You drive hours on end to get to your destination. When you finally arrive, you find the camping spot for your fifth when camper is not stable. This is an all too familiar occurrence for many RV enthusiasts, but it doesn’t have to be if you know what to do. PPL Motorhomes and RV Nana Have a solution.
Uneven Ground Makes an Unsafe RV
Any time your fifth-wheel is unstable, it will shake. You may have experienced this when you tried to sleep; maybe you were laying there and felt a wobble of sorts. This is not only disconcerting to experience, but it’s not really a safe condition for you or your family. That is why it is always important to find level ground for your trailer.
Still, finding level ground is not always easy. After all, when you go to a campsite, you have to take what they give you. While most campsites will be somewhat level, years of different motorhomes coming in and out of the site makes the ground a little uneven.
5th Wheel Stabilizer
When the ground is not even, a stabilizer comes in very handy. They attach to the front, typically at the king pin to act as a stabilizer to level the fifth-wheel and reduce movement. They come in both electric and manual styles for your convenience and ease of use.
There are several types of stabilizing jacks available: C-shaped stabilizer, telescoping jack stabilizer, hydraulic jack, and tripod jack. To find out which one you would like the best, you would need to research each. However, many campers prefer the tripod jack.
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Checking the Adjustments
The most important part of a stabilizer is its ability to adjust. The good ones will let you perform height adjustments by moving the feet. The footpads should be easy to move both inward and outward, even when attached to a trailer.
Minor adjustments should also be made. This is what gets you the best “fit” for your RV. Generally, these are made with a turn screw adjacent with a stabilized adjusting level (like the kind you see on camera tripods and carpentry levels.) Remember, if it is not easy to adjust, then you will not use it. Therefore, thoroughly check the ease of adjustment before you buy.
Checking the Weight Limit
While it should go without saying, if a stabilizer doesn’t have the ability to support your RV, then it is pointless. You can expect to pay somewhere around $100 for a stabilizer that can hold up to 5,000 lbs. More weight means more money.
A stabilizer makes traveling in your Fifth-Wheel much easier and safer. Once you start using one, you will wonder how you ever camped without it.
We recently bought a 2009 Cougar fifth wheel and it is in good shape except the decals. They are faded and peeled and when we asked a dealer about replacing them he told us $1,500.00 plus $111.00 Hr and he said it would take appr. 8 Hrs. Anyway that we could get these decals right from the company? I have been told this is a problem with the cougar trailers I feel the company should accomodate owners.