Chocking Tires

"Fear"....I dont see that at all. I see more of an attitude that I dont need to do it because its too much of a hassle! Using a Mall parkig lot is not quite the same as parking a MH on an uneven surface with Jacks extended. I use them cause I have em and out of an abundance of caution....Fear, No!

I have never chocked my rig until I bought the current one. While getting it ready for the trip, I put the jacks down while on a slight incline. I was pretty sure I have the emergency brake on and I know it was in park - however the angle of the incline favored the swinging jacks moving back into their stowed position and sure enough, as I climbed into the coach it rolled forward off the jacks.
I can only think that the jacks hadn't fully locked down, but I did go and purchase a pair of chocks from Amazon the next day and will use them when I am parked on an incline, just for peace of mind.

For $10 it just seems like extra insurance to use them if you are uncertain of the rigs security - I don't think I can see a negative anywhere.

Sorry but there is alot of fear being posted here if you don't have chocks. Never seen them in the mall parking lots on cars or trucks. If they are that important then every vehicle out there should have them. Our Federal/State Goverment would have laws stating that they are required.

Chocking should always be done regardless if the tires are on the ground or the parking brake is engaged. Anything mechanical can fail at anytime. For safety reasons chocks should be placed. I chocked my motorhome when I had it. I now chock all 4 wheels on my TT. Its a safety thing. It only takes a few seconds to chock the tires. The chocks do not weigh much.

Imagine how an RV owner would feel if the RV rolled away and hurt someone when a simple chock could have preveneted it.

Harbor Freight has chocks for around $10.00 pair.

I don't chock my wheels. Between the e-brake and the parking brake along with the levelers I feel real safe. In addition I remove my ignition key which makes it even tougher to raise the jacks. Also to get the tranny from Park to Neutral one would have to step on the brake while moving the tranny lever. For a kid to mess with all those items would mean they are not being supervised.

Now a travel trailer is a whole other story.

Watch the movie "RV" it has numerious good examples of "Why to chock your RV.":B

Sooboy wrote:
I always chock it.....here's why:

If a child of mine were to release the parking brake by pushing in that nice yellow button on the dash, the levelers would automatically raise, leaving me with a rolling coach. Or at least that's the worst case scenario I've imagined!!

I made a stop for this. I cut a 1/2" pvc water pipe long enough to fit between the yellow stop and the nut where it attaches to the dash. Cut a slit lengthwise wide enough to just go over the shaft. Can't be loose here or it will just fall off. I install it every time I set the brakes. You have to remove it to release the brakes. Works great. Larry

I always chock for SAFETY! You never what's going to happen? Children or pets releasing brakes by accident, how about an earthquake moving your coach or better yet this happened to me once! A run away truck hit my RV at a Campground and guess what it didn't move forward or backwards because the wheels were chocked front and back! You never know what's going to happen! I even chock mine when I'm traveling and parked on a incline while I'm resting or eating.

daverich wrote:

I was reading on the TT forum about accidents at the park due to not chocking the tires.

I have never chocked my MH tires. I pull in, put the levelers down, slide out, hook up everything else and enjoy myself. This seems unnecessary to me, but I learn something everyday, should I chock?

Thanks!

The reason this is discussed on the TT Forum is TT's do not have emergency brakes, that are set when parked, thus the reason for chocking the tires. I used to use two 4x4 blocks in between the two tandem tires with a threaded rod that pulled the two blocks together on my TT that prevent either tire from moving.