# Scissor Jack Upgrade



## crunchman12002

After leaving the stab jacks down and trenching my driveway last year







Camping world had a sale on the scissor jacks last month. I bought 2 pair of the 6500lbs jacks for $44.00 per set. I installed 3 of them, I've got to make a spacer of some sort for the front right one. The dang gas line is right in the way.
The trailer is much more stable than with the old jacks. It does make a difference for those of you thinking of upgrading and they appear to have additional leveling lifting power.
Snapshot of the back set.
crunchman


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## TwoElkhounds

Very nice!! This was on my list of mods this Spring, but it didn't make it into the budget.









Do they make a BIG difference in the stability of the trailer over the stock jacks? Enough to convince DW that she should release funds!

DAN


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## 2500Ram

crunchman12002 said:


> It does make a difference for those of you thinking of upgrading and they appear to have additional leveling lifting power.
> Snapshot of the back set.
> crunchman


Looks great but PLEASE don't level with your jacks even though you can. Still level left to right with the wheels and blocks and front to back with the tongue jack. I'd hate to see your frame get bent and have doors start sticking.

As for less movement in the trailer once setup I agree on your mod









good luck.


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## crunchman12002

2500Ram said:


> It does make a difference for those of you thinking of upgrading and they appear to have additional leveling lifting power.
> Snapshot of the back set.
> crunchman


Looks great but PLEASE don't level with your jacks even though you can. Still level left to right with the wheels and blocks and front to back with the tongue jack. I'd hate to see your frame get bent and have doors start sticking.

As for less movement in the trailer once setup I agree on your mod









good luck.
[/quote]
You are correct, the jacks are a final leveler to fine tune things. They are strong but you could not lift the trailer with them. I bent the old ones and upgraded. They are more stable with a noticable difference in movement of the trailer.


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## crunchman12002

TwoElkhounds said:


> Very nice!! This was on my list of mods this Spring, but it didn't make it into the budget.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Do they make a BIG difference in the stability of the trailer over the stock jacks? Enough to convince DW that she should release funds!
> 
> DAN


Dan,
In my opinion, yes.. they do make enough of a difference. The jacks were not in my budget either but after the leaving them down thing, I had no choice.. Glad I went to scissors instead of stock stab jacks.
Good luck with the DW.
crunchman


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## fastmnstealth

I've got the same issue with the right front. How are folks getting around the gas line? It is right in the way and I can't see an easy way of mounting the scissor jack, short of re-routing the hard pipe.

For this reason, I'm likely going to have to use the "C-Jack". Though I'm looking at the heavy duty ones, not the "light trailer" C-Jack which appears to be what was stock.

My link

Thoughts?

Mark
28RSDS


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## crunchman12002

fastmnstealth said:


> I've got the same issue with the right front. How are folks getting around the gas line? It is right in the way and I can't see an easy way of mounting the scissor jack, short of re-routing the hard pipe.
> 
> For this reason, I'm likely going to have to use the "C-Jack". Though I'm looking at the heavy duty ones, not the "light trailer" C-Jack which appears to be what was stock.
> 
> My link
> 
> Thoughts?
> 
> Mark
> 28RSDS


That hard pipe had me stumped for a week. I went to sears and bought some 3/4" or 1" steel spacers, washers and longer bolts and nut. Cost around $4.00. Clears that pipe just fine now. You will see in the pics that I used 2 bolts and sandwiched the back spacer to the frame when i tightened the bolts.
crunchman


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## forceten

Hmmm question for ya since maybe I'm confused. Your trailer had jacks, you trenched with them, you got these.

These look exactly like the stock jacks on the outback. But you say they are better then the originals. So that leads me to think that my stock jacks and your stock jacks are not the same thing? Or are these scissor jacks better then stock ones and why?









My scissor ones help stabilize my 5th wheel pretty good (along with chocks) but I'm always looking for new toys and better stuff


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## Beaner242

The older OB's came with the cheaper, weaker, "c-type" stabilizers.


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## Jack Hollister

Great job! I do have a quick question. How does anyone feel about using one of these for a support for all of the people having problems with the inside bed support rails failing on the new 09-10 210RS? I have an210RS and I am worried about the rails myself. I have noticed a little separation at the front of the ceiling supports on the inside and when I was looking at your post…I thought… hummm…could these work? I am currently looking for a support. Sorry if this is hijacking your post.


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## Up State NY Camper

crunchman12002 said:


> It does make a difference for those of you thinking of upgrading and they appear to have additional leveling lifting power.
> Snapshot of the back set.
> crunchman


Looks great but PLEASE don't level with your jacks even though you can. Still level left to right with the wheels and blocks and front to back with the tongue jack. I'd hate to see your frame get bent and have doors start sticking.

As for less movement in the trailer once setup I agree on your mod









good luck.
[/quote]
You are correct, the jacks are a final leveler to fine tune things. They are strong but you could not lift the trailer with them. I bent the old ones and upgraded. They are more stable with a noticable difference in movement of the trailer.
[/quote]

Holy cow are they strong. I lifted my tt off the tongue accidentally and started to see the trailer shift. Luckily I use a cordless drill and was able to drop the jack fast before I bent my frame.


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## Ridgway-Rangers

Re the gas line in the way:
I kept this link handy for when I do mine. The photos are helpful to see how to nudge the gas line out of the way.
link to photos of scissor jack install.


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## Reverie

At the risk of earning the scorn of my fellow Outbackers, here is how I have used my scissor jacks. I installed four jacks, two just aft of the tires and two about six feet from the front of the trailer. I retained my Stabilizers in their original location.

When I pull into a site I generally level the trailer using blocks under the tires. I then use the scissors to lift the trailer weight slightly off the wheels, but leave the wheels so their weight and the weight of the axles is still supported by the tires. I use the scissors to achieve my level (slight bias towards the back and rear for air conditioner runoff). I then use the stabilizers to firmly touch the ground (OK, the blocks on the ground)but without any lift.

What I have now is a trailer that is very stable and almost none of the bounce. Occasionally I will find I have a stuck door (rarely, but it happens). I just adjust the jacks until it is right.

This is my fourth season with the jacks and stabs installed and I think this has provided the best and most comfortable setup I have ever had. I will admit that when I first installed the jacks I had a tendency to lift the trailer to ridiculous heights but with time comes discovery and with age comes wisdom. I now know that achieving a great setup is a combination of gentle lift and subtle adjustments.

Reverie


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## Ccaveny28

Anyone still have the pictures or recommendations how they mounted scissor jacks with the gas line in the way? Thanks!


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## Oregon_Camper

Ccaveny28 said:


> Anyone still have the pictures or recommendations how they mounted scissor jacks with the gas line in the way? Thanks!


PM Brian...he was just online a few days ago.


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