Movement in Camper

Good question. The movement doesn't bother us, but that fleeting thought of "is the RV rolling . . . away" has come to my mind when I feel it, then in the same thought I realize that chocks are in place. Maybe that's it. The fear of rolling away. I don't know. With that said, we use the stabilizers that ratchet between the tires. On our last trip we forgot to put them in and we felt movement . . . once.

Tired of having my coffee spilled. And I don't care for the motion, and I'm not fond of boats either.

I was one of those folks that tried to keep the camper from moving as much as possible. In my earlier RV ownership years, I tried extra jacks, extra boards, supports all kind of thing. It never really cleared up the wiggle completely, but I suppose it made me feel better.

Then, my wife and I went on a Carnival Cruise around 2008 (I think). Now that was a big ship, but every now and then you could feel the movement. I never got sea sick or anything, and after a while kind of liked it... began to enjoy those moments.

One night laying in bed, I realized I could feel the movement of the ship. It was soooooo cool! I kept waking up my wife ... "Did you feel that!" After a while I'm surprised she didn't slug me!

Well, when we returned home and were in the camper the next time, it got real windy. And even though I had the jacks down, we could still feel the camper rocking. AND it was soooo cool! It reminded me of the ship!

I actually went outside in the middle of the night and raised all the jacks, and let it rock in the wind while we slept. Well..... "she" slept, I laid there and enjoyed the rocking.

Ever since then, It's not bothered either of us. Sometime we don't even bother putting the jacks down any more. It brings back a really nice memory ever time I feel the movement now.

Edit: You know, they are called "RV's" (Recreational Vehicles). "Vehicles" means ... movement. And you know ... "Travel Trailers" have the word "Travel" in there. Both "Vehicle" and "Travel" indicate "movement"! When you feel that rocking in your RV ... that's your RV or TT telling you ... "Hey Mom! Hay Dad! ... let's getty-up and go and do some more travelin'! I'm ready! I want to get a-rocking down that road!" (you do know your camper has it's own personality!.... right?)

I like the motion :) Kinda rocks me to sleep on those windy nights. Helps to stir the fridge a bit too. :)

DutchmenSport wrote:
I was one of those folks that tried to keep the camper from moving as much as possible. In my earlier RV ownership years, I tried extra jacks, extra boards, supports all kind of thing. It never really cleared up the wiggle completely, but I suppose it made me feel better.

Then, my wife and I went on a Carnival Cruise around 2008 (I think). Now that was a big ship, but every now and then you could feel the movement. I never got sea sick or anything, and after a while kind of liked it... began to enjoy those moments.

One night laying in bed, I realized I could feel the movement of the ship. It was soooooo cool! I kept waking up my wife ... "Did you feel that!" After a while I'm surprised she didn't slug me!

Well, when we returned home and were in the camper the next time, it got real windy. And even though I had the jacks down, we could still feel the camper rocking. AND it was soooo cool! It reminded me of the ship!

I actually went outside in the middle of the night and raised all the jacks, and let it rock in the wind while we slept. Well..... "she" slept, I laid there and enjoyed the rocking.

Ever since then, It's not bothered either of us. Sometime we don't even bother putting the jacks down any more. It brings back a really nice memory ever time I feel the movement now.

Nice post

When we're sitting for more than a couple of days, we deploy the requisite jacks. Do we experience slight movement? Of course. Does it bother us? NO!

After 13 years of fulltiming, on the rare occasion that we have to spend a night on a firm foundation, we actually miss the sublime motion and neither of us sleeps well.

We have a 23 month old daughter and a pregnant wife. The wife gets up to use the restroom several times a night. The movement occasionally wakes up the daughter. That leads to a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG night.

When it was just the bride and I we couldn't care less. I don't mind the slight motion too much.

We lived on a boat for several year. We actually sort of miss the rocking. Of course, on a boat it's natural because you're on water that always moves. On land, to most people it probably feels unnatural because the ground shouldn't be moving. But it is sort of a nice deja vu for us.

On the other hand, we're currently not on cable and getting TV from an antenna. When the coach rocks the picture breaks up and we lose sound, so that's annoying.

We are boaters also (just posted on that topic) and have always felt same as OP. I figure the little movement of RV isn't too bad. I've also found if I enjoy enough adult beverages, the room spinning cancels out the RV moving :)

I have been a boater for 54 years now. I had my first powerboat when I was eight.

When I met my wife, 42 years ago, she seduced me into camping.

All of that for a simple question:
Why does feeling movement in a camper seem to really bother some folks?They will spend bucks to make the camper as stable as possible.

Does it make you feel uncomfortable somehow? Do you feel the same way on a boat?

No disrespect meant. Just trying to understand.

IMHO. Because of the RV's interior you have the false sense that you are in your house. And houses should not and do not move.

It's an ingrained feeling that is disturbed when your 'house on wheels' moves when you are walking around.

One expects to bob around when on the water! But not when walking from the dinette back to the bedroom! :B

I never have really felt any substantial movement in my MH. It might depend on what 'type' of RV you are in how much it moves when parked.