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mharrel's avatar
mharrel
Explorer
Jul 09, 2018

leveling ramps for dually tires

Hey guys:
Im new to the rv world and just got a class C with dually tires on back.
Question: when i need to level the unit should i use a ramp/leggo blocks under both back tires per side or is one back tire ok? i'm assuming i should do both to spread the weight. what do you guys say?
thanks for you help.
  • Both tires per side. Don't put the load on one tire, you'll exceed the rating of the tire.
  • The thing people miss with load ratings is they are based on dynamic loading:
    - Hit a pothole at 70mph and a 3000lb load on a tire may jump to 12-15,000lbs during the hit.
    - Slowly pulling up onto a block, the load is unlikely to go more than 10-20% higher than the static load.

    Simple thought experiment: What's the heaviest bag of sand I could gently set into your arms and you could hold it? Now hold your hands out and I'll drop it from 10' high and you catch it with your outstretched arms. Do you think you could do it?

    I wouldn't pre-plan to support on 1 tire but in a pinch, I wouldn't worry about it.
  • I level on one tire all the time without any problems. Your not moving so not an issue.
  • Our RV traveling companions level only one dually on a side all the time (but I put leveling blocks under both dually tires per side).

    What I've noticed is the extreme sidewall bulging on our friend's RV with only one tire of a dually set getting a leveling block. This bulging hour after hour has got to be stretching the sidewall material much more than temporary dynamic loading does.

    Logically - that really can't be the best way to treat your RV's $$$ tires.
  • pnichols wrote:
    Our RV traveling companions level only one dually on a side all the time (but I put leveling blocks under both dually tires per side).

    What I've noticed is the extreme sidewall bulging on our friend's RV with only one tire of a dually set getting a leveling block. This bulging hour after hour has got to be stretching the sidewall material much more than temporary dynamic loading does.

    Logically - that really can't be the best way to treat your RV's $$$ tires.


    I agree with you. As an example let's take an E450 with 9,000# on the rear axle, or something around 4,500# on each side. How can putting that 4,500# on a tire that is rated for 2,470# in a dually or 2,680# as a single, be considered a good thing to do ?