Put MH on boards or not for winter

I use boards, 2X10, make sure the boards are wider then the tire tread. ````Also make sure the boards are not in a hole that can fill up with rain water, tires should not sit in water especially if they have steel belts as they may rust if the water somehow penetrates the tire tread into the steel belts.

Cobra21 wrote:
I park on regular plywood, will burn in the spring. You get a lime reaction from concrete, not sure about the gravel.

Great idea! I've been wondering what best to use on the crushed limestone driveway/pad I had put in.

I have a bunch of plywood I consider sacrificial. Enough to last several years.

Thanks!

Wayne

I park on regular plywood, will burn in the spring. You get a lime reaction from concrete, not sure about the gravel.

Great question Scott! I'm not a tire expert and I have Michelin tires on my RV. Michelin on there website has a tire quality care section. And in that section it says to have wood or rubber or
plastic between your tire and the surface. It also says when your storing your RV indoors to use cardboard between the tire and the surface. The website also says to make sure whatever your putting on the ground make sure that the complete tire surface must be covered (if you use for example a piece of 2x4 it will only be covering 4" of the tires 6" to 8" surface and inner sidewall damage could occur according to Michelin. I use a 2 foot long piece of Doug Fir 2x10 under each tire, whenever my coach is parked regardless if it's sitting at home on gravel or in Arizona sitting on concrete, or any other surface when RVing. It's my belief this helps me to get longer tire life.

I've been using the rubber mud flaps for years. You need three full size flaps, cutting one in half for the front tires. In your situation (gravel) I would use the wood to give you a flat surface and then cover the wood with the flaps.

The truck supply stores sell the mud flaps pretty cheap. The rubber is the best product to prevent the leeching of moisture from your tires.

I have used plastic place mats from WM (cheap) to put beneath my tires when storing for more than a month, just need a barrier.

Run the gen under load, a couple of 1500 amp ceramic heaters will do for a start, for an hour or so once a month. Onan says two hours at half load.

When I stored longer term (we full time now) I would take it out for a "fun run" every so often, at least 30 minutes at highway speeds to be sure everything is warmed through and no condensate is left in the exhaust system. That was with my gasser. Would do the same with my DP. Once started run it or don;t start it at all.

If you are covering it, you may be best to not start the engine at all, but do find a way to run the gen, I use first of the month as my reminder.

Parked on gravel, won't hurt. Always wondered if the stuff the lumber mills used to treat wood is harmful to the tires. The best idea I've read about is using over the road trailer mud flaps to park on. Things are made from recycled tires so can't see them causing harm to the tires.

I'm parked on concrete so besides covering my tires the only extra I do is air them up 10 pounds higher than normal. Ensures the internal pressure stays above minimum even with the low temps. Come spring I'll reset to my weight determined pressure.

10forty2 wrote:
In my opinion, if you're going to be on gravel for the winter months, then I'd park on the boards. As it sits for a period of time, the weight of the coach on the gravel will cause the little rocks to indent into the rubber and cause places that may well permanently damage the tires.

I put mine on boards too.

Park it on gravel and pump up the tires. Cover them definitely so the side walls dont get sun blasted

In my opinion, if you're going to be on gravel for the winter months, then I'd park on the boards. As it sits for a period of time, the weight of the coach on the gravel will cause the little rocks to indent into the rubber and cause places that may well permanently damage the tires.