Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Which have you found the easiest to use for leveling your CT's, fold down or scissor style jacks? Or is there something better? I want to have four good solid corners.

Thanks,

Mike

I am sure glad the sales person talked me into them because I wouldn't have thought about needing them and they were only 50.00 so I got them.
One of the 1st things I noticed when I picked up my trailer and we were walking around inside was how shakey it was?
When I get were I am going I unhook from the TV and lower the front down and then I let down the rear jacks and a then crank the front back up until it's rock solid,I am not sure how level it is just that it's stable walking around on the inside.
I camped one time where the gound wasn't level at all so I didn't use the jacks and it's very noticable how shakey the trailer is without the jacks down.

Scissor jacks work great IMHO.. But they are more for stabilising the trailer not for getting it level.. For side to side you park the low side tires up on blocks of wood or some of those plastic leveling blocks.. Front to back you use the front jack to level it.. Once the trailer is level then you crank or fold the jacks down to make the trailer solid.. For smaller trailers the fold down jacks are fine.. For larger trailers the scissor style jacks work better. Either way they make a huge difference.. With out our jacks down just our dog trotting around will shake the whole trailer pretty good. With the jacks down the trailer is solid and doesnt' move..

I mostly use a set of 4 aluminum stacker Jacks that I got from CW and a 2 ton auto Jack I picked up from Walmart. I carry a few concrete bricks to assist on real unlevel ground. They come in handy. My trailer sits a bit low for bolt on scissors jacks == They drag over speed bumps and down bumpy dirt roads I'm thinking. I looked into them early on.
My CTC has two fold down stabilizer jacks in the rear that I use mostly on overnight stops. I really like the stacker jacks for what I do. That auto Jack has come in handy when I've had flats on the trailer or the truck. It's fairly small and fits nicely under the couch/bed not taking up much needed room. The stacker jacks go into the cabinet at the door where my Battery sits.

I have used both scissor and fold-down the fold down were on my smaller campers, scamp and pop-up the scissor type were on my travel trailer
on both I would do as Jwhite does lower the front then lower the rear corner jacks raise the front
using the front jack until it was level and then lower the front corner jacks
the only real jack is the front one the corner jacks are really to stabilize the trailer
if you have four wheels or two wheels I also used wheel chocks infront and in the rear of the tires.
if you want to get real fancy and have 4 wheels you can make or buy a device that goes between the tires and is ratcheted down
to prevent the tires from moving.
so I would go with four corner jacks scissor type were easier for me I didn't have to bend down to lower them.

pete

I have a 7X14 duel axle trailer, I ordered it with rear drop down jacks, for the conversion I ordered two sissor jacks, for the front. When the conversion was close to being finished, DW and I had a trial run, did not have the time to get the sissor jacks welded on, so I put them in the back of the truck, expecting to just put the under the front. When we got all set up, and walking around in the trailer, there was no noticeable movement in the trailer, so I did not put the rear jacks down, nor did I put the front sissor jacks down. There was no problem. The trailer has a arear queen bed, and a front 24" cabnet and tolit room. We have made several camping trips, in camp grounds and in open fields, as DW are reenactors. The sissor jacks are still in the back of the truck, and I have not used the rear jacks at all. I guess, the need for jacks, may be determined by the size of the trailer and the conversion.

Johnnie

IMHO..... I wouldn't have a trailer without stabilizer jacks of your choosing. My only requirement is they do not hang down below the trailer frame when towing. The longer the trailer, the more sway it will have when parked. Some trailers are stabile without for foot traffic like has been said but here in Texas we get some pretty stiff winds at times. The winds will definitely rock you to sleep if you don't have jacks of some kind. I even have my jacks down when it is parked at home. Cheap insurance for peace of mind goes a long way.
Earnest

I was thinking about powered jacks. I figured they would be a cinch to install while the walls were open anyway. I did a very little research and found it was going to be pricey but not too bad. I kept looking, hemmin, and hawin... then I realized, why would I want to add yet another failure point to this rig? I went with the stackable aluminum stands Wolfscout talked about I only use 2 in the back and it sits just fine. A minute or two extra each set-up, but nothing hangs down, there's nothing on them to fail, and they're ridiculously cheap.

That said, I still want a powered tongue jack!

yes those stackable jacks are great for me. I like them up front because I can take some of the pressure off of my jack. An Added plus is sometimes I need that jack and some brick or block to put the camper leveled up on more inclines. It's really nice to have options where I've gone so far.

Although my trailer is a little bit large,as compared to most on this site, I installed two tongue jacks at the back of my ctc, right behind the rear axle. I used the bulldog top crank jacks and removed the crank handle and put a 1/2" rod coupling on the shaft. When i get the trailer where I want it, I grab the trusty cordless drill with the correct size socket and send the jack down at the squeeze of a trigger. With a level mounted to the inside fenderwell leveling is a breeze.

some travel trailer owners have installed extra jacks half way between the front and back
they have a lot longer trailer than most here.
I don't think on a 14 footer 6 jacks are needed, just 4 one in each corner.

pete