setting up permanent , full time living

[wanderer03]

I just sold my motor home and bought a 5th wheel trailer and plan on living in it year round, when I set up for full time living, should I put any thing on the ground under the tires ?
I have some heavy duty rubber mats that were under a floor in a school gym, they are about 1 inch thick, and thought I might put them under the tires when I park the unit, also would put the same mats on both sides of the wooden blocks of 3inch by 9 inch blocks of wood for the jacks
Any ideas ?

[deleted-2]

I lived in a 31 foot fifth wheel for two years while working in Utah.
Fortunately the trailer was parked on pad.

The tires just rested on the concrete.

I did however buy 8 used mobile home jacks and raised the unit so it didn't rock and to take a bit of weight off the tires.

Plumbed water to the street inlet with PVC pipe that was heat wrapped.
I used 4 inch ABS pipe with the appropriate connectors run from the dump to the sewer flange.

In very cold temps I would buy and stack bags of compost over the water connection to keep it warmer than freezing.
You don't want that pipe to freeze back down below ground.
(I know this from experience)

Leased a 100 gallon propane cylinder.
Built a small porch under the entry door with a handrail and stairs.

Constant use of the water heater took it's toll with the hard water in that area.
Replaced the blow-off about three times and the anode once during the fulltime period.
(Eventually replaced the water heater)

I ended up skirting the second year because of the cold.

Stayed quite comfy for the whole time.

Good luck there...

[Artemus_Gordon]

Why not a Park model? They can be moved again?

[wandering1]

Did you put anything under your motorhome tires?

[DennisG9]

If your rig is RV type you will need to cycle your black holding tank. Let it fill then dump. Don't open it up and let it run all the time or you will have problems.

Decide if you are goning to rely on propane or electric for heat. If your going propane get larger tanks.

Might want to get a whole house water filter coming in.

If your going to be full timing, a secondary water heater. I have a 2 1/2 gal 110volt serves only the bath. That with the factory 6 gal you can get a decent shower.

[WallynDiane]

I haven't moved my 5th wheel in years. Here is what I did.

1) Had the campground owned put lots of gravel where tires and landing jacks would be. Had him tamp it in with his tractor.

2) Got a 10" wide treated lumber cut 5' long. This wood would be placed under the tires.

3) Went to a local metal scrap dealer. Had them cut me 2 pieces of 14" wide x 6' long 3/8" stainless steel metal plates. I put those under the wood used for the tires.

4) Had the scrap dealer cut me 14" square metal plates for use under the front landing jacks.

😎 Went to Lowes and had them cut a 6" x 8' square treated lumber into 6 pices. I stacked three of these cuts above the 14" square metal plates for the front landing jacks.

RV has stayed very stable. Only one time in 8 years has the RV been hooked the the campground owners truck to relevel the front jacks after they sunk in a bit.

Cost for the scrap yard was ~$25. They torch cut the scrap metal and it works fine. Because it is stainless steel, no rust at all.

[Me_Again]

wanderer03 wrote:
I just sold my motor home and bought a 5th wheel trailer and plan on living in it year round, when I set up for full time living, should I put any thing on the ground under the tires ?
I have some heavy duty rubber mats that were under a floor in a school gym, they are about 1 inch thick, and thought I might put them under the tires when I park the unit, also would put the same mats on both sides of the wooden blocks of 3inch by 9 inch blocks of wood for the jacks
Any ideas ?

If it is going to sit a number of years without moving the tires will be gone away, and should be replaced before you move it, so I would not worry about them beyond covers. What you might want to do is buy four really heavy duty jack stands and place them under the frame at the four corners of the spring hangers.

If over time a tire goes flat, then most rear jacks are not strong enough for the weight of the trailer.

A plus is that the unit would be very stable with the load on the front landing gear, the four jack stands, and the rear jacks.

Which Lighthouse RV Park, I see several around the country?

Depending on weather, you might want to skirt it if the park allows that.

Chris