Cribbing a trailer
I will be getting a new(er) RV for my seasonal site likely at the end of this season. I have been told it needs to be cribbed. How do I do it?
Forum Discussion
- If someone is REQUIRING this you need to ask them for specifics!!!
- Jack up the trailer slightly at each corner, one at a time, stack lumber under each corner, make sure each corner is level with the others, set the trailer down on the stacked lumber. Doesn't have to be exactly at the corner, can be in a couple of feet, whatever works out best for supporting the trailer. Personally, i would but cribbing under the axles also to keep pressure on the axles where the load was originally intended. But be careful where you crib the axles at, you don't want to bend them.
- another word for blocking up the trailer but it should be done right. hire a crew from a mobil home dealer they know how to do it. don,t want a northern wind to blow it off.
- Our seasonal TT is 40 feet long. I jacked the trailer up, one side at a time and placed cinder block columns just in front of the axles and just behind the axles. Then I put another column of cinder blocks about 8 feet from the columns near the axles. Lastly, I used the stabilizer jacks with cinder blocks underneath them at each corner. So there were 4 columns of cinder blocks per side relatively evenly spaced plus the stabilizer jacks. If you look at a mobile home, the cinder block columns are usually spaced a few feet from each other, usually no more than 3 feet.
Our TT is rock solid. The only time we feel movement is when our teenaged son bounces around on his bunk which was on a slide.
-Michael midnightsadie wrote:
another word for blocking up the trailer but it should be done right. hire a crew from a mobil home dealer they know how to do it. don,t want a northern wind to blow it off.
HAHA, hire a crew? We're not moving mountains....
It is just a trailer being jacked up and some bricks shoved under... hire a crew? lol.
I'm not sure why you NEED to crib, but storing it on "blocks" keeps the weight off of the suspension springs and tires. This reduces "sag" in the springs which comes from years of the weight ever-so slowly bending the steel springs downward. Torsion axles will still be affected even though they are sprung by rubber and not steel.
Modern trailer tires should be able to be stored and not get a flat spot, but it is best to unload them (suspend them in the air) as well.
You can support the camper at the corners, but the camper sits on the axle(s) and the tongue jack, so those points are the areas you can support the camper without altering the load bearing points.
Supporting it at the corners will cause the frame to slightly bow down where it is not supported, at the axles in the middle, and this is just a little flex that will move through the walls and roof - not a big deal, but you might hear a little creaking. Trailers flex and bend going down the road, so no worries, but why do this???
I had a tandem axle trailer, and when I would wheel it up on just the front axle I could detect that the frame was bowing down at the rear just from removing the rear axle support point, which was only a short distance from the front axle. The door would not latch as it did before because of this, and the door was in front of the axles so the whole frame bowed. This was a HILO, which most of you do not have, and the HILO did not have the wall structure to resist frame bending, but does illustrate the stresses the wall would need take to keep the frame align.wing_zealot wrote:
Jack up the trailer slightly at each corner, one at a time, stack lumber under each corner, make sure each corner is level with the others, set the trailer down on the stacked lumber. Doesn't have to be exactly at the corner, can be in a couple of feet, whatever works out best for supporting the trailer. Personally, i would but cribbing under the axles also to keep pressure on the axles where the load was originally intended. But be careful where you crib the axles at, you don't want to bend them.
How do you level the trailer?swimmer_spe wrote:
I would use a carpenter's level, but you can do it with a big pan of water on the floor if you want.wing_zealot wrote:
Jack up the trailer slightly at each corner, one at a time, stack lumber under each corner, make sure each corner is level with the others, set the trailer down on the stacked lumber. Doesn't have to be exactly at the corner, can be in a couple of feet, whatever works out best for supporting the trailer. Personally, i would but cribbing under the axles also to keep pressure on the axles where the load was originally intended. But be careful where you crib the axles at, you don't want to bend them.
How do you level the trailer?- What is a Arkansas House Warming???????
WHEN YOUR FRIENDS SHOW UP TO REMOVE THE WHEELS/TIRES FROM YOUR NEW HOME:B
ps, You can substitute any state. wing_zealot wrote:
Jack up the trailer slightly at each corner, one at a time, stack lumber under each corner, make sure each corner is level with the others, set the trailer down on the stacked lumber. Doesn't have to be exactly at the corner, can be in a couple of feet, whatever works out best for supporting the trailer. Personally, i would but cribbing under the axles also to keep pressure on the axles where the load was originally intended. But be careful where you crib the axles at, you don't want to bend them.
Don't do it this way unless it's a really small trailer or overbuilt frame.
Your typical trailer will flex and seams will open up if you jack up the corners and lift the trailer. If you read the directions on stabilizers, they always state not to be used to lift the trailer for this reason.
To the original question:
- Unless it's for some strange reason mandatory, you don't have to put it up on blocks. The suspension will be just fine.
- If you want to get it more stable by using concrete blocks under the corners, you can but it's to stabilize not life. Once you level it side to side, get it level front to back...then drop it a half inch or so and put blocks under the back snug. Then lift the front to put some pressure on the blocks in the back and give it just a bit more (again, you don't want to be lifting the corners with the blocks). Now put blocks under the front...again, snug. Finish by dropping the front just a bit to put a little pressure on the front blocks without unloading the rear blocks...you may have to do some adjusting after a week or two if the ground is soft.
- There will often still be some movement towards the center of the rig...don't block the tires or axles. I can cause damage and since the springs are still in play, it won't remove the movement. You can add some blocks (or jack stands) near the axles on the frame but again, don't try to lift the frame where it's not intended.
