Stabilizer Jack
A stabilizer jack is a jack type designed not to lift the vehicle but to reduce rocking once it is parked. Its job is to restrain the springing of the suspension; the load it can carry is limited compared with a levelling jack. It is not used to carry the weight of the caravan or to correct angle.
When you walk about inside a caravan the body sways on the tyres and the suspension springs. A stabilizer jack lowers the amplitude of this sway by establishing an extra contact point between the body and the ground. Because it is not intended to take load, its mechanism and footprint are sized more lightly.
- Correct use: after the vehicle has been levelled or corrected with ramps, bring the jacks into contact with the ground and load them slightly.
- Incorrect use: trying to lift the vehicle and correct the angle with a stabilizer jack. The mechanism is overstressed and the chassis mounting point is deformed.
- Never rely on a stabilizer jack to change a wheel; that is a job for a jack and axle stands.
The distinction is decisive in selection: if your only problem is rocking, a stabilizer jack is enough, but if you want to correct angle on sloping ground you need a load-bearing levelling jack. The value stated for the jacks in the KTS200 set is a 2000 kg/jack load capacity; this shows that the system is in the levelling class, not the stabilizer class.
Context in which this term is used: RV automatic levelling guide