Whoever said you can't support the camper by the frame?

[DutchmenSport]

A picture is worth a thousand words ... no, not my camper.

[bpounds]

I wouldn't do exactly like those pics show in California long term. I wouldn't worry about it while camping for a couple weeks. That would be worth the risk. Yes, out here we think about things like earth shaking.

[mgirardo]

That's how our 40' TT is setup at our seasonal site, sort of. We have a tower of cinder blocks just in front of the axles and another just behind the axles. Then another tower between the axles and the front/rear of the trailer. Then the stabilizers at the ends. So 4 sets of supports on each side, plus the stabilizers.

-Michael

[zcookiemonstar]

I have seen hundreds if not thousands of trailers like this. It is pretty normal where we camp most of the time.

[lazydays]

Looks like the pictures are from Lake Rudolph campground. Those trailers have been that way for years so I would say its pretty stable.

[ajriding]

I had a camper trailer with a false frame. The false frame was a perimeter of flimsy steel "framing" that was intended just to attach the walls to, it was not part of the chassis, though it was welded to and appeared as the frame. In that case you would not want to jack or support the trailer under these "frame" members. That is the only thing I would think a person could possibly mean by incorrectly stating to not support a frame, and he would not know the frame from the wall support either

[dodge_guy]

What they mean when they say “never support a trailer by the frame” is not to use the stabilizing jacks to lift the trailer. The trailer in the pics is supported just in front of the axle, then out at the ends like the stabilizing jacks would do.

[seaeagle2]

As long as they're concrete building blocks and not just "cinderblocks".

[cavie]

The trailer has 6 supports. Looks pretty evenly divided.

[Tom_Barb]

Always place the jacks under the spring supports not the axel..

Guess How I learned that the hard way.

[Chum_lee]

It depends on where you place the supports on the frame. If the supports are placed at the extreme front and rear of the trailer frame, the span BETWEEN the supports can overload the trailer frame causing excessive deflection. In this case, the supports look OK. It is a loooonnnnng trailer though, it might get a little spongy.

In trailers, the axle(s) are placed in the frame to balance the frame loads and still provide sufficient tongue weight at the hitch. When sitting only on the wheels/axles, the trailer loads CANTILEVER off the axles. When on supports only, the load spans BETWEEN the supports. It's not the same structurally.

Chum lee

edit: This trailer appears to be more for semi-permanent use (possibly a campground host or permanent resident) rather than an overnight affair. IMO, the site slopes fairly steeply for a campsite. Note that the tail of the trailer is almost 4 feet off the ground while the hitch end is grounded. There are no visible tie downs/chocks at the supports or anywhere else. Without knowing the location, in the event of an earthquake, tornado, high winds, flood, etc., IMO it would be very easy to knock this relatively light weight trailer off the supports and damage it or its contents. Just an observation.

[cavie]

absolutely nothing wrong with that blocked up trailer.I can guaranty he has no shimmies and shakes inside.

[brianosaur]

Lynnmor wrote:
The only problem with jacking under the axle is many are made with ridiculously thin tubing and they can be bent.

Okay, now that makes sense.

My thought was that the wheels are attached to the hubs that are attached to the axle. So your just supporting it from another position. But if you put a vertical pressure point on the tube that normally has a horizontal load on it, I get that it may bend if its weak.

Really though when you change a flat you're not jacking up the entire trailer if it has more then one axle. You're just raising up one half of one axle.

The majority of the load is still on all the other wheels and the trailer tongue or tongue jack.

[Lynnmor]

The only problem with jacking under the axle is many are made with ridiculously thin tubing and they can be bent.

[brianosaur]

wa8yxm wrote:
Some Folks say you should never have the wheels off the ground.. Some truth to that "Because the suspension is designed to hold the trailer up not the wheels/axles" (pure bunk)

The reason you should never have the wheels off the groung is the STABLIZER jacks can pretzel on you (Seen it happen) but with proper supports (As shown in the photos) no problem at all.. (Thankfully it was just the front stablizers on a trailer that pretzeled. so the tongue jack handled the load once it was properly set up Could have been worse) Oh. I drive a class A.. (So you know it was not mine)

The wheels are the only thing making contact with the ground, so aren't they supporting the camper?

And if i am changing a tire on the side of the road, the jacks wont be down anyway, right?