Scissor Jacks How Many and Where

[A7thson]

1st Post - 1st Motor home - 1st Question.

My MH is 26 feet long. I would like to put scissor jacks (for stabilization) under all four corners. But the clearance under the engine area is less than 8". The clearance from the frame to the ground just behind the running bards is 17.50" all the way back to the rear. The cabin is only about 18'. If I can't put scissor jacks under the front corners and have to move them back about 8', does it make more sense to only use 2 jacks in the center or should I still put 4 jacks within that 18' distance?

Thank you for your anticipated response,
A7thson
2006 Jayco Escapade 25BSLP

 

[troutslayer]

4 is better than 2, for sure. If you are mounting them permanently, I would only mount the rear 2 permanently and make the front 2 removable, cuz 8" is too close for comfort IMO. If you are going to make all removable, IMO you should still use 4 because 2 really won't do much if the only other supports are tires.
On my 5er I have front legs, rear stabilizers and then I added 2 scissor jacks in front of the wheels for a total of 6 landing points and it's pretty much rock solid.

 

[A7thson]

Skip,

I'm shooting in the dark here so bear with me.

I agree that 4 is better than 2. One of my concerns is that only having 8" of clearance on the front of the MH, and most scissor jacks will not start to lift weight until they are about 1/2 way open (24 inch jacks won't start to tolerate weight until about 12"). So I couldn't us scissor jacks. I think that I would have to go with hydraulic jacks for the front. So if I get to buying hydraulic jacks, I might as well go all hydraulic and level as well as stabilize.

 

[Jagiven]

4 stabilizers are better than two. Having them in a ways is better than having them in the corners.

I would consider 2 hydraulic hacks to help stabilize the unit in front. In back either standard scissors stabilizers or 2 more hydraulic jacks. always put a board under the jack, to spread the load out. This is very important on softer soils.

 

[SmokerBill]

Maybe homemade stabilizers are what you need on the low side:

http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f18/homemade-stabilizers-37539.html#post423075