RV Rear Leveling Jack and Stabilizer – Fifth Wheel Pictorial Guide

Last updated on October 20th, 2012 at 08:39 pm

September 27, 2012 by Marlan at Rv52 Leave a Comment

Rear Jack or Rear Stabilizer for a Fifth Wheel

Some RV’s won’t have a rear “jack” or leveling jack at all. What they have is a “stabilizer” jack. The difference is really important.

The IDEA behind a stabilizer is that it makes contact with the ground and then gets tightened up snug enough so that the RV doesn’t bounce around when people walk around inside the RV. That is the idea behind stabilization. Its not really meant to carry lots of weight – and in fact one of the RV’s we had the place the stabilizer fastened to the frame really was not a good spot and the frame wasn’t meant to be lifted from that spot. So if you would have tried to lift the frame it would have warped. At least that was my observation.

But if you have a leveling jack, that jack and its relationship to the frame is quite different. It is design to take much larger chunks of weight from the RV and actually be used to level the frame. Our Open Range 399 BHS actually has a leveling system.

A quick note on leveling – even though our RV has a leveling system, we still try to do our best by raising the low side of the RV by driving up on something – usually 2×8’s. Some people use plastic leveling brick thingys . Then the leveling system really only has to level the unit an inch or two left to right. Also, if you don’t park on a level surface I think the RV is unsafe. So even front to back you should park the RV so he leveling system only had to work with a few inches, not several feet.

Here is a picture of the rear leveling jack along with its stabilizing bar ( explained in an earlier article ) :

RV Leveling System – Fifth Wheel Pictorial Guide

Last updated on September 10th, 2016 at 07:13 pm

September 17, 2012 by Marlan at Rv52 Leave a Comment

Leveling a fifth wheel - electronic leveling and the JT Strong Arms — Leveling a fifth wheel – electronic leveling and the JT Strong Arms

Fifth Wheel Leveling System

Assuming most RV’s, particularly more expensive RV’s have electric or hydraulically controlled jacks (also called landing gear) on all four corners of your RV, then it is not a stretch that your RV might have an automatic leveling system.

Our Open Range 399BHS has just such a system.

The systems are found usually INSIDE the DRIVERS SIDE fifth wheel basement in an area called the convenience center. You’ll find many different controls and connections in this area.

In the picture below, you can see the system for the Open Range. Its not 100% automatic, I mean you don’t just punch the “level” button. You have to operate the unit.

I do think some are more automatic than the Open Range’s system.

In this system, you have a 2 step process. Step 1 is to level the unit from left to right or vise versa. Step 2 is to level from front to back. If you have stabilizer rods, then the leveling steps are more complex as you try to put weight on the stabilizer rods. See the Open Range Leveling instructions here.

In the Open Range, we can only control two jacks at a time and we can only control them in 2 jack combinations. I think this was done to limit current draw in the system because it is conceivable that if you gave people the ability to control 4 at a time by pressing individual buttons, they probably would try.

Even when controlling only two stabilizer jacks at a time, we’ll blow the circuit breaker every 30 seconds or so. Another reason for two jacks at a time has to do philosophically with the idea of “raise side A”, “raise the front” – which by definition should mean controlling two jacks at a time.

Here is a typical control panel for an RV leveling system :

rv electric leveling system for a fifth wheel

Some simple “levels” from Amazon

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Fifth Wheel Landing Gear – Fifth Wheel Pictorial Guide

Last updated on October 20th, 2012 at 08:45 pm

September 6, 2012 by Marlan at Rv52 3 Comments

The Landing Gear

Every towable RV ( travel trailers and camping trailers included ) has the concept that the wheels form the two rear corners of the “houses” foundation and that there is a front “support” that forms the front foundation. In a travel trailer, this is usually called the “jack” and on fifth wheels it is called the landing gear.

The landing gear are an integral part of the leveling process.

First you level side to side. This is done by raising the low side by having the low side’s wheels on top of something like a board or something you can drive the wheels onto that will also support the weight of the fifth wheel.

Then you level front to back. This is done by adjusting the landing gear to a height that levels the unit front to back. We check level in about 3-4 places – none of them necessarily agree perfectly with each other but we try to get as close as we can.

Most modern fifth wheels ( manufactured later than 2009 or so ) seem to have some form of powered front landing gear and many ( our Open Range 399BHS included ) have the landing gear working together with the rear landing gear ( usually a stabilizer only, but in our Open Range can be used to level the unit too ) to actually be used to level the RV.

I’ve also noticed that the fifth wheels have a left and right landing gear. I think this is for a number of reasons. First the design of the fifth wheel doesn’t lend itself to a single jack as well as a travel trailer. Next, the fifth wheel puts a little more weight on the tow vehicle ( desired ) since it can place a little weight on all four corners of the tow vehicle. Since there is more weight, having the weight split across two “jacks” makes the job a little bit easier.

When you see many fifth wheels in parks, you’ll notice a tripod that attaches to the fifth wheel hitch. This really isn’t to support the weight of the fifth wheel, but its purpose is to tighten itself up to the hitch and make it so that the fifth wheel doesn’t bounce as much.

When you understand that the RV is on wheels and that the wheels MUST be allowed to absorb shocks from the road and not transfer those shocks to the RV’s structure in full strength – then you’re realize that the RV itself will not be ROCK solid when you are inside it and it is parked. So many RV’s have different techniques to “STABILIZE” the RV. So whenever you see the the word stabilize in the RV industry, that is usually applied to the idea of making the RV not bounce, rock, vibrate, or shake when people are walking or moving inside the RV. Feeling other people move in the RV is very annoying to the other people.

In the Open Range stabilization scheme they have adjustable bars that you can tighten which transfer some of the pressure from the landing gear up along the frame to try try stiffen the frame. Open Range installs these from a 3rd party manufacturer – so that means you can install these yourself if you don’t already have them. The brand is called JT Strong Arm. Can RV52 recommend them yet? I don’t know. I do think if I get the weight transferred to the JT Strong Arms correctly it does stabilize the unit, but I can’t say I’ve done it correctly. I guess I still feel our RV bounce a bit – so I guess I’m not perfectly sure. You can see the JT Strong Arms in the picture below.

Finally, when the RV is getting ready to move the landing gear should retract all the way into the RV so that it does not touch the road or create any safety hazard. When the landing gear is retracted completely, I still have to manually pull a pin and then push the landing gear up all the way to the shortest pin hole. In the opposite operation you pull then pin and the landing gear extension falls to the ground and then you insert the pin. This way the electric jack system does not have to extend and retract so far.

Here is the picture of a fifth wheel RV’s landing gear – along with the stabilizer rod :

rv front landing gear with stabilizer — fifth wheel front landing gear with stabilizer

My redneck moment – Unsafe without excuses – leveling your fifth wheel RV

Last updated on October 20th, 2012 at 09:33 pm

March 7, 2012 by Marlan at Rv52 1 Comment

Just because your jacks can make it level doesn’t mean you should!

I had the RV parked on an incline once before… and it never bothered me. But the FRONT of the RV was very close to the ground and the front jacks were only extended about 6-7 inches. In other words, the wheels and the front jacks carried the weight. There was no real chance that the front jacks would give out and even if they did, the distance to the ground was not very far at all. Sure – I’m rationalizing, but I think I’m not that unreasonable here. The only real safety issue was “Are my wheels properly chocked?” Now I’m not saying I was right – any incline is bad incline, but I’m just saying…

But this time was a little different. Read on.

I got the RV backed into where I wanted on my 5 acre piece of land I bought.

I got the sucker disconnected and proceeded to level the unit – more mechanically or robotically than thinking deeply about it. I mean my land LOOKED level with the naked eye (side note, my land is completely on the side of a hill and looks level, but everything is on an incline and you really can’t tell by looking!).

Everything was going fine and then something happened that should have told me something right then, but it didn’t’ hit me until later. The cinder block I usually use to block up the RV landing gear crushed.

Yes the cinder block crushed.

First words of wisdom for the RV’er. Never put much weight on cinder blocks. They crush and I can prove it. I did have the cinder block oriented incorrectly, but I’ll still never use them again. I know too much for comfort now. Again, I admit I had the cinder block oriented incorrectly. But still…

Cinder blocks bad choice for 5th wheel landing gear blocks

Luckily I was able to get the RV back on the truck and from now until I die, I’ll use solid wood blocks to put my RV upon. Send me your ideas for good blocks.

But I kept on going and that is the embarrassing part. It should have sent a message that the way the RV was parked and the pressures on the unit were not normal. But it didn’t sink in. Not yet at least.

I’m going to put a picture up now that describes what I did. I’m being honest ok so be easy on me :

unsafe fifth wheel leveling showing issues

Why is this different than my original leveling where the front is lower to the ground? It has to do with the center of gravity and the fact that my wheels (see #1) were on a dual incline (unlevel front to back AND side to side). The next fact is that the front landing gear – supporting lots of weight were extended a long ways. Much longer than the picture lets you appreciate.

Here is how I see the problem in sequence and I never noticed until my truck was gone and unavailable until the next day. Numbers correspond to points on the picture above :

If rain or vibration causes these wheels to slide, even an inch or two to the right, then the landing gear will have pressure applied in a bad way.
Front landing gear is caused to bend ever so slightly causing a buckling and the center of gravity pushes the unit forward.
Forward push from buckling landing gear is enough to pull the unit OVER THE CHOCKS.
Extremely expensive RV crashes a considerable distance into the ground, potentially even smashing basement, front cap, destroying landing gear, and having a really exciting ride inside for everyone involved.
Panic ensues and a 14,000 pound floor jack support was put in to help keep it from moving in the next 24 hours.
I didn’t sleep a wink. Not one. I was so tired. Yet I was IN THE RV the entire evening. I guess I wasn’t that worried about that night, but I still didn’t sleep.
RV was moved to completely different and level spot by noon the next day.
What a great nights sleep I had the next night!
I’ll never do this again.

Send in your stories of things you’ll never do again. I’d love to hear then. But I hope this helps. Ironically, the only real leveling story on safety I found was one of those stories that got copied 5000 times on the internet and had no real “meat on the bones”. There isn’t very much out there other than to say “be level – level is good”. I’m hoping that this concrete example with some real concepts helps you know why you shouldn’t do this.

I don’t think you should trust the front landing gear too much or put them in a situation where they could buckle easily.

RV Basics : Leveling a fifth wheel : electronic leveling and JT StrongARMS

Last updated on February 9th, 2019 at 09:18 pm

January 4, 2011 by Marlan at Rv52 1 Comment

Open Range RV (now owned by Jayco as the Highland Ridge subsidiary) has a great video on leveling and stabilizing their RVs.

rv electric jack electric control panel for rv landing gear

I tried to capture in text below what the video said. I also found the 5th wheel leveling video online AND I found the JT Strong ARM instructions as well. I think it is sometimes easier to read than to watch the video – but both are here for you in this post. Enjoy.

Front legs – pull snap pin on FRONT jacks and allow jacks to hit the ground. These jacks are also called landing gear.
1. I think you need to extend the jacks considerably if you will need to lower the front end.
2. I think you need to make sure the electric jacks are extended a little anyway so you can raise or lower them.
3. You’ll need to do this BEFORE locking the jacks extender out.
4. Managing the landing gear relative to leveling your RV and connecting your tow vehicle requires just a little planning or you’ll have a mismatch on heights!
Extend BOTH the front RV jacks or landing gear electrically
Make sure that you hear the jacks snap-pin engage into one of the holes with both of the front jacks.
Release the fifth wheel hitch and raise the front jacks enough so that you can drive the tow vehicle forward. Make sure everything is disconnected!
Raise OR Lower your front jacks to create front to back level coach. Typically on level ground, this would be lowering the front jacks.
Drop rear jack legs, by pulling the snap pin on each jack.
Snug each jack individually by using the electronic controls and extending each jack.
select the side of the coach that is lower (driver or passenger). Set the electronic selector to the lower side. Extend the jacks on the lower side.
SNUG JT Strong ARMS
lower FRONT jacks 3/4 inch
Tighten REAR strong ARMS.
Raise FRONT JACKS to original position.
Tighten up the 4 front JT Strong ARMS.
Extend the FRONT JACKS now. No more than 3/4 inch or so – just enough to remove the play in the JT strong arms.
Turn off the control panel!!!

BREAKING CAMP!

Loosen ALL JT StrongARM stabilizers
Retract the REAR jacks.
When the rear jacks are loose pull the pins and lift the jack extender completely into the jack.
Retract the rear jacks completely using the electronic controls.
Raise the front jacks and connect the rv tow vehicle. (this is a bigger step than I portray here because I’m focusing on the electronics controls and stabilizers procedure)
When the tow vehicle is engaged lower the jacks to put the weight onto the fifth wheel hitch in the tow vehicle.
Once the fifth wheel hitch is fully engaged retract the jacks electronically.
When the front jacks are free pull the pin and lift the jack extension completely inside the jack.
Retract the jack completely electronically.
Turn off the controls when complete.

MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW THE REST OF YOUR RV CHECKLISTS!!!

https://youtu.be/EdOtg-3hokc

Amazon listings about RV leveling

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