Grand Design stabilizer jacks (or other brands)

[dhay13]

Anyone here familiar with replacing the scissor style stabilizer jacks? My son has a 2018 Grand Design Imagine 2670MK. He left Texas and had to go to Minnesota. Got there just as it was getting dark and was using his drill to lower the stabilizers. Apparently had the back ones too low and when he lowered the front the back ones bent. Not a big deal as he can replace them but he wasn't sure if he can get the bolts without snapping them. Are they through bolts with nuts on the back side or is the steel framing threaded? Asking because if they are through bolts and snap then no big deal.
He has to be at work in the morning and hasn't had time to look at it. He still has no sewage hookup or water hookup so the jacks aren't his priority right now. But if the bolts are easy enough to get out then he will take them out Sunday but if it is going to be a bigger job then he is going to see if the company mechanic can bring his tools to get them.
I watched 1 video and they were through bolts so if they snap then they can be removed from the top with vice grips.

 

[runamuck]

they can be bought cheap online and just take a few minutes to change out if they are the manual crank ones..they are typically just fastened by sheet metal screws to a flat steel plate welded to the trailer frame..they are not very stout and can be straightened if need be..

 

[Doug Ram]

Yes replacement scissor style STABILIZERS can be had pretty easily. Note the term Stabilizer. DO NOT try to level the trailer with these things. They are NOT designed to carry much weight, but to keep the trailer from rocking and moving!!!!!

Is he new to trailering, because it sounds like he made a newbie error. Tell him that the stabilizers are NOT supposed to be used to level the trailer. To properly level a trailer this is the procedure:

1. Before you go and with the trailer level, mount a small bubble level on each side of the exterior to make it easy to know when you've got it level.

2. Use several leveling blocks (2x8" square, wood or plastic) to level the trailer side to side. Place them on the ground behind or in front of the wheels on the lower side. Drive onto the blocks and check side to side level. You may have to drive off and add (or subtract) blocks. Blocks can be plastic or wood. Trailer should be near level side to side when done.

3. Un hitch from the tow vehicle. Use the trailer tongue jack to level the trailer front to back. If the tongue jack is not long enough, put leveling blocks under the foot of the tongue jack. Raise or lower the tongue jack as needed.

4. ONCE the trailer is level, lower the scissors style STABILIZERS to the ground. NEVER try to LIFT the trailer with them!!!!!!!

He's done!

 

[dhay13]

Yeah he had the rear jacks to low. He was by himself and it was dark and he didn't realize when he jacked up the front that the rears now had too much weight. The ground was pretty unlevel too and he didn't have enough blocks to get it level so he was going to re-level it the next day. He was using his rechargeable impact to crank them down. I think he learned his lesson...lol. He just called and said he is leaving Minnesota tomorrow morning and stopping back home then headed to Philadelphia and is going to order new ones and have them shipped to Philly then he will change them.

 

[Doug Ram]

Yeah he had the rear jacks to low. He was by himself and it was dark and he didn't realize when he jacked up the front that the rears now had too much weight. The ground was pretty unlevel too and he didn't have enough blocks to get it level so he was going to re-level it the next day. He was using his rechargeable impact to crank them down. I think he learned his lesson...lol. He just called and said he is leaving Minnesota tomorrow morning and stopping back home then headed to Philadelphia and is going to order new ones and have them shipped to Philly then he will change them.

He was so obviously using the stabilizers as jacks. BAD BAD BAD. Make sure he knows the 4 step "How to level your trailer".

The rule of thumb is: FIRST level the trailer using the blocks and tongue jack, THEN lower the stabilizers to touch the ground.

When using a power drill tool to lower the stabilizers, set it on it on slow and low power. Use no more power than is needed to put the stabilizer down and stop when it hits the ground. Any more, and it starts to lift the trailer, and then you are no longer level, and people make the mistake of re-adjusting the level with the stabilizers and the power drill, going from one stabilizer to the other. Before you know it, most of the trailer's weight is off the wheels and tongue jack and on the stabilizers... Then a stabilizer fails. If not immediately, when the family has gotten back inside and is moving around. Then the stabilizer fails suddenly people can get hurt, fall out of bunk beds. Depending on how unlevel the site is, and how much the stabilizer has lifted the trailer, this can make for a very, very bad camping trip...

 

[HDGoose]

On my trailer I always use a set of leveling blocks to reduce the extension of the jacks. They seem my stronger that way.

 

[dhay13]

Yeah I told him I think he was putting too much weight on the jacks. It is tough in his situation though. He got there late at noon but the owner of the 'campground' wasn't there so he couldn't start setting up until the guy got back. There were no available campgrounds where he is so he is staying on a farm with a makeshift campsite with a few other campers. His company gives him no extra time when they transfer him. I mean he left Texas on a Tuesday morning for a 1400 mile drive to Minnesota and the site manager called him Thursday morning and asked him why he wasn't there. He didn't even get to the campground until noon that day. The company has a 500 mile a day policy but it is impossible to keep to that with the timelines they give you. But yeah I think he got in a rush and overdid it on the jacks and with the ground being so unlevel he was trying to improvise.

 

[runamuck]

the four I have on my trailer are good for 5000# each and I do use them for leveling up after getting close with the plastic squares under the tires. the tongue jack and the 4 wheels carry most of the weight and then the slop from the suspension is taken out by adjusting the jacks. my trailer is under 6000# when towing so the few hundred lbs. dedicated to the 20,000# available on the jacks does not put much strain on them. I carry a few 2x6 scraps to put under them to give them a solid base. just my own system, other folks have theirs.

 

[Doug Ram]

the four I have on my trailer are good for 5000# each and I do use them for leveling up after getting close with the plastic squares under the tires. the tongue jack and the 4 wheels carry most of the weight and then the slop from the suspension is taken out by adjusting the jacks. my trailer is under 6000# when towing so the few hundred lbs. dedicated to the 20,000# available on the jacks does not put much strain on them. I carry a few 2x6 scraps to put under them to give them a solid base. just my own system, other folks have theirs.

As long as you don't put more than 10% of the weight of the trailer on the jack you should be fine.

I have been working on trailers for years. I have learned the hard way that scissors style stabilizers are not leveling jacks. Leveling Jacks are very, very different, more expensive things used primarily on larger heavier trailers and motor homes. They lift the trailer, are usually electric and/or hydraulically powered and look very, very, very different than the scissors style stabilizers.

LET ME SAY THIS AGAIN AND CLEARLY FOR ALL!
SCISSORS STYLE TRAILER STABILIZERS ARE NOT JACKS!!!!​

They look like your car's tire jack, and they are designed much like your car's tire jack. BUT they are USED very differently. Your car's tire jack raises the car for an hour or so. It doesn't have to raise your car for days. It doesn't have to deal with people moving around inside. If the jack collapses, the car won't get severely damaged inside. Oh, and DON'T use your stabilizers to change a trailer tire.

Scissors style stabilizers weaken over time, especially if you use then as jacks. That weight rating is highly optimistic for long term use. They are supposed to carry no more than 10% of the trailer's weight. Just enough to stabilize the springs and keep the trailer from moving up and down when parked. Keep the trailer from moving back and forth with wheel chocks or scissors expander stoppers that go between the wheels.

 

[dhay13]

I think my son said his were 5000lb jacks but he is going to order the higher capacity ones. I guess Grand Design changed I think in 2019 to a 7500lb jack or something. My numbers might be off but they did upgrade them. He has a 2018 and I think it has the lighter capacity ones. But since he basically lives in his all year around he wants the better ones

 

[Doug Ram]

Get the higher capacity ones. It's a wise investment.

 

[dhay13]

Yeah he is going to get the heavier ones. IIRC the heavier ones are longer too so they won't be as straight up and down when lowered. Should provide more stability.

And the reason he didn't have enough blocks was that when he was headed to Minnesota his pass-thru storage door popped open and he lost a bunch of his blocks and 2 30lb propane tanks. He had no idea until he got there that the door popped open. He had the doors locked but the latch popped over the lip. He was hoping nobody got any damage from it and he had no idea when it happened...lol. Now he locks them and duct tapes them.