Rv shaking

[dylana40]

I use my cougar res33 mostly for work so I'm in it for long times. I was wondering if I add jacks in middle of t railier would it stop shaking so much

[Ken / Claudia]

I had a 40ft park trailer and a 28ft trailer that were set up to stay on vacation property. Both had bricks in contract with the ground and 2x6 blocks stacked up against the frame rails. Tires were left on them but, off the ground. To me it was a must do and was real solid if parked for long times of use.

[14george]

Told by a dealer not to let the weight of your tires and wheels hang on the springs for a long period of time

[GaryWT]

I would not lift it enough to lift the wheels but adding a set of jacks in the middle of the trailer should help for sure.

[dylana40]

I dont want to lift it just put a couple extra jacks to stabilize it

[therink]

Short answer is yes as far as bounce goes. Just lift enough to take some weight off of Springs.
I have bal locking stabilizer bars at front and rear and the eliminate the majority of fore/aft and side to side movement.

[FiremanRick]

I have a similar problem with my 2890RL. A service man at my dealer today recommend placing stabilizing jacks under the slide out, but I thought I had read somewhere that this is a bad idea. Does anybody use these jacks?

[Ken / Claudia]

You guys are right as to letting the wheels/tires hang in air. Mine were off the ground but still sitting on blocks of 2x6s. Some wt was removed from them as I did not want the full weight of the trailers on their springs. I did that to again help with shaking, not sure if that helped or not. The 28ft had the 4 corner jacks down with 4 more blocks of support and tongue jack removed. 40 ft I placed blocks at each corner and 8 more along the rails with tongue jack removed. Tongue jacks removed to keep them from rusting in place. Extra jacks would work great, I wanted more and pay less, so bricks and wood.

[JRTJH]

OK I'll bite. I gotta ask: If the suspension will support 10000 pounds of load on the tires/springs/shackles, why won't it support the "hanging" weight of the axle and two wheel/tire assemblies? They are, at most, 250 lbs for the axle and 200 lbs for both wheels. It seems that hitting a pot hole will put many times that much "negative load" on the suspension at highway speeds. How can or how does hanging the wheels suspended cause damage?

It seems some tire manufacturers suggest storing trailers with the tires off the ground. Even removing the tires completely would only reduce the "hanging weight" by a couple hundred pounds. Now I'm wondering if the tire makers talked to Dexter before making that suggestion, or if there's more to it than meets the eye?

[Jlwright]

Ok, I'm next in line. What is wrong with slide out support jacks? I am about to order them for my new fifth wheel as I thought it would help support the weight of the slide out.

[tdawg]

no slide out jacks for mine, i have the six point auto level system and they pop sometimes and have to hit auto level after several days to re level, wouldnt want slide out jack supporting weight.

[Bob Landry]

I have the same shaking issue with my 277RL. I have a total of 8 stabilizer jacks and use X-chocks between the axles and I can still feel my Yorkie walking across the floor. And this version Outback is supposed to have the heavy I-beam construction. I gave up on it.

[notanlines]

I'm with John on this one. I simply cannot imagine the problem with having enough support along the entire frame that your axles were suspended with tires clearing the ground. I would like to hear from a tech somewhere explaining how that would be "bad" for a suspension system.

[jsmith948]

I'll add my take on slide out support jacks. What do you suppose would happen to the slide mechanism if a tire were to deflate overnight and the trailer frame dropped down with all that additional weight/leverage exerted on the slide?

[Jlwright]

I could certainly see a problem if a tire went down. Maybe I'll just hold off on that purchase.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Jlwright

I could certainly see a problem if a tire went down. Maybe I'll just hold off on that purchase.

In addition to a tire deflation causing severe "upward pressure" on the slide mechanism, consider that this entire thread has been devoted to "shaking" and "movement" of the trailer frame, much of that from the tires/suspension moving up and down causing a "noticeable movement" inside the RV. If you install a rigid support under the slide to stop that movement, yet it continues along the RV chassis (to which the slide mechanism is welded), you are quite likely to cause stress to the slide tubes where they "bend" as the RV moves, while the slide is restricted from moving. That bending could lead to damaged slide extension rod mechanisms and cause a restricted/binding mechanism on slide movement.

In the "old days" when "tip-outs" first appeared in RV's, slide stabilizers and slide locks were a requirement. They were used to support the "tip-out" and formed the foundation to keep the "moving part of the RV" level. As the industry progressed to manual slides and crank out slides, a better "support system" was developed. Today's slides are well supported in the "out" position, but many are above the floor when in the travel position and those won't support weight until extended. Most Keystone slides have cautions to not walk on or sit on them when in the travel position.

As the industry progressed, the slide stabilizers were no longer needed, but in the "interest of self preservation" many of the stabilizer manufacturers just changed their "sales tactics" and started suggesting people use them to "support the new slides". In today's slides, there's really no benefit to using stabilizers under slides and if the RV moves (or shakes) more harm than good can come from using them.

I'd recommend using the money for something else, your RV is designed and engineered so it doesn't need slide stabilizers.

[Jlwright]

Thanks for the advice. That is why I follow this forum. I'm new to fifth wheel camping and have already learned things that hopefully will keep me from making a costly mistake.

[Hercules1978]

I have a 31SQB and at 36' overall, it bounces quite a bit in the middle. My neighbor gave me a set of 5000# scissor jacks that I put just behind the axles. Snug then up just enough to take some weight off the springs. Makes a large improvement

[dylana40]

Thats what I was thinkin when I asked thex question