How To Lubricate RV Stabilizer Jacks

Your RV stabilizer jacks ought to be cleaned and maintained recurrently as a result of they’re uncovered to highway grime and particles as you journey. So, studying how you can lubricate RV stabilizer jacks is important to high quality towable camper upkeep. 

Your stabilizing jack system lets you transfer round comfortably in your towable RV with out it rocking forwards and backwards. That added stability retains your home equipment in place. Plus, it may allow you to keep asleep when your tenting companions use the lavatory at evening.

On this how-to information, we’ll cowl the fundamentals of handbook RV stabilizer jack lubrication so you may hold your stabilizer jacks working accurately.

Key Takeaways

• Common Cleansing & Lubrication: Clear RV stabilizer jacks earlier than and after every journey to forestall grime buildup. Lubricate them 2–4 instances per season utilizing a dry silicone-based spray to make sure easy operation.
• Correct Lubrication Technique: Partially lengthen jacks, clear the meeting, then apply dry lubricant to drive screws and pivot factors. Prolong and retract to distribute evenly—additionally embrace tongue jack upkeep.
• Avoiding Injury & Repairs: By no means modify the tongue jack after the stabilizers are deployed to forestall pressure and potential harm. If upkeep is uncared for, restore or alternative could also be wanted.

Ought to You Clear Your Jacks?

Common cleansing is one of the best ways to forestall grime and dirt from inflicting extra important issues for handbook and electrical stabilizer jacks. Avoiding these accumulations is an underrated RV jack upkeep process. It merely requires wiping your stabilizing jacks with a clear, dry rag and/or a brush earlier than and after every journey. In fact, chances are you’ll clear your jacks extra recurrently as wanted, particularly in case you continuously journey on less-maintained roads and improve your jack’s publicity to grime and dust.

Technician Tip: Some electrical stabilizing jacks will include a grease pre-coating on the drive screw. If cleaned and eliminated, this grease should be re-applied per the jack producer’s suggestion. Some might also have grease zerks of a moist gearbox that should be saved on the really helpful stage of lubrication.

How Usually Ought to You Lube Your RV Stabilizer Jack System?

RV stabilizer jacks ought to be correctly lubricated 2-4 instances per season or as really helpful by the jack producer. Many house owners add stabilizer jack lubrication to their dewinterization guidelines and set their lube cadence from there. If you happen to take your RV out of winter storage in Could, for instance, you’ll need to lube the stabilizer jacks at the moment. Then, repeat the method 2-4 instances earlier than winterizing your RV once more.

What Is the Greatest Lubricant for RV Stabilizer Jacks?

A dry movie silicone-based lubricant is one of the best lube for RV stabilizer jacks. The sort of lube goes on moist to get in small crevices earlier than drying clear, and it’s higher than grease (moist) lubricants that may appeal to and lure grime, inflicting a buildup within the drive screw’s threads. If not eliminated, these buildups can finally bind the jack or trigger different points with the drive screw’s operation.

CRC Dry Movie Silicone Spray and Roadmaster Heavy Responsibility RV Lubricant are two wonderful merchandise you’ll discover in most Tenting World retail shops. Thetford additionally affords a number of Shield All merchandise, however to keep away from confusion, you’ll particularly need to search for the Dry Lube Protectant.

Technician Tip: If you happen to used a grease lubricant, use a degreaser and an influence washer to take away the buildup earlier than wiping the jacks clear and making use of a dry lubricant.

How To Lubricate RV Stabilizer Jacks

Studying how you can lubricate RV stabilizer jacks is fairly easy. Observe the steps beneath: 

1. Partially lengthen the jacks to show the drive screw. 
2. Wipe your complete meeting clear with a dry rag.
3. Apply a dry lubricant to the drive screw’s threaded rods in a number of positions. Prolong and retract the jack to unfold the lube evenly alongside the drive screw.
4. Apply dry lubricant to the six pivot factors on both sides of the stabilizer jack. 
5. Repeat for all jacks with drive screws.

Technician Tip: The tongue jack or touchdown gear jacks are an often-neglected a part of the stabilization system since they pre-level the RV earlier than deploying the stabilizer jacks. They need to be prolonged totally and wiped down, the within metallic tube sprayed with dry lube, and the gears slightly below the highest cap greased.

Do You Want Jack Restore or Alternative?

One of the frequent causes of RV stabilizer harm is adjusting the tongue jack or touchdown gear top AFTER extending the stabilizing jacks. This locations important weight and pressure on the stabilizer jacks, usually inflicting them to buckle underneath the strain.

If improper use or rare stabilizer jack lubrication has led to a damaged system, it’s time to restore or substitute it. You possibly can discover putting in new scissor jacks by yourself. Or you may discover scissor jacks and have them professionally put in. 

The identical is true for electrical stabilizer jacks. Nonetheless, you may additionally seek the advice of a licensed RV technician to carry out an entire diagnostic to find out whether or not RV stabilizer jack restore or alternative is the most suitable choice.

Use these further sources to take care of, restore, or substitute the leveling and stabilizing elements in your RV:

Do you may have any questions on RV stabilizer jack upkeep? Tell us within the feedback beneath.