Leveling jacks vs electric stabilizers

[Hopman]

New to owning a motor home. Bought it last week and trying to figure all of the basic ins and outs. One of the first is do we need leveling jacks if there are electric stabilizers in the center of the vehicle? Or does the vehicle just need to be close to level using blocks and such?

[jimp]

There is a difference between the leveling jacks and stablizers. The leveling jacks will level the unit, and have the power/lifting capacity to level the unit, by raising one side or one corner of the RV. The stabilizers are less powerful, and should only be used to "stabilize" the unit to reduce the bounce felt when entering or walking around inside the unit. Stabilizers should NOT be used to raise or level unit, the RV should be leveled with blocks under the wheels wherever needed to level the unit. Then deploy the stabilizers.

Post a picture of what you have on the RV so members can post what you should do.

[Camper_bob]

Also, year/make/model of your unit would be helpful.

[jeffro01]

Any reason why you couldn't use both? When on my leveling jacks I wish the coach was a little more stable than it is. In a perfect world I'd like to 100% eliminate any motion transfer or rocking as we move around in the coach if that's even possible.

Thanks,
Jeff

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by jeffro01

Any reason why you couldn't use both? When on my leveling jacks I wish the coach was a little more stable than it is. In a perfect world I'd like to 100% eliminate any motion transfer or rocking as we move around in the coach if that's even possible.

Thanks,
Jeff

In my experience, 100% elimination of motion us unattainable unless you have the thing up on blocks by the frame every couple feet.

As far as "both", I might agree that's probably your best bet?

In my TT, if I put supports in the middle of the frame, I could make it pretty darn solid. Electric stab jacks on the ends, and aluminum stacker jacks in the middle, along with X-chocks between the tires. After the tires cooled down, I just needed to snug everything up, and it was pretty solid.

In the motorhome, I have hydraulic 4-point leveling. Sometimes the tires/suspension carry a lot of that load, but sometimes the jacks carry most of it. Logically, you would think the more load that is supported by the suspension, the more movement is allowed. But that's not necessarily true in my case. Or at least as far as I've found. There really needs to be a balance between how much of the rig is supported by the jacks and how much is supported by the tires/suspension.

Bottom line with MY MH is IMO it's not worth the extra trouble to put additional jacks. Sure, it's a little movement, but it's not terrible or uncomfortable. And most of the time there really isn't much movement at all.

That being said, I would probably mount a pair of high capacity scissor jacks somewhere near the middle of the frame and use my power drill to deploy them. Use them like regular stab jacks by just snugging them down after I'm all set up and leveled.

Perhaps if I were staying in the rig long-term, I might think about adding some kind of jack to the middle? Maybe like a couple 7K scissor jacks? But so far, I haven't felt the need for that...

[Hopman]

Thanks for info.
2019 Jayco Melbourne
Mercedes Sprinter Chassis
Picture of the stabilizer to follow

[Hopman]

Here is a pic of the stabilizer.

[Pfflyer]

Welcome to the forum from another Melbourne owner. I would love to get leveling jacks but I make do with the blocks. There are some with the Sprinter Chassis MH that got levelers that got rid of the stabilizer either to save weight or they are in the way of the install of the leveling jacks. I get mine level as close as possible and what I can live with. 4-1/2” is as high as I will go on the LEGO blocks. I have camped in some parks mostly State Parks that needed more than 4-1/2 but it is a rare occurrence. My rig seems to be low in the front even on level ground.

[jimp]

Originally Posted by Hopman

Here is a pic of the stabilizer. Attachment 52319

Those are designed to stabilize only, NOT for lifting or leveling the unit. USE blocks under the wheels/tires to level your unit.

[gzvette61]

I have an Entegra Qwest (kissing cousin of the Melbourne) that came with the stabilizers. They did fine for stabilizing, but after a few outings where leveling was a significant issue (both site related and weather related) I added leveling jacks to the unit. Not cheap, and not foolproof. Despite making sure they are appropriately zeroed, they sometimes still have trouble finding level, even on relatively level surfaces. They also sometimes go way high in their attempt to find level. That said, it's easy to use the manual controls to get to level when the system has problems in automatic, and I also use Level Mate Pro to assist in the leveling process. I only had to use my Legos once (on a really out of level site in Virginia), and am glad I paid for the convenience of simplifying the process, especially since our typical travel is no more than one or two nights at any site, and then on to another. I had a real concern over total loaded weight, but CAT scale weights confirm that I am still OK with the added weight of the levelers. If I am on a level site, there are times I still just use the stabilizers, since they are still there, but I wouldn't want to give up my levelers.