Looking at some of the photos posted recently in "Show us your rig", I notice that many people are setting their corner jacks straight up and down.
When we picked up our van, the person doing the handover was at great pains to point out that the jacks should always be set on an angle, and that the jacks on a side should be on opposing angles (one back one forward). Otherwise you risk damaging the leg.
Since then we have tried both ways, and we find that having the legs on an angle as suggested makes the van much more stable.
And when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. If the legs are straight down then the leg only provides lift. With the legs set up on opposing angles, they tend to work against each other, and provide a degree of front to back stabilisation as well.
Hi Plendo
Thats interesting I have only ever ran the legs vertical 90% of the time as sometimes un level ground makes it too hard to do this.I would have thought vertical would be sturdier than on an angle as this gives the leg a leverage effect but i will try the angles next setup.
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Made Beer Bottles for 44 years..... Now.... just test them.
There lots of different legs out there and all work different , Mine operate best when at vertical , But in most cases only can get 2 vertical the end that is on the angle is not has stable has the vertical end .
I have the Alko legs on my van they are almost useless in any other position except verticle.
On the angle the locking pins tend to bend iftoo much pressue is applied, I found this out when packing up, one leg would not lock up in the travel position. I pulled it apart and the locking pins bent.
I have serviced all of my legs and all were showing slight bends in the pins, I have straightened them all and now I only deploy them in the verticle position, I also use a pair of jack stands to aid stability, one is placed in front of the wheels on one side the other behind the wheels on the other side.
When we set up our van we make sure the wheel chocks are under the wheels rather than just against them. The weight of the wheels makes the chocks impossible to steal. Also takes out all movement from the van so the legs only have to be used in the vertical position. I run the legs down with the battery drill so they're firm but not overly tight. Works for us.
In my opinion the use of corner stabilisers as Jacks is incorrect. The mechanical construction of the types I have repaired on a number of occasions suggests that owners have tried to level their Van by using excessive force to wind the stabilisers up or down to raise the van.
That is not the purpose of corner Stabilisers in most of the types I am familiar with.
Mind you I am not familiar with every type of leg used.
There may be some that have the mechanical strength and design to act as Jacks.
I have a Supreme van. When I took it into their shop for its 1st service earlier this year, they were at pains to ensure that I did not wind the stabilizers hard down onto the ground. The theory is you should be able to slip a piece of tissue paper between it and the ground.
The service manager said they get too many people damaging the frames of the vans by trying to jack their vans level by using stablizers rather than wheel chocks or some other means. He said stabilizers are meant to prevent the van rocking on its suspension when walking inside the van or in strong side winds
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
I just managed to bend my two back van legs. Still lock in place but takes a bit of effort (knockrometer required). I only had my jockey wheel and 2 back legs down. Wound up the jockey wheel to back the ball under and thus put a bit of pressure on the legs. Then I was about 2" off centre with the ball so I grunted and groaned and moved the van. Twisted the rear legs. Blast & curses. Still planning how to fix.
The legs are ALKO. ALKO are expensive. Anyone using Huntsman legs?
We started off the same way, always putting them vertical, until one day I watched another free camper setup the correct way. I tried it and found the van was way more stable than when we had them vertical. Now days the only time I have them vertical is on uneven ground, I do take wood blocks to put under the feet to help stop the feet from digging in. Ours are Alko legs and if the ground is soft the feet have tendency to dig in and tilt.
Other thing is you only have to wind them down until there is a little bit of pressure not like some who try to jack the van up.
