Alright, now that I have a camper, I need to decide where to unload it when we are not using it.I have a straight shot pea gravel area off the driveway where I currently park my old Suburban daily driver. I have room in that spot to put the camper in first and then park my suburban.My thought was if I put down 1 or 2 12" pavers and put the jacks on those followed up by a couple heavy duty sawhorses (1300lb capacity each) on pavers with a deck on top of them to even the weight out, it should be good.Am I asking for trouble putting the camper on the gravel?The alternate is to put it into a field next to where I put the camper shell when I take the shell off to put the camper on. Much less convenient and it is dirt as opposed to gravel. I would still put pavers under the jack pads and I'd still support it with sawhorses.

Why would you think gravel in unsafe?I put support only under front of my camper for storage.

Not sure that either option makes a lot of difference. As long as you have adequate pads under the jacks to spread the weight out you should be fine. I'd go with the more convenient option on the gravel. Not sure about support under your camper, that's your call. We just lower our rig down when it is off the truck and have never tried to support it with saw horses. The jacks are made to take the weight and we have had our camper stored on grass, mud and gravel. As long as we have used jack pads we have never had an issue.

I'd say gravel is much safer than dirt.

Most of TC have water tank placed on floor in front. When you keep TC on jacks, the weight is hanging on stapled frame. Staples don't hold pulling very well and I am 1 of those who had a problem with floor separating.

Mine was always on gravel but I either used four 55-gallon drums or two stacks of pallets under it for a larger base on the gravel.Bill

Putting camper on gravel | Good Sam Community

JoeChiOhki
Explorer II
Jan 12, 2021
I'd put some 12x12 or 14x14 1" or 3/4 " marine plywood squares under the jack feet to give them an even weight distribution point and something they can walk a little on during load/unload (they will walk a tiny bit), but as long as the gravel us thick enough pack and packed down cryshed minus, you shp6ukd golden.

You'll want something similar for the saw horses.
KKELLER14K
Explorer II
Jan 10, 2021
OMG!! just was going to throw out the critter warning..ants are hard to get rid of if you park it on gravel. Spray all around your tires and jacks with ant killer... they will invade your RV within a day. It is a fact that if they get inside they will build nests and you got a huge problem. I let mine sit with a series of bait traps..It was hard to see them work but I knew the poison was going back to the farm Sure enough...within 3 days...nothing. every critter is going to find a way....even us. So if your parking or storing for awhile...be prepared. Nature will find you and will take full advantage of you not knowing what to do ....trust me.
Kayteg1
Explorer II
Jun 12, 2020
Just beware about supporting blocks or pads footprint.
With my dually I have about 1" clearance between my tires width and camper footing.
Meaning quite often I drive 1 side over the footing.
When you put pad under the camper footing and drive over it, there is high risk the camper will tilt.
silverbullet555
Explorer
Jun 12, 2020
Grit dog wrote:
Gravel = no problem.
Pea gravel for a driveway is another story, but not Germaine to the conversation.
Put some pads or patio blocks under jacks.
Unload camper, mostly done at this point.
I used to support the camper floor and take weight off the jacks. Quit doing it years ago when I realized it wasn't necessary for my camper.
You can stabilize the camper for use off the truck a couple ways. Or combinations of methods.
1. Lower it down to reduce stress and sway on legs.
2. Support camper floor.
Many mthods for #2. Conger blocks and boards. Sawhorses and boards or plywood. X brace like Scooby mentioned. Pallets, barrels, etc etc.

Fortunately it is not a driveway. Someday I will remove the pea gravel and replace it with concrete. Until then, we'll work with it.
silverbullet555
Explorer
Jun 12, 2020
JRscooby wrote:
I will say from start, I do not know what I'm talking about. Pitching a idea.
Remember the Xes made out of notched plywood used under water beds? Maybe a plywood sheet top and bottom?
Lay a rope down, back over rope, unload. Build stand in front of camper, then pull it under.
Might even be carried under camper?

I actually already have a 2x4 platform from the previous owner. It could certainly be set on the ground though leveling it could be tough and it would be in direct contact making an easy path for critters. I am thinking of placing that platform on top of either cinder blocks, the sawhorses or barrels.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Jun 12, 2020
Gravel = no problem.
Pea gravel for a driveway is another story, but not Germaine to the conversation.
Put some pads or patio blocks under jacks.
Unload camper, mostly done at this point.
I used to support the camper floor and take weight off the jacks. Quit doing it years ago when I realized it wasn't necessary for my camper.
You can stabilize the camper for use off the truck a couple ways. Or combinations of methods.
1. Lower it down to reduce stress and sway on legs.
2. Support camper floor.
Many mthods for #2. Conger blocks and boards. Sawhorses and boards or plywood. X brace like Scooby mentioned. Pallets, barrels, etc etc.
JRscooby
Explorer II
Jun 12, 2020
I will say from start, I do not know what I'm talking about. Pitching a idea.
Remember the Xes made out of notched plywood used under water beds? Maybe a plywood sheet top and bottom?
Lay a rope down, back over rope, unload. Build stand in front of camper, then pull it under.
Might even be carried under camper?
silverbullet555
Explorer
Jun 12, 2020
Thanks for more of the info. All a learning process.
jimh406
Explorer III
Jun 12, 2020
Gravel will compress, but I don’t think it will do enough unevently that the TC will fall. That is, if it was installed corectly. I put small squares of stall mats under my jacks. I think 1 ft pavers would work as well. The benefit of the stall mats is they go with me and are of course, easily movable.
Boondocking2019
Explorer
Jun 12, 2020
I stack three Cinder Blocks High front and rear with 2x6 across blocks and top it off with 2” Foam Pads that the Camper rests on. The Jacks are lightly touching the Concrete Driveway.

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Putting camper on gravel

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