First bone-head mistake this past weekend.

[Wishbone51]

Camping this past weekend at Ainsworth State Park with the girlfriend and the dog, and the site that I had reserved was extremely un-level, side-to-side and front-to-back.

After putting the left wheels up on 6" of leveling blocks, I had to lower the front almost to the ground. While it was lowering, it slid to the left and fell off the blocks the jack was on, causing the front of the trailer to crash 5" to the ground. Almost hit the back of my truck, which was parked to the side.

Took me awhile to figure it why it slid to the side. I disconnected my friction-style sway control from the hitch, but left it dangling on the right side of the trailer tongue. When I lowered the front, the sway control dug into the ground, pushing the trailer to the side.

Luckily there was no damage, as far as I can see, and the rest of the weekend went perfectly. One of those do-nothing relaxing weekends. Couple of days of playing cards and outdoor cooking.

[Redterpos3]

Thanks for sharing your oops moment!! I love when people share these because I don't feel so stupid. It is the best aspect of this site I think, and the best way for the rest of us to learn without having to make all the oops moments ourselves!!

[BubbaChris]

Boxerslave wrote:
One day I decided to park in the driveway to do a quick unload. Cranked the trailer in sharply and had to unhook to clear the road. Chocked all 4 wheels on the asphalt and raised the tongue. As soon as the tongue cleared the ball the trailer shot straight right, the chocks went flying the jack came off the 6x6 block. Thankfully I was standing on the left side, and thankfully the last thing I unhook are the safety chains, the ones that were now bow tight. Only damage was a bent foot on tongue jack and ruined shorts. The lesson learned was never leave the axles torqued up from a sharp turn. Dave

Learned that one the hard way. Scared the DW, but we worked it out OK.

I agree that the safety chains should stay on until the TT is level. With me I don't see how I could reliably chock the tires on the side with the leveling blocks. I'm even careful to not use my Fastway chock until after the TT is off the hitch, as I don't want that adding any twist to the setup.

[Wishbone51]

I wonder if I had both sides chocked if it would have prevented this. As mentioned, the friction anti-sway was hanging down from the right side of the tongue and propped that side up. When lowered, the weight of the trailer caused the anti-sway device to push it left. Would the chocks hold? Something has to give. Maybe it would have just bent or broken the cotter pin holding it there.

Thanks for all the advice 🙂 Not doing that again.

[hawkeye-08]

regarding having both sides chocked before unhitching, I agree, but also point out that when I raise my tongue jack (to hitch or unhitch usually), I have had on several occasions my chocks loosening up some. I can see this happening to the OP.

[owenssailor]

When we first had our current trailer the jack slid sidewards on the blocks. Both wheels on both side were chocked but the chocks still let the trailer rotate.
I ordered Roto Chocks the next day. They clamp the tires very tight so there is no chance of the trailer rotating. First on - last off. It is too bad they are no longer available.

[CavemanCharlie]

Glad it worked out for you.

There will be more mistakes. We all do them, I just try to learn from them and move one.

Some of the best sites I camp in are very not level. That's why they are less used and what makes them more fun.

[dee74]

Glad no one was hurt and you enjoyed your weekend. I made the bonehead mistake of unhooking the ball before chocking the tires one day, I was sure glad the safety chains were still hooked up. That was a loud crash and a bent jack foot but the chains saved me from a disaster.

[TxCowboy]

I agree with the comments above about chocking the tires. You need to do that before you unhook from the TV, if possible.

The other issue, IMHO, is that you have to use a 6 inch lift on the left side to level the TT. That is way too much lift on one side! Any chocks you might use on that side may not be effective in preventing the RV from moving when the TV is unhooked.

Also, if the site is that far out of level, you needed to add a few inches to the right side OR ask for another site. Having a 1/2 foot difference over the span (width) of 8 feet or less is a non-starter, in my opinion.

[BarneyS]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Snip...

Chocks are great at stopping trailer from rolling.....not so much at stopping trailer from sliding sideways.

OP stated: While it was lowering, it slid to the left and fell off the blocks the jack was on,...
When I lowered the front, the sway control dug into the ground, pushing the trailer to the side.

Clearly trailer slipped sideways with some push.

As for folks being in trailer while leveling.....that is a case by case affair.
BUT I doubt if GF will be in it next time :B

I have never heard of or seen a trailer slide sideways. If the tongue jack came off the blocks, and one side of the trailer was not chocked, then the trailer will pivot to the chocked side. This sounds like what happened to the OP.

The solution, as already mentioned, is to always chock BOTH sides of the trailer. That is where the "between the tires" chocks come in handy. I have been using a set of RotoChocks for years but they are no longer available. A good substitute would be these Camco chocks or these Ultra-Fab chocks.

You could also make your own between the tire chocks as has been posted occasionally on the forums.
Homemade chocks

Homemade chocks #2

In any case, you need the between the tire chocks if you expect to chock both sides when using leveling boards as you did. You also need to always chock both sides of the trailer to prevent the trailer from moving as you lift the coupler off the ball when unhitching. It can get very exciting very quickly if it starts to pivot on the axles when that happens. :E
Barney

[Wishbone51]

Boxerslave wrote:
The lesson learned was never leave the axles torqued up from a sharp turn. Dave

Oooh. Never thought of that. Good to remember.

[Boxerslave]

One day I decided to park in the driveway to do a quick unload. Cranked the trailer in sharply and had to unhook to clear the road. Chocked all 4 wheels on the asphalt and raised the tongue. As soon as the tongue cleared the ball the trailer shot straight right, the chocks went flying the jack came off the 6x6 block. Thankfully I was standing on the left side, and thankfully the last thing I unhook are the safety chains, the ones that were now bow tight. Only damage was a bent foot on tongue jack and ruined shorts. The lesson learned was never leave the axles torqued up from a sharp turn. Dave

[Slate_CM]

On our first trip, I was preparing to leave and beat the crowds. There were 15,000 people in a pasture for a music festival. I needed to lift the tongue a few inches and the handle seemed kind of hard to turn. Then I noticed that the stabilizer jacks were still down. Didn't seem to have hurt anything.

[BigSkyTrailer_G]

feeling bad for you that you had such a crappy site. You'd think they might have graded it before paving if they're in the campground business. A least if it wasn't paved, you could have dug wheel pits in the up hill side.
Nice rig!

[Old-Biscuit]

SoundGuy wrote:

Wishbone51 wrote:
Took me awhile to figure it why it slid to the side.

The trailer can't go anywhere if it's properly chocked on both sides ... was it? :@

Chocks are great at stopping trailer from rolling.....not so much at stopping trailer from sliding sideways.

OP stated: While it was lowering, it slid to the left and fell off the blocks the jack was on,...
When I lowered the front, the sway control dug into the ground, pushing the trailer to the side.

Clearly trailer slipped sideways with some push.

As for folks being in trailer while leveling.....that is a case by case affair.
BUT I doubt if GF will be in it next time :B