot for more than a day, I put screw jacks under the front spring perches and crank them up tight. The front perches on my trailer are just about exactly half way between the landing jacks and the rear stabilizer and it makes a HUGE improvement in trailer stability. It feels more like walking into a house. All things considered I prefer the self-centering stabilizer (pictured) over the scissor jacks.

[UsTwo]

I use a stack of lynx leveler blocks to keep the jacks from extending too far. The longer you extend the jacks the more potential there is for wobble IMO.

Having payed close attention to the wobble, I agree with the above... the more you extend the more you wiggle... Plus I will sometimes use a Universal Stabilizer I got from Camping World... >>> link for that here..> http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/universal-rv-stabilizer/34337. I have two of them, and they actually work... enjoy...