Parking (and staying) on a Slope

I use Fastway Chocks. Have for the past 5 years or so.

Fast, easy to set, easy to remove and after install adjustment, no bending. Once you set the length to match the spacing between your tires, your done adjusting. No ratcheting or cranking anything to tighten. Put them between the tires and step on the arms and they extend and lock the tires in place. I've parked on slopes so steep, I had to add 6-2x12's under the jack to get enough height to level. Never had the trailer move an inch.

Here is a VIDEO of how easy they are to setup and use. best $80 I've spent on my camper. The other nice thing about them is they are aluminum so they are light and get thrown in the truck bed at the tailgate for storage when moving.

Ralph Cramden wrote:
I am never not amazed at some of the bull that piles up on an RV board.

Ive also never had a bal X chock ever loosen up from tires cooling down.

SoundGuy wrote:
Yes you have - tire shrinkage as the tires cool is a function of physics and not something you have any control over. Claiming otherwise is "bull". ;)

Jay Coe wrote:
How much? Have you ever measured the diameter of hot and cold tires to compare? Didn't think so. Just because physics says it's more than zero, doesn't make it enough to matter. Just more forum bullsh*t.

SoundGuy wrote:
Think again - yes, I have measured the difference - shockingly, about 1/4" :E, one can easily see the clearance develop as the tires cool. I have pics somewhere showing just how much my tires would shrink over the course of a 1/2 hr, I'll take a look and see if I can find them. As the old saying goes - you don't know what you don't know. ;)

Jay Coe wrote:
There's another old saying: I'll believe it when I see it. And like Ralph, I haven't seen what you're claiming.

Back when owned our K-Z Spree my preferred method of securing the trailer was to use a set of adjustable BAL Standard Tire Locking Chocks to secure the trailer and prevent it from rolling, along with a set of BAL X-Chocks which I'd install later after the tires had cooled to minimize camper suspension wiggle when one of us was walking around inside the camper. Chocked in this manner the trailer was never going to go anywhere and I never gave it any more thought.



Fast forward a few years, we'd sold our Spree, and bought a Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS which I planned to secure the same way. Uh Oh - the 14" tires were narrowly set on axles just 29" apart which in turn meant that if the tires were cold and sitting on a hard flat surface then the adjustable BAL locking chocks would fit BUT if I tried to set them in place just after we'd arrived on site when the tires were still hot and/or the ground surface was soft (in which case the tires would sink into the surface and effectively reduce the open space between the tires at ground level) the darned BAL chocks wouldn't fit. :M If I waited a half hour or so and the tires by that time had cooled (and therefore shrunk in diameter) I could then often get the BALs to fit. However, waiting for the tires to cool was a PITA so I devised another method of securing the trailer using heavy rubber chocks secured in place with a set of hardwood spacers that I had cut to various widths, each marked in millimeters. When we would first arrive on site I'd chock the trailer using whichever width of spacer would snugly secure each set of chocks, then later once the tires had cooled and shrunk I'd replace the spacer that had been tight with a wider one that would once again snug the rubber chocks tightly against the tires. The following set of pics shows exactly what I'm talking about - tires do shrink as they cool so any in-between tire chock such as a BAL X-Chock will loosen and relax it's grip on the tires. The proof is in the pudding. ;)

In this pic the tires have cooled & shrunk so the 35mm spacer that had previously been the largest I could fit in place when the tires were hot is now too small.





I therefore replaced this spacer with a wider 55mm spacer and as you can see the chocks are now once again snugged tightly against the tires.





This has been my process for several years now, it works, and it does prove that tires shrink as they cool, so whenever this trailer was parked on our significantly sloped driveway (the OP's thread subject) I'd use the same method to secure the trailer and absolutely prevent it from rolling forward even the slightest. For this task in-between tire chocks such as BAL X-Chocks are not the right tool for the job. :(

Maybe the Bals will, but the Camcos won't. I think they put a lot more surface area on the tire.

Remember I'm talking about with 4 wedge chocks as well.

Jay Coe wrote:

Terryallan wrote:

Jay Coe wrote:
If you have X-chocks between the tires, those tires ARE NOT turning. They're locked in place. It would literally have to skid all four tires to go anywhere. It's better than the parking brake on your TV.

Having hooked up and pulled forward with X chocks installed. I can tell you. Yes it will move, and will move quiet easily. They are designed to stabilize the trailer only. not stop it from rolling, and they won't. On the other hand. Good wheel chocks WILL stop it from moving.

You obviously didn't have them cranked down very tight.

Tight enough to do what they were designed to do. But no. I didn't use them to spread out the axles. But were tight enough that they were hard to snap in place.

remember when the wheels roll, One pushes them down, and one raises them up. So they just pop out from between the tire. Did however ruin one tire.

These are what I use. Cranked tight there is no way the trailer moves. If it tries to, the front tire is pushing up and the rear, down. These are like 2" wide with thick ribs on the faces pushing into the tires. Camco even calls them "Wheel Stop".

SoundGuy wrote:


Think again - yes, I have measured the difference - shockingly, about 1/4" :E, one can easily see the clearance develop as the tires cool. I have pics somewhere showing just how much my tires would shrink over the course of a 1/2 hr, I'll take a look and see if I can find them. As the old saying goes - you don't know what you don't know. ;)

Shockingly when my tires cooled and the space increased 1/4", my X chocks have never fell out over the course of 9 years and 3 different rigs. When you put them in they don't expand any more than 1/8" before they're tight enough you do not want to crank on them any more, so they should fall right out as the tire cools or at least loosen to the point you can simply pluck em right out, and they go in while the tire is still at running temp or close to it, right after doing any side to side leveling before unhitching.

In fact I have never been able to get them out days or weeks later without using the ratchet. But then again, maybe it's because we have a really good set of matched tires on it, matched perfect and staggered special. It has to be that, or that we're running 78.084% N2 in them.

LOL.

I can't believe this is even a thread.

Terryallan wrote:

Jay Coe wrote:
If you have X-chocks between the tires, those tires ARE NOT turning. They're locked in place. It would literally have to skid all four tires to go anywhere. It's better than the parking brake on your TV.

Having hooked up and pulled forward with X chocks installed. I can tell you. Yes it will move, and will move quiet easily. They are designed to stabilize the trailer only. not stop it from rolling, and they won't. On the other hand. Good wheel chocks WILL stop it from moving.

You obviously didn't have them cranked down very tight.

SoundGuy wrote:

Ralph Cramden wrote:
I am never not amazed at some of the bull that piles up on an RV board.

Ive also never had a bal X chock ever loosen up from tires cooling down.

SoundGuy wrote:
Yes you have - tire shrinkage as the tires cool is a function of physics and not something you have any control over. Claiming otherwise is "bull". ;)

Jay Coe wrote:
How much? Have you ever measured the diameter of hot and cold tires to compare? Didn't think so. Just because physics says it's more than zero, doesn't make it enough to matter. Just more forum bullsh*t.

Think again - yes, I have measured the difference - shockingly, about 1/4" :E, one can easily see the clearance develop as the tires cool. I have pics somewhere showing just how much my tires would shrink over the course of a 1/2 hr, I'll take a look and see if I can find them. As the old saying goes - you don't know what you don't know. ;)

There's another old saying: I'll believe it when I see it. And like Ralph, I haven't seen what you're claiming.

Jay Coe wrote:
If you have X-chocks between the tires, those tires ARE NOT turning. They're locked in place. It would literally have to skid all four tires to go anywhere. It's better than the parking brake on your TV.

Having hooked up and pulled forward with X chocks installed. I can tell you. Yes it will move, and will move quiet easily. They are designed to stabilize the trailer only. not stop it from rolling, and they won't. On the other hand. Good wheel chocks WILL stop it from moving.