Outriggers Forest River parts

Outriggers finally installed

I ordered the 4 outriggers from Forest River months ago when this topic first came up(October,2020).  I have been putting off the actual installation for a long time because I knew it was going to be a PITA to install them.  I knew that because I had checked my 2015 179 with a square between the floor and the frame under the slidout-the wall definitely had dropped about 3/8”.   So, the issue became how to get the outriggers tight to the floor above  and tight to the frame at the same time.

 I read all of the other posts and developed my plan.  I decided that in order to eliminate the gap between the top of the outrigger and the floor, I would have to jack up the outside edge of the wall that had dropped.  I used a bottle jack, an 8x16 concrete block with 2”x10” wooden block on top of it, and a 24” length of angle iron for jacking up the wall. I jacked it up slowly, checking each stroke of the jack. It took about 3-4 strokes to get flat(90 degrees to the frame)

I found that attaching the 2 end screws on the outrigger to the outside wall edge as the first step made the job a little easier as the outrigger was held in place.  The next question was how to get the outrigger up tight to the floor.  I used a piece of 2x4 cut to the appropriate length and a piece of ¾”x4”x12” as a base runner.  Putting the 2x4 at the bottom of the outrigger and tapping it with a hammer as the 2x4 slid forward on the plywood base runner, this forced the outrigger up tight to the floor.  Then I could drill the holes for the 2 large screws that hold the outrigger to the frame.  I made sure to drill the holes at the top of the outrigger hole to make sure the outrigger didn’t drop after the 2x4 was released. I used 1”x#14 metal screws form Lowe’s. Probably ¾” would work if you can find them.

 Overall, this system worked well.  Indeed, it was a PITA because you had to move the jack base and jack 4 times as well as lie on your back and drill upward and sideways. It took about 2.5 hours to install all 4 outriggers. All of the outriggers are tight to both the frame and the floor at the junction where it rests on the frame.  There is a piece of metal trim at the bottom of the wall that keeps the outside end of the outrigger about 1/8” below the floor. The part of the wall under the slide out no longer shows any droop along the cantilevered part under the slideout.

 Hope this may help someone who will be installing the outriggers

Vann