changing stabilizers

[Josnik]

I was wondering if anyone has changed out the stabilizers, and put on scissor jacks? Would this be something that would help with tire changing, leveling,.... and so on. We have a 96 towlite. Also looking for a way to get more clearance between the road and the camper, we have one of those driveways that has a incline coming off the road and barley have a piece of paper between the concrete and the plumbing. thanks for any help.

 

[JackandJanet]

Changing the stabilizers is NOT the way to achieve tire changing or leveling. If you lift the trailer with heavy duty jacks in the stabilizer locations, you will distort the frame and cause a whole host of big problems.

The only jacking point is right next to the axle where it crosses the frame, and the jack has to be placed on the frame there. If you have a tandem axle trailer, you can easily raise an axle to change a tire by using a device such as this:

There are other brands at different price points, but they all work the same. If you have a single axle trailer like mine, you are stuck with using a jack next to the axle.

As far as getting more clearance - I had a spacer put between my trailer's frame and the axle that raised the trailer 1-1/2 inches. It was installed at a welding shop I found in Tucson, AZ. With that spacing, I was also able to mount larger tires that raised the bottom of the trailer an additional 1/2 inch. The whole reason for this mod and how it worked out is detailed in this thread: http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f19/my-trailer-overloaded-412/ (It's a long one.)

Since then, I've modified the skirt on the side where the wheel seemed too far forward after the mod and everything looks good.

- Jack