I almost had a major disaster. It certainly put me into panic mode! I've been using a 10" stack of stabilizer pads under the tongue jack landing gear, ever since I got this camper. It takes forever for the foot plate to reach the ground. Someone told me to use the stack to shorten the distance that the motor has to drop it. I have had no problems. This time, everything went as usual. I brought the jack down with the foot plate in the center of the stack, unhitched, and pulled the truck forward. Then I was ready to level the camper from front to back. I went inside to check my level, came back to the tongue jack, started to lower the front end and noticed that the landing gear had slid, and close to half of the foot plate was hanging off the edge of the damned stack of pads! I knew I had to get the trailer back on the hitch STAT! But, when I pushed the button to raise the receiver high enough to go on the hitch ball, the foot plate slid some more! I got in the truck and backed it up, but I was so panicked I had to pull forward and try again about three times. I finally made myself calm down and do it right. I got it on the hitch, took that **** stack away, and brought the tongue jack foot plate down on a small board I keep for leveling. Disaster averted. I really don't know what would have happened if it totally fell off the support stack, but it couldn't be good!

Probably would have bent the tongue jackYou do use WHEEL CHOCKS ---correct?First ON...last OFFSo trailer can NOT move

X2. Always chock the trailer wheels.

I had a friend that used to put his 5th wheel landing gear on 14" blocks. I kept warning him but he continued until this one boondocking trip. The terrain was not level at all. Four days of camping finally caused one side to slip off and the other to flip sideways. It was sitting so low he couldn't get it to lift high enough to hitch up because his leg extensions were fully retracted. Luckily, I had two bottle jacks to pick it up. We used those blocks for firewood before we left.Dave

The scenario described can't happen IF the trailer is properly chocked. This is why I use the weight of the trailer bearing down on a set of wheel pads to absolutely prevent my trailer from shifting on my significantly sloped driveway which also requires an 18" stack under the tongue jack to level the trailer.Recently I got lazy and thought I'd forgo the pads and just stick a set of Fastway One-Step Chocks between the tires but when I came out later I later discovered the trailer had shifted forward, just slightly but also just enough to tip the tongue jack stack. Like the OP I was shocked, but also lucky because if it had slipped completely the tongue would have dropped about 3' and unquestionably have bent. :EWhen camping I use Lynx blocks mounted to a wood base plate for side-to-side leveling and a set of rubber chocks secured with hardwood spacers between each set of tires which absolutely prevent the trailer from shifting in either direction regardless of site slope.And FWIW, I always use a 4x stack under the tongue jack when camping, only replacing it with a single piece of 3/4" plywood when the trailer is sitting on a tongue low site.Properly chocked, there's no reason to not use a stack of any height under the tongue jack. :)

Scary: footplate slipped out of position! | Good Sam Community

Bobbo
Explorer II
Aug 22, 2017
camperforlife wrote:
I use the ROBOFOOT. No blocks any longer. Sweet and simple.

Does the Robofoot lock in the downward position, or could it fold up if the trailer rolled a couple of inches?
2012Coleman
Explorer II
Aug 21, 2017
camperforlife wrote:
I use the ROBOFOOT. No blocks any longer. Sweet and simple.
Looks interesting - thanks!
camperforlife
Explorer
Aug 21, 2017
I use the ROBOFOOT. No blocks any longer. Sweet and simple.
dave54
Nomad
Aug 21, 2017
Yep. The best practice is chocks down before unhooking, chocks up after hooking. So the wheels are either chocked or the trailer is hooked up at all times. No exceptions, not even for the briefest of moments for any reason.
campigloo
Explorer
Aug 20, 2017
Hannibal wrote:
I learned about 24 years ago just how little incline it takes to roll a trailer. A root about 4" behind the left rear tire kept our 18.5 Aljo TT from rolling into the woods. I've used chocks ever since.
Now I need to go get some black enamal paint for my wood blocks. That looks nice!

Lol. One of my first jobs was with Pepsi Cola delivering drinks. First stop one day and an ordinary run of the mill pallet stopped my fully loaded truck from rolling into the Mississippi River. Glad I had a supervisor riding with me that day??
soren
Explorer
Aug 19, 2017
bstar1952 wrote:
Happened to me last year, stupidly didn't chock the wheels and TT completely fell off the block, about 8" high. Lucky for me there was no damage but it did scare the s**t out of me. Trust me, I will never ever not use chocks before unhitching.

I pulled into a campground after a very long day on the road. I was nearly asleep on my feet, and forgot to chock the trailer wheels. After I had the tongue leveled, on a small amount of blocking, the trailer rolled backwards until the steel foot on the jack fell off the short stack of 2x6 scrap it was on. The tongue jack dropped about 3" and dug into the gravel, stopping after sliding about a foot back. It would of been a no harm, no foul, play, BUT the dear wife was sitting on the toilet at the time. I knew this because of the scream she let loose as the whole show started. She was not amused.
RSD559
Explorer
Aug 19, 2017
Bobbo wrote:
For those using stacks of lumber under the tongue jack, maybe one of these will help. When I get my trailer back from the dealer (air conditioner quit cooling) I am going to measure to see if it will fit mine and order one.

Extendable tongue jack foot

The electric tongue jack I put on my Hideout had one of these. Very handy. I had forgotten about it. Thanks.
FF286
Explorer
Aug 19, 2017
what I was told when we bought our first camper was to get the camper level, put the wheel chocks out then put the truck in neutral. This lets it get any movement done and secure against the chocks. Put the truck in park, then unhook from the trailer. The truck may roll some but the trailer never has.This has worked for 11 years so far and hopefully will continue.
GWolfe
Explorer
Aug 19, 2017
I have an 8x8 chunk of wood I use under my tongue jack. Chocking the tires is the first thing I do before unhitching, unhooking the safety chains is the last thing I do when unhitching.
Bobbo
Explorer II
Aug 19, 2017
For those using stacks of lumber under the tongue jack, maybe one of these will help. When I get my trailer back from the dealer (air conditioner quit cooling) I am going to measure to see if it will fit mine and order one.

Extendable tongue jack foot