Hi. Looking for some tips for parking on an incline. We close on our new house in Jan and the driveway has some incline to it. We’re still fairly new TT owners so I’m not super familiar with anything like this. I’m not sure the exact slope but I was going to attach some pics for reference. I’ve read a lot about building up wood blocks for under the tongue jack and trying to take some pressure off/level the axles. We have a 25ft FR Salem Cruise Lite. No slides. It would be parked at the house year round (minus the camping trips) and ideally stay plugged in for the fridge only during the season. We have X chocks and I was going to pick up some heavy duty rubber ones in place of our cheap plastic chocks as well. We would be in and out of the camper for loading and unloading between trips. Does anyone have products they use or simple build plans for whatever they use to level everything out? Any tips or help would be appreciated and pictures are great!Thank you!

How are you going to get a car into the garage with a TT in the way? Have you checked with your HOA to see if it is okay? I would also asked my neighbors if they object to the TT parked there as it looks like it will dominate the front and block the view of cars coming around the curve.

X chocks like these that goes between the wheels?On a slope?I would not bet my life on those things to hold any trailer on anything more than a very gradual slope..Yeah, I know, there are folks totally devoted to these things and will risk life and limb and defend them til their deathbead..They are not real wheel chocks and anyone who says they are , perhaps they can point out how many truckers use them? Those things will never pass the sniff test of any OSHA safety person as wheel chocks.They depend on your tires staying in place, not moving, not shrinking.. In reality, tires move around when you walk in the trailer which can dislodge x Chocks, tires shrink as the lose air pressure.. So, you have to keep snugging them checking them to make sure they have not shifted and you must keep putting air into the tires to keep them in place..They have a habit of popping out if you don't bother checking them once and a while or if you set them when tires and air temps or hot and didn't bother to recheck them later.Tires naturally lose pressure, 1 lb-2 lbs per month, tire pressure goes up and down with air and tire temps..They are designed to reduce wheel rocking while camping that gives you a forward/backward motion in the trailer, you should ALWAYS use REAL wheel chocks in conjunction with X chocks..Even the cheap yellow chocks are far more reliable on sloping ground..About $9 per pair..For concrete/asphalt surface, get the heavy duty rubber versions which are more like the ones required by OSHA for truckers to use..Pricey? Yep at $35/pair, but how much is your life worth? How about Your families life? Neighbors life?

IDman wrote:How are you going to get a car into the garage with a TT in the way? Have you checked with your HOA to see if it is okay? I would also asked my neighbors if they object to the TT parked there as it looks like it will dominate the front and block the view of cars coming around the curve.We don’t use the garage for parking. No HOA. Street parking is allowed and aplenty. We actually can park the trailer on the street from April-December and many other houses in the area have trailers either in their driveways or out front.

Gdetrailer wrote:X chocks like these that goes between the wheels?On a slope?I would not bet my life on those things to hold any trailer on anything more than a very gradual slope..Yeah, I know, there are folks totally devoted to these things and will risk life and limb and defend them til their deathbead..They are not real wheel chocks and anyone who says they are , perhaps they can point out how many truckers use them? Those things will never pass the sniff test of any OSHA safety person as wheel chocks.They depend on your tires staying in place, not moving, not shrinking.. In reality, tires move around when you walk in the trailer which can dislodge x Chocks, tires shrink as the lose air pressure.. So, you have to keep snugging them checking them to make sure they have not shifted and you must keep putting air into the tires to keep them in place..They have a habit of popping out if you don't bother checking them once and a while or if you set them when tires and air temps or hot and didn't bother to recheck them later.Tires naturally lose pressure, 1 lb-2 lbs per month, tire pressure goes up and down with air and tire temps..They are designed to reduce wheel rocking while camping that gives you a forward/backward motion in the trailer, you should ALWAYS use REAL wheel chocks in conjunction with X chocks..Even the cheap yellow chocks are far more reliable on sloping ground..About $9 per pair..For concrete/asphalt surface, get the heavy duty rubber versions which are more like the ones required by OSHA for truckers to use..Pricey? Yep at $35/pair, but how much is your life worth? How about Your families life? Neighbors life?My post stated I had X chocks AND that I was already going to be picking up/using the heavy duty rubber ones. We currently have the yellow plastic chocks and use xchocks to reduce rocking when camping. The xchocks would not have been used as the main anti-roll device. I was simply stating we already had them as I had seen them suggested elsewhere.

I would use something like Fastway to use a padlock to avoid anyone messing with them.https://www.fastwaytrailer.com/onestep-chockIf you can lock the x-chocks that would be fine too. I would still use some type of wedge.

Incline Parking Tips | Good Sam Community

MFL
Nomad II
Dec 12, 2020
opnspaces wrote:
Even in the picture it just doesn't look all that steep. As others have said, get some big rubber chocks.

When parking:
Put the trailer in the driveway where you want it
Put the rubber chocks up tight against the fronts of the tires
Put the tow vehicle in neutral
Let off the brakes and let the trailer hold the whole combination
Put tow vehicle in park with the parking brake on and unhitch

With the weight on the chocks no kid is going to ever be able to remove them.

Agree with entire post.

Jerry
profdant139
Explorer II
Dec 12, 2020
abmatos, in answer to your question about building the stack of blocks, I used long lag screws to hold the sandwich together. I countersunk the heads of the lags, first using a big Forstner bit to make a hole big enough for the head of the socket.

If you don't have a long enough drill bit, Harbor Freight usually carries a set of three 36 inch bits.

I used fairly wide pieces of wood for my jack stack -- pieces of 4 x 12 lumber, about a foot long. Heavy and stable.
opnspaces
Navigator II
Dec 12, 2020
Even in the picture it just doesn't look all that steep. As others have said, get some big rubber chocks.

When parking:
Put the trailer in the driveway where you want it
Put the rubber chocks up tight against the fronts of the tires
Put the tow vehicle in neutral
Let off the brakes and let the trailer hold the whole combination
Put tow vehicle in park with the parking brake on and unhitch

With the weight on the chocks no kid is going to ever be able to remove them.
abmatos714
Explorer
Dec 12, 2020
Thank you all for the advice. This is exactly what I was looking for. We drove by the house again last night and the slope seems fairly mild. I’ll find out better once I get the camper in the spot. But this is all great advice and I appreciate it!
Rover_Bill
Explorer II
Dec 12, 2020
After you level your TT, you'll notice that the back axel and springs are carrying more weight than the front axel due to the driveway slope. A 2X6 wood block placed under each front axel tires BEFORE you disconnect and level the trailer will help reduce the extra stress on the back tires during storage.
Sjm9911
Explorer
Dec 12, 2020
Not knowing your TT, watch to see it dosent bottem out. Get a jack stand for the toung, and have wood for the stabilizers in the front. Yes, get some heavy duty rubber chocks. Do each side. The x chocks are not chocks but more stabilizers ( i know you use chocks also). So never use them on there own, it atually says that in the manual somewhere. Remember the stabilizers, are just that, and not ment to level the camper. Its not like a 5th wheel. Since you are in pa, it might be a good idea to not level it compleatly in the winter, so snow and rain runs off away from the garage. And off the camper. Wood may be needed under the wheels,so your tires will not indent the asphalt.
Jackathan
Explorer
Dec 12, 2020
I see this is in the travel trailer section. I also kept a Forest River Cherokee 28BHG in this spot. With that one, I would raise the front as far as the jack would go, then lower the front stabilizers for support. Then, I would retract the jack, and place more blocks under it. Then I could raise the front to level the trailer.
Jackathan
Explorer
Dec 12, 2020
Here is how I do it. If you look close, I also attach a 1/4" cable around the axle and use a lever jack to tension it. It is attached to a post in the garage. Probably overkill, as I have been parking 3 different campers in the driveway in this manner for over 10 years, and non have ever moved at all. If storms are forecasted, I will lower the front all the way to help stabilize it.
abmatos714
Explorer
Dec 12, 2020
profdant139 wrote:
First, congratulations twice -- once for the new house and twice for having a built-in parking place on your driveway. You will be surprised at how often the trailer gets used as a getaway for folks in your family needing a little peace and quiet.

Second, our driveway is steeper than yours, and we have had no trouble with using ordinary rubber chocks. The heavy duty ones are better. It is very unlikely that anyone will be able to remove them -- the weight of the trailer secures them very well!

Third, if I understand it correctly, the nose of the trailer will be on the downhill side. If that is right, you will have to extend the jack pretty far, which is going to be pretty wiggly.

So to prevent that, stack a couple of very hefty wood blocks for the jack to rest on. The jack stem will be shorter, and the trailer will wiggle a lot less. And if you need to, do the same thing for the front stabilizer jacks.

Noted! Thank you for the support and advice! Do you suggest constructing a “tower” of 2x6/8s with screws or just stacking them each time I park? I’ve seen a couple pics of log cabin style stacks to rest the jack into. I wasn’t sure if my slope was enough to need something like that or not. I know when we move it will take a few tries til I figure out how to park it right. Hopefully by the time the season starts back up I’ll know what I am doing lol
profdant139
Explorer II
Dec 12, 2020
First, congratulations twice -- once for the new house and twice for having a built-in parking place on your driveway. You will be surprised at how often the trailer gets used as a getaway for folks in your family needing a little peace and quiet.

Second, our driveway is steeper than yours, and we have had no trouble with using ordinary rubber chocks. The heavy duty ones are better. It is very unlikely that anyone will be able to remove them -- the weight of the trailer secures them very well!

Third, if I understand it correctly, the nose of the trailer will be on the downhill side. If that is right, you will have to extend the jack pretty far, which is going to be pretty wiggly.

So to prevent that, stack a couple of very hefty wood blocks for the jack to rest on. The jack stem will be shorter, and the trailer will wiggle a lot less. And if you need to, do the same thing for the front stabilizer jacks.