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uwe · 10-27-2003, 06:11 PM

Last week I went and got the BAL frame mount screw type stabilizer jacks for my 71 Airstream. I never did much like the supplied jack stands . The kit comes with 4 jacks, a bag of self tapping screws, and a crank handle. The jacks have 3 mounting points, 2 of them go on the main frame rails, and one mounts to a convenient cross member. ( the profile truss that connects the frame rails left to right)
The front was easy, no problem other than re-routing the main LP gas feed line a few inches, out of harms way. The rear, however, opened the proverbial can of worms. The crossmember to be used in the rear was already "occupied" but the rear grey tank mounts. The next one to the rear is too far back, and has the frame rail extension on the street side, plus a plumbing issue with the shower drain line being in the way.
Off comes the belly pan rear section ( yuk!) and the insulation ( more yuk).
The very rear section of floor is a mess - needs replacing ( triple yuk!)
I re-routed the shower line inside the belly pan, to make room for teh jack legs to extend down, eventually. I can now fabricate and weld in a cross member to support the inside jack mounts. This cross member will also be additinal support for the flooring section in need of replacement.Oh, and these nasty looking belly pan pieces will have to be replaced, also. What's that gauge of aluminum again?? Another prime example of one thing leading to another. But in a way I found all these problems, it will make our trailer a lot more enjoyable in the long run. I also found out why my grey tank seemed to fill up so fast, but that's for another thread......

startrekker2001 · 10-27-2003, 07:03 PM

I have a 78 Airstream and I need new stabilizer Jacks. What model of BAL jacks did you get, how did you get them and how much did they cost?

I had one jack that was bent and finally broke. The other 3 are ok but it would be nice to have them match.

Thanks,
Vic

smily · 10-27-2003, 07:35 PM

How much, How much??

uwe · 10-27-2003, 08:27 PM

I think I paid $ 250.00 or thereabouts, for the entire kit. InlandRV was the source. It is a very heavy box, don't forget to allow for shipping charges.
The Airstream specific jacks are very nice, the hex screw is long enough the extend out to right under the banana wrap, or curved in section of the belly.
They are dark grey in color, specifically made for Airstream.

Chas · 10-27-2003, 11:12 PM

You can also get the BAL jacks that have the two jacks mounted to a common crossmember. That would keep you from having to locate a crossmember which may be hard to pin down under the skin or have something already mounted to it. All you need to do on those is mount it to the frame rails. I am not sure about the Airstream specific business, I always thought a BAL jack was a BAL jack but I guess Andy knows his stuff.

Chas

uwe · 10-28-2003, 10:12 AM

The biggest difference is that teh Airstream specific ones have extended shafts on them to reach the outside of the trailer, 1/2in below the curved section of the skin.
They are also relatively small and light, and give an OEM appearance.
It would be nice to not have to add a cross member, but in light of things, I need it anyways to support the repair for the rear floor section that's rotten.

59toaster · 10-28-2003, 07:27 PM

I keep eyeballing those. I like them a lot better then the stands. Some GM vehicle used a simular jack. Thought about junkyard scrounging up 4 matching and making some homebrew ones.

If you get a chance take a couple pictures so we can see how you mounted them.

overlander76 · 10-28-2003, 08:42 PM

I think I have this type jack on my AS. Any info would be appreciated. The hex bolts come out about an inch or so under the skin just as you describe, they are very nice. I always thought they were factory. They are just in the front, I don't know why the rear wasn't done also? I have put jackstand type jacks in the rear to help support it and lessen the movement when I'm in the rear of the AS but it would be nice to have these in the back as well. Is there a reason someone would go through the trouble of puting them in the front and not the back? Money? Hard to install? Also, if you had them in the front, would one raise them until the tongue jack came off the ground?

59toaster · 10-28-2003, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by overlander76
I think I have this type jack on my AS. Any info would be appreciated. The hex bolts come out about an inch or so under the skin just as you describe, they are very nice. I always thought they were factory. They are just in the front, I don't know why the rear wasn't done also? I have put jackstand type jacks in the rear to help support it and lessen the movement when I'm in the rear of the AS but it would be nice to have these in the back as well. Is there a reason someone would go through the trouble of puting them in the front and not the back? Money? Hard to install? Also, if you had them in the front, would one raise them until the tongue jack came off the ground?

Probably had them in the rear as well. I have seen many just infront of the bumper. Hear they get damaged in that location. Probably what happend with yours

Chas · 10-28-2003, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by overlander76
Also, if you had them in the front, would one raise them until the tongue jack came off the ground?

They are "stabilizer" jacks, meant to stabilize and not lift. I am sure that they would either strip out or collapse if you tried lifting the tongue off the ground with them. I am sure someone somewhere has tried this to a disastrous conclusion. You really need to get some BAL's on the rear of your Overlander. It has a pretty good rear overhang that gets bouncy real easy. I have four BAL's on mine, after setting them all up I add a set of cheapie aluminum stack jacks lightly tensioned up under the rear bumper. Keeps the rear bath quite stable.

Chas

overlander76 · 10-28-2003, 09:53 PM

I looked in the back carefully and found no holes where they may have been mounted back there. Strange.

I currently have some regular screw jacks under the steel supports just foreward of the rear bumper, "lightly tightened" just to take the movement out of my morning shower, it would be nice to have the BAL jacks in the back too. How far foreward of the rear bumper are they mounted? Maybee I was looking for screw holes in the wrong location?

Thanks for the advice on the front, I haven't tightened them to the point that the tongue jack comes off the ground but until now had no knowledge of thier proper use or mis-use. Thanks for all the info. I guess now I feel special that I have them and at the same time adding one more thing to the AS to do list.

Brian

thenewkid64 · 10-28-2003, 10:16 PM

If you had jacks form the factory they would have been mounted midway between the rear bumper and the rear set of wheels.

I would guess that they were somehow damaged and the PO took them off and did not replace them.

As a temp. method of stabilization you could get the Aluminum triangle jacks, park, level, set the screw jacks to the proper height , lower the tounge a LITTLE, slip the set jacks under the rear frame rails in a foot or so and lift the tounge back up to set the frame rails on the rear jack stands. Then lower your front jacks.

startrekker2001 · 10-29-2003, 05:36 AM

UWE,
You told me how much they cost, but not the model number. BAL makes several different kinds. I had heard that the Model 23052 was the replacement for the Airstream. I don't know if the 23 is the Drop (vertical distance from full up to full down). The BAL website doesn't show all of their products so it is hard to find the proper ones for the Airstream. I had priced the 23052 model at around $150 drop shipped through Camping World.

Vic

silver 67 · 11-10-2004, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uwe

I think I paid $ 250.00 or thereabouts, for the entire kit. InlandRV was the source. It is a very heavy box, don't forget to allow for shipping charges.
The Airstream specific jacks are very nice, the hex screw is long enough the extend out to right under the banana wrap, or curved in section of the belly.
They are dark grey in color, specifically made for Airstream.

I have found it hard to pin Andy down on why the airstream bal jacks cost so much more. I don't buy into "because it is for an Airstream it has to cost more" unless of course the product is better made or higher quality. I can not get Andy to tell me it is better made or higher quality. He just says it is from Airstream.

Silver 67

overlander64 · 11-11-2004, 07:48 AM

Greetings Silver 67!

Quote:

Originally Posted by silver 67

I have found it hard to pin Andy down on why the airstream bal jacks cost so much more. I don't buy into "because it is for an Airstream it has to cost more" unless of course the product is better made or higher quality. I can not get Andy to tell me it is better made or higher quality. He just says it is from Airstream.

Silver 67

The special BAL stabilizer jacks for Airstream aren't a Vintage Airstream specific item, and are available from the parts department of any Airstream Dealer or Service Center. My dealer, Ace Fogdall RV, just ordered a set of 4 for my Minuet 6.0 Metre (they installed a set of 4 on my Overlander over five years ago).

There definitely is a difference between the basic BALs and the ones produced specifically for Airstream. Prior to the set installed by Ace Fogdall on my Overlander, I had a set of BALs (the standard issue type) installed by Camping World. For some reason, the set installed by Camping World didn't tuck up as close to the bellypan as the ones supplied by Airstream which resulted in dragging the curbside stabilizer off on a service station driveway. Another difference as noted earlier is that the drive mechanism on the Airstream specific variety extends out far enough that it can be found and operated without crawling under the coach - - with the basic variety crawling under the coach was a necessity. I have been so well satisfied with the installation on my Overlander that I asked the Service Department at Ace Fogdall's to install a set on my Minuet when I took it in for its annual Winter service two weeks ago. The slight additional cost for these Airstream specific stabilizers is well worth considering (IMHO).

Kevin

till · 11-11-2004, 07:50 AM

as anyone called Colaws Salvage?? I bet that they have jacks at a reasonable price. I think I will see and report back....

Well they do not have any. I was told that they don't last long.

As for jack highth, would your toungh high tell you what size jack you need. If you have a 19" toungh highth, your jack would need to be something taller, like maybe 30"

Forgive my horable spelling this morning....