With 2 adults & 3 kids in our van, drop down legs to stop it moving about really help, not mention stopping the sea sickness feeling in a storm! The legs that came with the van as standard were rubbish - a pain to deploy (they were under the van and meant groveling around on your knees on the ground, not great on a wet campsite field), but also because the didn't wind down in any way you couldn't put any pre-load on them - so as the van moved around they'd push the jack pads into the ground if it was soft.
They'd also creep up and retract a bit in high winds as the van moved, so by the morning they were 1/2" off the ground and doing very little. To finish it off they were mounted onto the aluminium garage floor, not a great place to put stress on the van.
For anyone wanting to fit legs, although this involved some effort it's worked out really well. I managed to get some Al-Ko Steady Legs from German Ebay for a good price - Ebay.de is well worth a look for motorhome bits, I've had all sorts off there. These steady legs bolt straight onto an Al-Ko chassis but my van has the standard Fiat Maxi chassis.
However, with a couple of bits of L shaped steel and a plate welded on the end, you can make brackets to very securely fit the legs to the rear spring hangers, through holes that are already there - a very strong part of the chassis. This then puts the legs near the outside of the van and just behind the rear wheels - mudflaps stop them catching the worst of the road crud. They work a treat, very quick & easy to use, you can wind them down hard enough to put some pre-load on them, and no groveling on the ground!
They'd also creep up and retract a bit in high winds as the van moved, so by the morning they were 1/2" off the ground and doing very little. To finish it off they were mounted onto the aluminium garage floor, not a great place to put stress on the van.
For anyone wanting to fit legs, although this involved some effort it's worked out really well. I managed to get some Al-Ko Steady Legs from German Ebay for a good price - Ebay.de is well worth a look for motorhome bits, I've had all sorts off there. These steady legs bolt straight onto an Al-Ko chassis but my van has the standard Fiat Maxi chassis.
However, with a couple of bits of L shaped steel and a plate welded on the end, you can make brackets to very securely fit the legs to the rear spring hangers, through holes that are already there - a very strong part of the chassis. This then puts the legs near the outside of the van and just behind the rear wheels - mudflaps stop them catching the worst of the road crud. They work a treat, very quick & easy to use, you can wind them down hard enough to put some pre-load on them, and no groveling on the ground!
Not for long - I'd had it rustproofed only a couple of months before that picture was taken, so it was still black & shiny! And the spare tyre was new.
