Chock RV on snow/ice. NEED HELP!!!

profdant139 wrote:
Bob, those are good suggestions. But if you crank your jack down to serve as an anchor point without the jack wheel, and if the trailer then shifts a little after you chock the wheels and unhitch, the stem of the jack can be bent a little, making it impossible to retract the jack.

Please don't ask how I know this.

The good news is that replacing a bent jack is not that expensive or difficult.

Something I always think of when I see/hear of a RV trailer set down with out wheel on the jack; Often when I want something rigid I make a triangle, because once set, as long as the length of a side does not change, the angles can't change. Now in my mind I see a* triangle, where the weight meets ground at tire, (A) where the jack meets ground, (B) and where jack is attached to tongue. (C). Now the point A should be set so it can't move when you unhook, or the trailer can roll away. And the distance A-C is set when trailer built/loaded. The angle at C is set when the jack is mounted. When you crank the jack down to unhook, you set the lengths of A-B and B-C. Most trailers, your done, nothing changes until ready to hook back up. But a RV trailer, we want the floor level, so we start changing the length of B-C. With a wheel at B, that lets the length A-B also change, no issue. But the angle at C takes more force as the length A-B resists the change in length. Will the jack/jack mount take that strain? Most times. But can you be sure all the jacks that get bent is because the jack was holding the trailer in place?
*I said 'a triangle' but there are the same triangles on each side of the trailer. And a tandem trailer has 4 triangles. But they are all putting stress on the same point.