Camper jacks - leave 'em on or leave 'em at home?

[dan brooks]

I'm leaving next week for a 3500+ mile trip with my CTD. I have a small Palomino pop-up cabover, and it has three camper jacks that pivot up when not in use. For short trips I normally just leave the jacks on, but I'm thinking about removing them completely for the trip (only takes one more bolt to remove them than it does to swing them up).



The main reasons I'm thinking about leaving the jacks at home is that they block the view out of the mirrors (I have some towing mirrors, but like all the "add-on" ones they shake like crazy ), and trying to find somewhere to store the "tri-pod" bases is gonna be a pain - this thing doesn't have a lot of storage space.



I don't plan on off-loading the camper during the trip. The only time I could think that I might need them is if I ran into some kind of problem..... which I'm really hoping doesn't happen.



So, the question for all you cabover guys is: If you had the choice, would you leave 'em on or leave 'em at home?

 

[mberry]

I would leave them at home myself. Just my opinion.

 

[Turbo Horseman]

Leaving them at home will be a great idea until you need to off load the camper for some reason. Maybe remove them and store them on/in your rig somewhere... maybe the roof of the camper if it is up to it.

 

[TowPro]

I always put mine down when I park at the campground, it keeps the camper from rocking

 

[Prairie Dog]

So why is your camper rocking? We may need some pics for better understanding - If you don't have any, I know a guy that says he does...

 

[BatMan01]

Leave em on

When I had my Slide in I was glad to have the jacks with me. I always used them when we stopped for the night. They help to level things out alittle. And there were a couple of times I unloaded to do somthing. IMHO leave em on.

 

[Reddog1]

Prairie Dog - You reach a point in life that constipation is more frequent, and you move around a lot while on the pot.



I have a slide in and never leave my jacks at home. I always use them to level/stabilize the camper when camping.





Wayne



P. S. If I want to show off, I might not use the stabilizers. Other campers may not realize I am just constipated.

 

[dan brooks]

Originally posted by Reddog1

... . constipation is more frequent, and you move around a lot while on the pot.

Uh, that's a visual I really didn't need..... :--)





Thanks for the replies. I was pretty much set on leaving them at home until yesterday, when I saw a late model F350 with a rather large slide in... . that was sitting crooked in the bed (I could actually see the side of the camper as he was coming towards me ). I have a rubber bed mat that helps keep the camper from moving, but now I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to just leave 'em on... . just in case.