Comparing RV Stabilizers Which one is Best?

Comparing RV Stabilizers

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The Three RV Stabilizers

How’s it going? Welcome to another all about RVs. Today we’re talking about comparing stabilizers for your RV. So today we’re going to be looking at three main stabilizers that we are familiar with. We have used and compared them together as far as how stable they are, how they are to set up. Also just our overall thoughts on each of these stabilizers. The first stabilizer that we used in the beginning was the tripod. Now the tripod is going to be specifically for 5th wheels. They don’t work on any other vehicle or RV or trailer or anything like that. And then the second one we’re going to be talking about is the Steadyfast system. Now there is an upfront installation that you have to do on that. And then the third the one that we’re going to be looking at is the Valterra Universal. These can be used on just about any type of RV out there.

Testing the RV Stabilizers

I want to bring in my wife Chris and have her tell you her thoughts on which one she liked the best. So I actually did some tests to see if you could actually notice how much the stabilizers were, how effective they were. So I would go outside without telling Chris and I would turn off some of the stabilizers. I would disengage the Steadyfast one and I’d put on like the tripod. Or I would do the Valterra one, the universal one, and she could often notice which one it was. Which one was most noticeable to you? Most noticeable was the tripod when everything else was taken off and it was just the tripod doing it. It was for sure more shaky. The boys would just walk by and like man why are we like wobbling so much. And I had before we only had the tripod and I thought it was great having the tripod. So it is an improvement, yes. Using the tripod, it is an improvement. But it was noticeable after having something besides just the tripod. Yes, noticing that wow it still really did shake quite a bit and it was a huge amount like I couldn’t believe it it was really that I noticed it and I had no idea he had even moved it over yeah and the tripod is like you said. It’s what we used for just about a year yeah and it does help with stability. But I’m gonna say that it was it was third on our list.

Steadyfast is Best

Right now the one that’s right in the middle is the the Valterra and how long did that take you to figure out. I want to say it was about a half of a day before I noticed it. I would be in there and you know I didn’t really notice it when I wasn’t on the slide or up in our bedroom area. If I was just in the main living area or in the kitchen area I really didn’t notice that big of a difference. But it was when I would sit on the couch or be at the table and the kids would run by or walk by he’d be like whoa with shaking over here. So that’s where I noticed it for that. Yeah it was hilarious cuz I knew that I changed things around and I would like feel something move and I kind of like look at her and she had no idea that I was even like testing her and the best has actually been the Steadyfast for stability. We would say that comes in number one. Valterra came in a close second. I mean it does pretty good and third is the tripod and we’ll talk about more of the the pros and cons of each of those. Because you know there’s not a one size fits all. So I’m gonna talk about some of that but I like this because I was messing with my wife and she didn’t even know it.

Setup Differences

So now I want to go over some of the differences in the setup. So let me take you around and show you what that’s all about.

Installation

Here we are at the back of the trailer and this is one of our scissor jacks. It’s just your typical scissor jacks that you see on most RVs out there. Now they’re great for helping you stabilize your trailer as far as vertical movement but as far as the lateral movement anything going front to back or side to side it’s not going to help out all that much. So you can see our bracket for the steady fast system is right next to it and this one is extremely simple to set up. Now once we have our trailer level and situated the way we would like it. I’m just going to go around and tighten up these three brackets and the system is done. It’s ready. Like we don’t have to do anything else.

The Valterra

Now if you’re interested in the install and what’s involved in that because that is a more of an upfront install. We did a video on that previously so you can check that out so as far as speed and efficiency of setting up. Once you go out camping this one’s tops on my list. The second system we want to look at is the Valterra system and that has two stabilizers that you’re going to install each time you use this. So there’s gonna be one that goes near the front door and it’s gonna help with the movement going front to back and then there’s gonna be one that you place at the front of the RV and it’s gonna be stabilizing side-to-side. So these just you can expand them or collapse them. Then you can set them up underneath the frame of the RV and then you have a ratchet strap that you’re gonna tie in between each of those legs and tighten that up. Now it’s gonna give you the stability for that movement to those sides. But you have to set this up and tear it down each time which may not be a huge deal and it comes with these carrying bags and there it’s actually a pretty light system so the amount of stability you get no install and it’s pretty quick to set up. A little bit longer than the steady fast. But you do get quite a bit of stability out of these and they could be used on just about any RV. OK let’s talk about the tripod here as one of the last stabilizers. So it is mounted in the front. I’m sure you’ve seen these before and it has that tripod stance and then it has this chain that ties the legs together and it’s supposed to stabilize it in in both lateral directions. But this one didn’t perform quite as well as the other ones. But this one’s easy to set up. You don’t have a lot of pieces and moving parts to move around. Now this is a pretty simple setup if you’re not looking to crawl underneath there and set up anything or tighten any brackets. Therefore this might be an option for you. So let’s give it a quick recap. We think that the SteadyFast system is the fastest to set up when you’re camping and the most stable from the ones that we tested. There is an install. So if you’re a little afraid of that you look at the other two options. But the Steadyfastis best and most stable so that one comes in number one for us. Number two. A close second is the Valterra stabilizers. Now these work they have the same idea as the SteadyFast system but you have to get down there. Takes a little bit longer to install them and it’s not quite as stable as the other one. So that one comes in in a close second. The tripod is very simple but it doesn’t quite get as close as the other two.

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