Blocking up camper for the winter

DRSMPS wrote:
I do this, despite a lot of criticism from others. In my opinion this has a lot of benefit. It takes pressure off the springs, keeps the rubber tires from touching the moist ground and keeps them from flat spotting. People will tell you not to jack up the TT because you might damage the frame, but as long as you do it at the right locations (spring mounts) you shouldn't have any trouble. Just avoid jacking it up by putting the jack directly under the axles or at the extreme ends of the TT frame. Basically jack it up the same as you would a car.

In the spring, you need to jack the tires off the ground anyhow to check your brakes, bearings and do regular maintenance so I don't really see it as being much more work.

I carefully jack my TT off the ground placing the jack under the spring supports. Once it is high enough, I use 4 X 12 ton axle stands and place them at either end of my axles sub-frame (the framing which is double-thick where the axles / springs bolt to). Next I adjust my tongue jack to level the trailer. If you are on soft ground, be sure to place some 3/4" thick plywood under each axle stand so it doesn't sink into the ground come spring.

I've been doing this for the last 27 years on various TT's that I've owned and never had an issue with the frame bowing. If you have your owner's manual, just read to understand where the proper jack points are on your TT.

Those are ALL "myths" and your yearly "exercise" is nothing more than a complete waste of your time and energy.

There is no benefit to taking weight off the springs, axles or tires when in storage it is NOT giving your trailer additional "life".

If the springs and axles can't take the weight year round then it is time to junk the trailer. They ARE in fact DESIGNED to be able to take the weight not only year round but the ENTIRE life of the trailer which if the rest is taken care of can be 40 or more years.

As far as the tires "flat spotting" that to is a MYTH, granted tires of yesteryear (Bias ply) would develop "flat spots" overnight it never hurts them and the mere act of driving a few miles the "flat spots" are gone.

Keeping the tires from ground moisture? Once again another myth, if the tires are not able to withstand a little ground moisture then perhaps we need to use bubble gum and silicone for tires?

Stop wasting your time and try a different approach...

Buy a few concrete sidewalk/patio pavers. Place them right where you park your trailer.

Set the trailer tires on the pavers, then place your wheel chocks under the tires.

Disconnect and call it good.

All told takes no time or effort after the pavers are set in place.

Do this one time and you will NEVER, EVER want to spend all that time jacking and blocking.

To the OP of this thread, there is no need to go to extremes like taking the weight off the axles and tires. NO harm will come to your tires, axles if you do not jack the weight off or heck even sit the wheels on bare ground.

Even though you can park on bare ground I would suggest that you at least make some sort of parking pad for your tires.

This can be simply a compacted gravel base, concrete patio/driveway pavers or treated outdoor lumber planks.

The ONLY reason to do this is to keep the tires from SINKING into the dirt. Basically you spread the weight on the tires over a bigger amount of area, this stops the tires from sinking...

Additionally my pavers give me a nice clean working area (also stable place for the jack)to jack up the axles in the spring to do routine axle maintenance.