RV jack pads are an important aspect of moving around with an RV. There are quite a number of ways to make use of RV pads. To prevent your RV jacks from being stuck in the mud if you will be parking on gravel or grass, you will need to make use of jack pads. If you fail to make use of jack pads when you need to, your RV’s weight will push your jack into the mud. That’s not all. When you make any attempt at retracting your jacks, the mud could hold the jacks to the ground by creating a suction.
Furthermore, you can make use of jack pads in leveling your RV. You can also make use of a jack pad to raise the ground level of your RV if you are parked on a slope. To get your RV leveled, you might need to make use of more than one jack pad.
Jack Pad Sizing
Jack pad sizing is a major part of making RV jack pads and you can stick to a formula to make this happen. If you must get the right size of a jack pad which is ideal for your vehicle’s weight, the right formula can help you do this. For an RV that weighs about 28,000lb, a pad of 20” will be ideal.
When making a jack pad, always remember that you will get a reduced PSI on the surface of the ground as the size of the pad increase.
How to Make RV Jack Pads
The process involved in making RV jack pads is not a complex one. Beyond being simple, RV jack pads can make your RV setup very convenient. The entire process involved in making an RV jack pad could last for about an hour. This includes the acquisition of the needed materials.
To get started, you will need to buy eye-hooks and a 2 x 10 x 12 board form a hardware store. You can get the board cut into smaller bits in lots of hardware stores. While this makes the entire process easier, you will need to pay for the cut in addition to the amount you already paid to buy the board. This is not expensive. It, however, is something you can do on your own if you have a circular saw.
If you will be cutting the board into smaller bits at the store, you can cut it into pieces that are 3 foot long. This way, they can easily get into your car’s backseat.
As soon as you arrive at your destination, you can go ahead and cut the sections into different pieces of one food each. This should be followed by sanding down the edges.
At this point, you are ready to add nylon ropes and eye hooks. It might be difficult to pick up the jack pads when they are placed under the RV. So, to ensure that you do not struggle to do this, make use of bright-colored nylon rope. The color of the rope will go a long way in making visibility if you decide to carry out a pre-departure regardless of what the weather is.
Types of RV Jack PADS
RV jack pads are made from various materials. Some of these materials are plastic, wood, and rubber
Plastic Jack Pads
Plastic RV jack pads are perhaps the most common RV jack pads of ready-made jack pads. This RV jack pad is usually 10 in one pack. Although they have a reputation for being ideal for trailer leveling, they could break when the jacks of big motorhomes exert pressure on them.
Wooden Jack Pads
When properly built, wooden jack pads can do very well in various environments. They, however, move around with added weight. When making a wooden jack pad, you can either decide to make use of plywood or 2 x 132 wood that has been pressure heated.
When building wooden jack pads, it is important that you alternate the grain direction to keep warping from occurring.
Rubber Jack Pads
Rubber jack pads are made from rubber blocks with a thickness 0f ¾ inches. They will do well in concrete environments and are not known to break down. Although great for concrete environments, they will
Safety is Important
When making an RV jack pad, you need to pay safety a lot of attention. This implies you have to put on eye safety glasses as well as the right work gloves.
When you put in work gloves, you can keep your hand protected from flying debris, as well as splinters. That’s not all, work gloves also go a long way in helping you have the right grip. When shopping for work gloves, you must buy one that has the right fitting.
So long you are doing your job with power tools, you must always have safety glasses on. This is more important than a lot for people to realize. The eyes are very sensitive and could get easily affected by flying debris.
What are the Pros and Cons of making jack Pads on Your Own?
Pros
Wooden blocks are not so expensive. When you purchase wooden blocks for the purpose of making a jack pad, all you need to pay for is the wood alongside the nails. Apart from spending money on this payment, you will not need to put in any more money into making jack pads. All you will need to spend after this is time in getting your jack pad ready.
When making your own wooden blocks, you must follow some basic standards. You, however, can also customize your wooden block to whatever size is perfect for your RV.
Cons
Wooden blocks are very sensitive to water. This implies that when they get moist, they will end up being a great environment for insects to live in.
When used for a while, wooden blocks can split and also break down. The implication of this is you will need to spend a bit more money, as well as time in building more.
