Morryde X-Brace 5th Wheel Stabilizer

[dgerfan]

Currently looking into ways to stabilize our 5th wheel in order to eliminate side-to-side motion as much as possible. I don't prefer the tripod because we mostly boondock and depending on how unlevel the site is front to back there isn't enough room to put the tripod under the kingpin.

The other stabilization options that I found are the JT Strong Arms, Steadyfast and Morryde X-Brace. To me the X-Brace is the most appealing as it doesn't require any drilling. Secondarily, I also spoke with an individual at the National Rally that uses one and loves it. He even showed side-to-side motion with the stabilizer not engaged and when it was engaged. Seemed night and day!

I couldn't find any posts on this forum of first hand experience with this product. Would be curious if others are using it and what their evaluation of it is. Also would be interested in hearing from anyone that considered the JT Strong Arms, Steadyfast and Morryde X-Brace and decided against the X-Brace.

[DarnDave]

dgerfan we use one of these valterra stabilizers under the rear trailer hitch on our solitude. Works great for our rear kitchen floorplan! Takes only a minute or two to set up. On soft ground, I use some one foot square plastic tiles at the ground under the legs. https://www.campingworld.com/univers...bilizing-jacks

Dave

[tdeperte]

I just installed the Morryde X-Brace on our new 337RLS. On a previous fifth wheel I installed the JT Strongarms. The X-Brace was much easier to install due to no drilling. Also, on the Strongarms you have to mount a steel angle iron across the front to mount the Strongarms upper brackets to. The X-Brace simply clamps at the top of your front jacks and bolts to the bottom into an existing hole. The instructions for install of the X-Brace left a lot to be desired. Looked like a photo copy and there were no operation instructions. Not hard to figure out though. They make a huge difference in the stability of the RV when parked.

I purchased mine at Tweety's.com. They had the best price, free shipping and no sales tax.

[Todd_P]

I second DarnDave with the stabilizer he linked to. That product is probably the most cost effective way to improve stability and it sure does make those gimmicky tripods look like the hemorrhoid they are!
I keep saying that I am going to add on one of them nice, albeit pricey, brace systems but haven't had the motivation to with such a low cost item working just fine.

[howson]

DarnDave and Todd_P -- downside of the Universal Stabilizer is they don't stay attached to the RV. That means one more item to setup and tear down. For me that's a no-go since I rarely stay in one place for long periods of time.

[dgerfan]

DarnDave Thanks that looks like a good option to stabilize the rear of the trailer especially for the price.

[dgerfan]

tdeperte Very helpful to receive a review from someone that actually has used both products. I'm not sure what to believe when I see a YT review as many of the reviewers receive the product free of charge or are otherwise compensated in some form.

I ran a quick price search and it looks like etrailer now has the cheapest price.

[dgerfan]

DarnDave and Todd_P -- downside of the Universal Stabilizer is they don't stay attached to the RV. That means one more item to setup and tear down. For me that's a no-go since I rarely stay in one place for long periods of time.

Howard I can definitely understand your point of view as in general I would prefer to limit the number of items that need to be pulled and put in/out of the truck/passthrough. We use to travel ever three days but now that we are road schooling we have had to stay places longer so I presume our use case is different than yours. An now that we stay longer stabilization has been more important as any movement by any of us causes the rv to shake. Hard to look at a monitor when it's constantly shaking.

[tdeperte]

tdeperte Very helpful to receive a review from someone that actually has used both products. I'm not sure what to believe when I see a YT review as many of the reviewers receive the product free of charge or are otherwise compensated in some form.

I ran a quick price search and it looks like etrailer now has the cheapest price.

Glad to help. You can't go wrong with either product as they both achieve the same end result. One advantage with the JT Strongarm is you can also mount them from the front landing gear backwards to the frame to stop fore and aft movement. I am using Bal X Chocks at the rear wheels to obtain that stability. With the JT's there is still the issue of a lack of a solid surface to mount the upper brackets too when trying to stop side to side motion.

I am very happy with the X-Brace. Pull two quick release clips and retract the gear. Nothing else to remove. E-trailer has a video on the X-Brace that says you have to remove the X-Braces to retract the landing gear. I believe that is incorrect.

[Mike & Rebecca]

@tdeperte, it looks like one pair of the X-Brace brackets are mounted towards the top of each of the two front stabilizers. Have you noticed any interference with the frame and the top bracket while auto leveling? I'm thinking of a scenario in which the front stabilizer retracts upwards enough to have the X-Brace bracket hit the frame. I'll have to take a look the next time I'm at the storage yard but thought I'd see if you ran into that issue. Thanks!

[tdeperte]

@tdeperte, it looks like one pair of the X-Brace brackets are mounted towards the top of each of the two front stabilizers. Have you noticed any interference with the frame and the top bracket while auto leveling? I'm thinking of a scenario in which the front stabilizer retracts upwards enough to have the X-Brace bracket hit the frame. I'll have to take a look the next time I'm at the storage yard but thought I'd see if you ran into that issue. Thanks!

Not an issue as the upper brackets don't mount to a moving part of the the front jacks. They are mounted to the stationary outer tube housing of the front jacks.