Tripod under the kingpin

pvandy03

Member
Does anyone have experience with using a tripod under the kingpin for stability? Considering one but don't know whether they help that much.

Thanks!
 
K

Ken Washington

Guest
Do a search, there has been a lot of discussion in the past!

Ken
 

SmokeyBare

Well-known member
It Helps..... In My Opinion.

Sitting in the rear of our Rig... and another walking about up front... bounces. The Tri pod support removes most of the bouncing.

Marv
 

BigBlue

BigBlue
I tried a tripod and found that it didn't do much. Another solution is to purchase a pair of scissor jacks. A lot of the bounce comes from your suspension so if you can get the weight off of the suspension you'll bounce less. When we're set up for a long period of time, I put the jacks behind the wheels and lift the frame up enough to get a solid base. I level front to back with the front legs and finally put the rear stabilizers down. Gives us a solid base and we don't get the bounce.
 

Oldlthrneck

Just an Old Jarhead
I also tried a tripod and it seemed to make things worse. I level the trailer, and then put a screw jack under the frame, right in front of the wheels. Take a bit of weight off of the wheels then lower the stabilizer. Seems to make it a lot more solid.
 

jcd8822

Joseph
We tried it for about 9 months but could not see where it did aything to help. I got tired of lugging it around and decided I could put the space to better use while on the road.

Joseph
 

mrcomer

Past Ohio Chapter Leaders (Founding)
Well I'll add something here. We seem to fortunate to have enough room between our tires that I can use the BAL tire chocks that are a scissor style jack that expands between the tires. This plus the BAL deluxe tripod really makes a difference for us. When we are trying to sleep and the 80 pound golden retreiver moves around we do not feel a thing. In the event I get too lazy to put the tripod in place, we really feel a difference. So that's my 2-cents on that.

good luck all,

Mark
 

Forrest Fetherolf

Senior Member
I use the aluminum tripod with TrailAir hitch pin with the normal 80 lbs pressure..........works great, rig is more stable. Last weekend I installed 7500 lb BAL scissor jacks 1-1/2" behind the rear axle spring hanger..........better yet. The BAL scissor jacks will lift both tires off the ground, but is extremely weak in every lateral direction, not a good idea to use for changing tires, especially on unleveled ground next to the big rig travel lane, definitely do not try to lift all four tires off the ground at once, the jacks will roll moving the rig sideways.

BAL advertises 7500 lb capacity, not for lifting tires off ground, not for tire changing, use only hand crank supplied and not a cheater bar. I used the hand crank supplied and could only lift the rig about two inches before I could not turn the crank any further. I was able to lift both tires off the ground with the help of an impact wrench or 18" breaker bar. Even though the jack will lift both tires off the ground, I would recommend a 6 ton jack-stand under the frame as a backup, just in case, before removing any tires.
 

pickuphunt

Active Member
Tripod

I have found that if I have the front end a little higher than level and then set the triipod and lower the front onto the tripod works better than trying to put pressure using the tripod. I am convinced that it takes a lot of the left to right movement out of 5er. I also use the pressure between the wheels ( I made a set myself out of 4x4 wood and a threaded bolt). This winter in Texas I am going to take along a coupe 'car jacks' to place under the frame to take out some of the 'bounce' in the suspension. WFM (works for me)
 

kognito

Well-known member
I think that tripods are working on the symptoms, not working on the cause.

check out the video at this site http://jtrv.com/index.html The vendor of these had a demonstartion rig set up at this year's fall escapade (Escapee's gathering) He had them mounted on a relitively cheap 5th wheel (a Spingdale, I think) It was incredible how much motion this setup removed!

I'm having a set made for my rig. My front landing gear is different than most rigs, so he has to make special bars for me. My front legs are independant, and a little closer together than "standard"
 

katkens

Founding Illinios Chapter Leader-retired
kognito said:
I think that tripods are working on the symptoms, not working on the cause.

check out the video at this site http://jtrv.com/index.html The vendor of these had a demonstartion rig set up at this year's fall escapade (Escapee's gathering) He had them mounted on a relitively cheap 5th wheel (a Spingdale, I think) It was incredible how much motion this setup removed!

I'm having a set made for my rig. My front landing gear is different than most rigs, so he has to make special bars for me. My front legs are independant, and a little closer together than "standard"

I got these and have only got the front set up on , need to add a brace yet to make the rears work. I can feel the difference already and my Roto-Choks helped also. There was a Landmark at my dealers for repair that had them and it was solid as a rock with two of us shoving on the front like the commercial.....Ken
 
We have used the tripod on our previous 5th wheel & it seemed to help. Our new BH is on order and I've been told by a friend with a 3055 that the rear stabilizers work well because of the additional cross bracing front to rear on them. I am very sensitive to even the slighteat jiggle so I've worked very hard to eliminate it. In my previous 5er with manual scissor type rear stabilizers I quit using them altogether because scissor jacks are inherently unstable and the more they are extended the worse it gets. I fixed this by getting a pair of 6 ton jack stands like mechanics use to safely work beneath a vehicle ($20.00 a pair @ Harbor Freight Tools). I would arrive at my site. level the rig side to side, chock the wheels & unhitch. Then I would level front to rear as normal. I would then temporarily lower the front about 3 inches and go around to the back with the jack stands. I would place a stand under the trailer frame as close to the rear as possible and lift the ajustment on the jack stand as high as possible until it contacts or nearly contacts the trailer frame. Then I would go back up front and level the rig front to rear as normal. When the front comes back up the rear of the frame is lowered onto the jack stands and a very solid contact it made. The jack stands have a 10 inch square base and are very solid. I never used the scissor style crank down stabilizers again after I discovered this trick.
I am, however hoping that the rear electric stabilizers on my new BH are stable enough without having to use jack stands. If you just can't get all of the jiggle out of your rig you may want to try this trick.
Back to the tripod question - I think that they work. It's not a miricle cure for jiggle, but it's better than nothing.
 
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