How to use the leveling jacks????

I have a 1990 trailmanor 23 and it has the atwood stabilizers, and would like to know if you can ratchet them down. They seem useless if you have to use a pump jack to lift the trailer then use those to stabilize. Do they ratchet??

Stabilizer Jack by Atwood
Easy leveling or stabilizing for lightweight trailer of all types!

This leg can hold 650 lbs of work capacity and provides 1,000lbs support.

About Atwood
Serving the industry for over 60 years, Atwood has the experience needed to provide the best products available. Atwood uses an innovative approach and continual investment in state-of-the-art design, engineering and testing equipment to provide the highest quality, most cost-effective solutions for today’s problems and tomorrow’s needs.


About This Product
Stabilizer Jacks from Atwood are easy to use. Simply swing the leg down and snap into position, then push the lever on the bottom to drop the leg to the ground. Its that easy! These steps can be reversed for out-of-the-way storage. The jack is infinitely adjustable from its retracted and extended length. This minimizes time and effort to level your camper.

Rectangular, steel tubing give the support leg the high strength and minimal weight. A four inch square steel foot pad completes the rugged unit. Stabilizer Jacks extend a full 6 inches. They are 17¾" long when fully extended and 11½" when retracted. They can handle a work capacity of 650lbs and provides support for 1,000 lbs. The Stabilizer Jack is painted in a black finish.

The Atwood jacks we had on our tent trailers were adjustable. You put a round bar through the holes on the outside and inside, and pushed down which would lever the center piece downward. To release you could put the bar into the bottom hole and push down on the catch.

[The owners' manual for the 2008 3142KSI just bought advises leveling first with the tongue jack, then use the low rear stabilizer to level side-to-side. Finally lower the other 3 stabilizers to, well, stabilize. They call it 2-point leveling. I tried it and had no problem with a discrepancy of about 2-3" left to right.

Seems like the stabilizers have been strengthened enough on this model to allow it to be used as a real leveling jack.

Nonetheless, if the left/right discrepancy was more than 3-4" I'd probably use the tire leveling blocks anyhow to play it safe.

Originally Posted by Texas_Camper

You have a newer model with "screw jacks" which are considerably different in design and function than "stabilizers"....The 2 point system won't work with stabilizers....

Glad I've got them, then. The manual refers to them as stabilizers but I understand your explanation.

Interestingly, TM does not seem to recommend them as a true "jack" for flat tires. In fact, I just remembered I've gotta pick up a bottle jack next trip.

Originally Posted by Freedom

The Atwood jacks we had on our tent trailers were adjustable. You put a round bar through the holes on the outside and inside, and pushed down which would lever the center piece downward. To release you could put the bar into the bottom hole and push down on the catch.

Thanks all who responded, I now know how to use them. I tried it last night, they work but I think I'll bring a bottle jack too.