Parking Camper On New Driveway Question
Hi All, I just had an asphalt driveway poured at my house, its soft so Im waiting to drive on it for a week or so. I have parked my camper on the old driveway for 12 years on 3x8 blocks but the contra...
Forum Discussion
Always get a kick out of these discussions.. huge sheets plywood, trust me because "I'm...." . This is simple stuff folks. Comments about asphalt (curing) are mostly correct. Hence, you ever notice they open the roads back up that they've overlaid the same day...? The stuff is soft, for sure, but waiting for curing is for not.
Taken from an older thread:
RV's are actually very light, but common ground pressure ratings are not always as high as folks think. With that, a pad doesn't have to grow very much to make a huge difference.
Some simple figures to use for common ground pressures;
Virgin soil 22 psi
Asphalt 29 psi
Compact soil 43-51 psi
Compact gravel 58 psi
Your 4" pad offers 12.5" of bearing; a 5" pad offers 19.5". Dividing the load by 4 isn't very practical because the load is lighter in the rear; I'll use 2/3 for the heaviest, the front.
1650#'s per leg for the example:
4" stock pad exerts 132#'s psi
5" stock pad exerts 84#'s psi
Compact gravel, for a 5" pad, offers 1131# of support.
i.e. asphalt for the same 4" area offers 362#'s of support, 5" offers 565#'s of support.
Simple, common materials to spread the same load, would produce the following:
2x4-12" 40 psi (42)
2x6-12" 25 psi (66)
2x10-12" 15 psi (114)
2x12-14" 10 psi (161)
Soooo, a 2x6-12" long, offers 66 sq inches of surface. Placed on asphalt, if offers 1914#'s of support (29psi x 66). A 2x6-12" would be ample for our example on asphalt, but if you want to be further on the safe side, a 2x10-12" offers 3306#'s of support. It doesn't take a piece of plywood to do the job (which, frankly doesn't work unless you get into the 1 1/8", and then, only for small areas). Dimensional lumber is your best choice for inexpensive, easy to obtain, and consistent. When's the last time you saw dunnage under a crane made of 'plywood'? Correct, you haven't. It doesn't work.
Change the formula up for what you're comfortable with. Camper weight divided by what you consider the worst case scenario per leg (front legs usually carry more weight than rears), then that 'weight' divided by the size of pad.
Figures rounded; generalizations offered for the purpose of getting through life. Face it, this isn't life safety stuff.
Taken from an older thread:
RV's are actually very light, but common ground pressure ratings are not always as high as folks think. With that, a pad doesn't have to grow very much to make a huge difference.
Some simple figures to use for common ground pressures;
Virgin soil 22 psi
Asphalt 29 psi
Compact soil 43-51 psi
Compact gravel 58 psi
Your 4" pad offers 12.5" of bearing; a 5" pad offers 19.5". Dividing the load by 4 isn't very practical because the load is lighter in the rear; I'll use 2/3 for the heaviest, the front.
1650#'s per leg for the example:
4" stock pad exerts 132#'s psi
5" stock pad exerts 84#'s psi
Compact gravel, for a 5" pad, offers 1131# of support.
i.e. asphalt for the same 4" area offers 362#'s of support, 5" offers 565#'s of support.
Simple, common materials to spread the same load, would produce the following:
2x4-12" 40 psi (42)
2x6-12" 25 psi (66)
2x10-12" 15 psi (114)
2x12-14" 10 psi (161)
Soooo, a 2x6-12" long, offers 66 sq inches of surface. Placed on asphalt, if offers 1914#'s of support (29psi x 66). A 2x6-12" would be ample for our example on asphalt, but if you want to be further on the safe side, a 2x10-12" offers 3306#'s of support. It doesn't take a piece of plywood to do the job (which, frankly doesn't work unless you get into the 1 1/8", and then, only for small areas). Dimensional lumber is your best choice for inexpensive, easy to obtain, and consistent. When's the last time you saw dunnage under a crane made of 'plywood'? Correct, you haven't. It doesn't work.
Change the formula up for what you're comfortable with. Camper weight divided by what you consider the worst case scenario per leg (front legs usually carry more weight than rears), then that 'weight' divided by the size of pad.
Figures rounded; generalizations offered for the purpose of getting through life. Face it, this isn't life safety stuff.
