Two Quick Stabilizer Jack Questions

[Tony and Rhonda]

The feet on our stabilizer jacks are pretty rusty. Is this normal for our age camper?

If it's normal wear and tear, I'll leave it as is. If not, I'll remove, de-rust and repaint.

The caulking where the jack penetrates the hull is not very pretty and it looks like gravity has caused it to separate from the camper body is a few places (not visible in my soft photo). 

What caulking is recommended?

Thanks, Tony

[Rivernerd]

That's not an unusual amount of rust for an 8-year-old trailer that lives in Kentucky.

I would apply Rust Mort to the jack foot plate, then a metal primer, then black spray paint.

I would cut off the old caulk, then apply butyl caulk at the jack penetration point.

[Patriot]

Tony,

As a part of regular maintenance if it were me I would remove and clean and buy a quality can of black semi gloss rattle can paint up those jack “feet”. Just me. 

Mine are still in good shape and have not rusted. I do not winter camp so that is likely why. Not sure if you live in a Northern State, but sodium chloride is brutal on all things metal. 

While you’re under there clean off the old caulk and reapply a fresh bead. Good on you for inspecting these areas! 👍🏻

There is always something to do regarding ongoing maintenance, but once you knock it, out at least for me it’s a great feeling.

Thanks for posting!

Patriot 🇺🇸

[Patriot]

If you feel inclined to do so. Consider replacing your square “jack foot” with a round one. Then you can install these- https://rvsnappad.com/  or https://rvsnappad.com/collections/all-singles 

I have had a set of three of these on since delivery day and really like them. No imprinting if parked on a black top campsite pad. 

Happy Trails!

Edited Thursday at 01:44 PM by Patriot

[Mike and Carol]

We’ve got the round jack feet.  Like Patriot, I have a regular routine of cleaning up and painting the feet and the bulldog hitch.  Mike

[jd1923]

3 hours ago, Tony and Rhonda said:

The feet on our stabilizer jacks are pretty rusty. Is this normal for our age camper?

First thing I noticed is the jack feet on your Oliver are much different from our Hull #113. Ours are round and flat vs. oblong and dished.

I rebuilt our front jack to properly service and grease it. The first photo shows the jack stand with shaft brushed clean to metal and the foot was cleaned, but NOT painted (jack stand in mid air when pictured). I'm generally against paint, especially for the bottom where pressure will just make the paint peel. But our Oliver has mostly been in warm dry climates.

The second picture is one I took when we had a steep uphill dump station. Pictured here to show the Andersen Hitches Trailer Jack Blocks. We use one of these always for the rear levelers (the two shown) and the stackable 1" blocks for the front. I don't believe the feet on our jacks will ever need anything but soap and water to clean.

I would replaced the feet on yours with the round kind pictured and get a set of these Andersen products! https://www.amazon.com/ANDERSEN-Accessories-Stabilizers-Jackstand-Quickjack/dp/B0754NWJGR/?th=1 

[Tony and Rhonda]

Thanks for the responses. The pad on the front jack is round and it looks fine. At least for now, I'll take our rear pads, brush off as much rust as possible, then repaint.

@Patriot Are there advantages to using round jack pads vs. the rectangular ones installed on our camper? Which jack pads (size, model) are you using? I had no idea there were so many options to choose from.

@jd1923 Your jack shafts are shiny! Ours are not but I'm considering cleaning ours up. Did you use a wire brush in a drill to clean them? The Andersen Jack Blocks are on our purchase list.

Thanks, Tony

 

[Patriot]

2 hours ago, Tony and Rhonda said:

Are there advantages to using round jack pads vs. the rectangular ones installed on our camper? Which jack pads (size, model) are you using? I had no idea there were so many options to choose from.

This is the size I ordered and they fit perfectly on the front jack and rear stabilizers. Your steel jack and stabilizer “foot” must be round as shown in the link below. (Vid)

You can read about the benefits of using snap pads, and watch the video in the description- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081HHY9VM?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_product_details

 

Edited Thursday at 08:00 PM by Patriot

[jd1923]

2 hours ago, Tony and Rhonda said:

@jd1923 Your jack shafts are shiny! Ours are not but I'm considering cleaning ours up. Did you use a wire brush in a drill to clean them? The Andersen Jack Blocks are on our purchase list.

Tony, I clean most grimy auto parts with Go-Jo hand soap (not the pumice kind). It cleans grease and oil off the mechanics hands and does well with cleaning most parts safely without abrasives or solvents. I worked it in with very fine steel wool, that's it.

I detailed this and a complete and thorough maintenance of the Stabilizer Jacks on page two of this old Forum post.

 

[Tony and Rhonda]

Thanks for the links, I'll take a look.

Tony