Use Non-Industrial RV Jack Pads At Your Own Risk
Unfortunately, many RV owner often use disposable or non-engineered camper pads. They go by many names: RV jack pads, camper pads, stacker blocks, leveling blocks for travel trailers, RV utility blocks, those “mat thingies you stick under the jack,” or whatever else you might call them.
The humble travel trailer leveling block might not get much respect, stuck down there in the mud, but they can be a crucial piece of gear.
RV owners often fail to use jack pads, default to scrap lumber or cheap plastic camper leveling blocks that will likely fail and need to be replaced. If you’re a serious RV owner, looking to permanently solve the jack pad dilemma, we invite you to keep reading.
What to Avoid
You want to prevent two main issues:
- Damaging paved surfaces.
- Without quality camper jack pads under your jacks, you are at a risk of scarring concrete and creating divots in asphalt surfaces. Both situations can require expensive repair at campsites or provide a lasting memory on your own property.
- Sinking into soft ground condition.
- S0ft plastic, rubber jack pads and lumber not designed for load distribution will typically not hold most RV’s. Plastic and wood RV utility blocks tend to crack in these situations and rubber pads tend to bend more than a 1/2″. Cracked pads or lumber have obviously physically failed, and are no longer providing support. Excessivley bent pads are functionally failing, they haven’t broken BUT they aren’t providing sufficient support or load distribution for your jack foot.
- In either failure situation, your jack foot is now concentrating all of the weight its carrying directly into the ground under it. Once that happens the best case is that you will now have a muddy jack. More likely, you’ll have that and a bent jack foot, damaged ground that must be repaired and an unlevel RV. In cold conditions, you may even become stuck if the ground freezes.
What We Recommend
YoYou want to use high-quality jack pads and avoid wood, cheap, grid-bottomed plastic or rubber leveling blocks. For optimal results, we recommend our RoadWarrior RV Jacks Pads. We’ve engineered these products from the start to ensure they will always support your RV and are safe, easy and enjoyable to handle.
Unlike heavy wood pads, DICA RV jack pads are made from an industrial-strength engineered thermoplastic that won’t break, splinter, warp, or wear out. These leveling blocks for campers are actually made from the same type of material we use for our outrigger pads, so you know they can handle whatever you throw at them.
Keep in mind, the best leveling jack pads for campers will last as long, if not longer than your vehicle does. If you’re tired of replacing trailer leveling blocks or wondering if your current set is going to survive the next trip, it’s time to look at the last jack pad you will ever need to buy.