So, the camper. Every time someone even breathed too hard inside, the whole thing would wiggle and wobble. Trying to sleep was a joke, felt like being on a boat sometimes. The wife was getting real tired of it, kept saying we needed to fix it. I finally got fed up enough to actually do something about it.
I’d seen these scissor jacks on other RVs. Seemed like the way to go to get things stable when parked. Didn’t want anything too fancy or expensive, just something to stop the shaking. Went online, looked around a bit, and ordered a set of four. They showed up a few days later in a heavy box.
Getting Started with the Jacks
First thing, I dragged that box out next to the camper. Pulled out the jacks, they looked sturdy enough. Heavier than I thought they’d be. Also got the bag of bolts and stuff that came with them. Okay, time to get dirty.
I crawled under the camper. Man, it’s tighter under there than I remembered. Had to find good spots on the frame to mount these things. Needed solid metal, obviously, and had to make sure I wasn’t gonna drill into any wires or pipes. Spent a good while just looking around, tapping on the frame, figuring out the best spots near the corners.
Putting them On
Found four spots that looked okay. Marked ’em with a sharpie. Then I grabbed my drill. This was the part I wasn’t looking forward to – drilling into the camper frame.
- Lined up the jack where I wanted it.
- Marked the holes through the jack’s mounting plate.
- Drilled the first hole. Metal shavings went everywhere. Took a bit of muscle.
- Drilled the other holes for that jack.
- Lined the jack back up and started putting the bolts through. This was awkward, lying on my back, trying to hold the jack and tighten nuts.
Yeah, it took some time. Did the first one, then moved to the next corner. Same process: crawl, find spot, mark, drill, bolt. Got covered in dirt and grease. Scraped my knuckles a couple of times under there. It wasn’t complicated work, just kind of annoying and tiring working in that cramped space.
Checking the Work
After getting all four bolted on, I stood back and looked. They seemed solid. Now the real test. I grabbed the crank handle that came with them.
Went to the first jack, started cranking it down. It touched the ground, then I gave it a few more turns to take up some weight. Did the same for the other three. Went around checking them, making sure they were all snug against the ground, putting a little tension on the frame.
Then I climbed inside the camper. Walked around. Bounced a little. Big difference! Way, way less rocking. Not perfectly still like a house, but man, maybe 80 or 90 percent better. The wife came out and tried it, she was pretty happy too.
So yeah, it was a bit of work, mostly just uncomfortable crawling around and drilling. But totally worth it. Makes camping much more pleasant when the whole rig isn’t shaking every time you move. Glad I finally got around to doing it.
