Wheel chocks - Best for trailer?

JonWalter wrote:
I used my new x-chocks last night and despite the fact that the wind is blowing like crazy I’m pretty rock solid!

Absolutely, when tightly secured X-Chocks can definitely prevent the tires from rotating but that's not the point. :S Here's the reasoning for not using just X-Chocks alone to secure your rig from shifting or rolling away ...

Let's say you use no other method other than your X-Chocks to secure the trailer ... so you install them, tighten them up, and proceed to unhitch from your TV. You've now made Mistake #1, as Norco specifically warns against having the X-Chocks in place when raising or lowering the tongue jack, which is of course required during the hitching / unhitching process if you expect the trailer to not roll away on you once disconnected from the TV.



Some will diss this and claim this is nothing more than CYA on Norco's part ... it's not, if you think about it at all it's just common sense. If the tires are locked firmly in place while the trailer is being forced to change it's attitude excessive stress is going to be placed on the X-Chocks and the tongue jack which is fighting against those tires which are being prevented from rotating by the tightened X-Chocks. Norco's warning makes this clear.

OK, so if you don't use the X-Chocks at all at this point OR do install them but don't tighten them in order to not stress the tongue jack what else is preventing the trailer from rolling once it's unhitched from the TV? Answer - nothing. Guess what happens then. :E

Second point - when you first arrive on-site your tires are hot and therefore measurably larger in diameter than they will be in a couple of hours once the tires have fully cooled. Let's say you disregard the foregoing explanation, install & tighten your X-Chocks anyway, and unhitch ... in even just a few minutes those X-Chocks will begin to loosen their grip on the tires as those tires begin the cooling process, and if you use no other method to secure them the trailer then has every opportunity to shift. There's no magic to this, it's got nothing to do with CYA, it's the laws of physics in action, with the trailer wanting to roll down any slope. Obviously, if there's little campsite slope the trailer will be less likely to roll but I can assure you it doesn't take much slope at all, either fore or aft, for any trailer, once unhitched from the TV, to naturally want to roll toward the lower end of the site. :E

Despite all the claims otherwise by pundits who claim to know better than Norco who designed & sells the BAL X-Chock the fact is that using X-Chocks alone to secure any trailer is misuse of the product. Do what you want, ignore Norco's warning, ignore the good advice offered here by those of us who understand the issues clearly, ignore the physics, discount it all as CYA ... but sooner or later there will come a day when you regret using just X-Chocks alone to secure your trailer and prevent it from inadvertently shifting or rolling away on you. Your choice. ;)