Quote: Originally posted by saxo1 on 13/9/2016
"Good luck, but if you want to wrench up your steadies and use them as jacks, damaging your floor and chassis against all advice and manufacturer guidance.......Then please do so." 👍
I never said I would use the steadies to jack up the van to level it,I was referring to the fact that when the van is sited, as was indicated at home on the driveway or on site and the steadies are down they are there to support the transfer of weight between the front and rear of the van.
The main weight of the van is supported on the wheels which act as the fulcrum, any transfer of weight is taken up by the steadies.
If your van is attached to the vehicle the vehicle will be carrying part of the weight of the van (the nose weight average 90kg).
When you unhitch the van that noseweight is supported by the jockey wheel,if you then lower the steadies and raise the jockey wheel you will transfer app 45kg to each steady.
The steadies are designed to cope with a given loading to support the weight of the occupants moving either side of the fulcrum so 45Kg isn't a major factor in the equation.
It is irrelevant where the fixed appliances etc are in the van,if the steadies are lowered touching the ground they aren't necessarily carrying much weight the wheels are carrying it,if you move something heavy towards the rear of the van the steadies will support that load.
"Good luck, but if you want to wrench up your steadies and use them as jacks, damaging your floor and chassis against all advice and manufacturer guidance.......Then please do so. 👍
My caravan (a Burstner)makes no reference to the jockey wheel when siting the van,the only instruction is:
"DO NOT USE THE STEADIES TO JACK UP THE CARAVAN"
Incidentally the cooker/fridge/onboard 40 ltr water tank/microwave and toilet/shower are all at the rear of the van!
saxo1
Post last edited on 13/09/2016 13:58:07
Good post and well reasoned. The subsequent Swift quote has been repeated only this week on the Swift forum.
With the JW down the front steadies have to have some positive pressure applied, otherwise the van would pivot slightly from side to side, about the JW.
Therefore the JW is not supporting the whole of the noseweight, so that if it is raised, only the balance of the noseweight load is transferred to the steadies.
It doesn't matter a jot whether the JW is up or down regarding loads.
If you have an inflatable JW however, this will need to be raised as the tyre will soon be rendered useless if left under pressure long term.
Quote: Originally posted by saxo1 on 13/9/2016
The main weight of the van is supported on the wheels which act as the fulcrum, any transfer of weight is taken up by the steadies.
If your van is attached to the vehicle the vehicle will be carrying part of the weight of the van (the nose weight average 90kg).
When you unhitch the van that noseweight is supported by the jockey wheel,if you then lower the steadies and raise the jockey wheel you will transfer app 45kg to each steady.
Unless your steadies are the same distance from your wheels as the hitch then the weight is more likely to be around 70Kg each.
All pretty academic really, as once you have moved everything around in your van to get set up and plonked yourself down on the seats or bed, the weight will be different depending on your van layout (and your own weight).
Personally I leave the jockey down and never level or jack the van with the steadies. Occasionally I will let the van rest on the front steadies if I need to change the jockey wheel or get more/less height adjustment.
i think the steadies are stronger than some folks think they are.. my smallish van could seat six adults around its table which is at the front close to the front steadies.. six adults at 150 lbs each is 900 lbs.. not all this wight would go on the fronts steadies but a fair percentage of it would..
the same apples when a bunch of folks move to the rear of the van.. i am not saying use the steadies as jacks but i bet it gets done often by the less wise..
tales of bent vans or broken steadies are not that common.. not until the van goes rotten that is then we here about them.. :)
Goodness Gracious me.... calm down campers... so much hot air!
It sounds to me that we are all getting in a tizzy about the different meanings of the words "jack" and "level"..
Jacking to me means using a lifting device - for example to lift a wheel clear of the ground to change a puncture. Levelling is exactly as it says.. using a lifting device to correct SMALL amounts of roll and pitch. The jockey (of course) is used to manage the majority of pitch correction, with the steadies used to make fine adjustments. Roll correction as has been stated should be corrected using ramps for LARGE degrees but on slightly sloping or more likely uneven ground the steadies are perfectly adequate for small adjustments.
The key is commonsense! small adjustments do not place undue strain on the steadies or the chassis but larger adjustments necessitate relocation, ramps or jacks.
Obviously if there is a need to raise part of the floor by 6" (150mm) then steadies are not appropriate but a couple of inches would be appropriate.
The laws of physics state that "clockwise moments = anticlockwise moments" and these are a simple mathematical equation 'load ÷ lever length' to arrive at a figure. If that figure is too great then obviously the load will risk damaging the structure...
If as one contributor stated his steadies will withstand 500kg then it is difficult to see how this could be damaging to the van.
Also another contributor described a scenario where several people move to the rear of a caravan... If the steadies were so flimsy they would collapse and the manufacturer would be advising 'only two adults to occupy the rear seating areas'.
So in summary I think that the point is that the steadies are not to be used to lift the (whole) van, but a small amount of lift (as argued in the previous paragraph) to raise a corner an inch or two is well within the capability of the steadies!
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