tongue jack blocks for levelling trailer

[ragged_claws]

My wife and I just bought a 16' travel trailer (ECON 16RB). We need to store it in our driveway which has a considerable slope. I need to be able to raise the tongue enough to be able to make the trailer level fore and aft. Once level, I can rest it on the stab jacks or a pair of 6 ton jack stands. My problem is that with the tongue jack fully extended (18") I need at least 16" of blocks under the jack. I have 13 1/2" of 2x6 blocks under the jack now, and it's still not quite level. It also appears a little precarious with the 2x6 block set up and I'm reluctant to stack even more 2x blocks under the jack. Valterra sells a 10 piece block set that's about 8' high. If I were to go this route I would have to stack 20 of their blocks to achieve level. Anyone have any ideas about the advisability of doing this or any alternative ideas?

Thanks,
Kim

[ragged_claws]

Porter4dmfd wrote:
If it were me, I'd use 4x4's as cribbing. I'd cut them at least 16 inches long. I wouldn't leave the jack fully extended either. I'm not saying the jack won't hold it, but things get pretty wobbly when the jack is fully extended

Thanks for the post. Using the bike stand with two 2x6s on top allows me to have the tongue jack only half way extended. I thought about 4x cribbing but I couldn't easily level the cribbing like I can the bike stand.

Kim

[Porter4dmfd]

If it were me, I'd use 4x4's as cribbing. I'd cut them at least 16 inches long. I wouldn't leave the jack fully extended either. I'm not saying the jack won't hold it, but things get pretty wobbly when the jack is fully extended

[ragged_claws]

Bucky Badger wrote:

ragged claws wrote:
I want to thank everyone for all of your suggestions. I think I've solved my problem. I bought a dirt bike stand from Harbor Freight for about $30. It's made of steel, only weighs about 10 pounds, and is rated for 1000 lb. load. It's 16" high. I made a leveling pad out of some 1x6 with some 1/2" plywood screwed to it. The stand with the pad under the down slope bottom rail is perfectly level in my driveway. I was able to get my trailer perfectly level, fore and aft, with this stand and two 2x6s stacked on top of the stand. The tongue jack is only half extended now. Everything seems a lot more stable without so many 2x6 blocks stacked under the tongue jack. I still have a lot of 2x6s stacked under my front stab jacks, but I'll remove those when the 6 ton jack stands arrive from Amazon in a couple of days.

Once again, thanks for all the suggestions.

Kim

This one? Looks like a good idea
http://www.harborfreight.com/dirt-bike-stand-67151.html

Yes, that's the one.

Kim

[Bucky_Badger]

ragged claws wrote:
I want to thank everyone for all of your suggestions. I think I've solved my problem. I bought a dirt bike stand from Harbor Freight for about $30. It's made of steel, only weighs about 10 pounds, and is rated for 1000 lb. load. It's 16" high. I made a leveling pad out of some 1x6 with some 1/2" plywood screwed to it. The stand with the pad under the down slope bottom rail is perfectly level in my driveway. I was able to get my trailer perfectly level, fore and aft, with this stand and two 2x6s stacked on top of the stand. The tongue jack is only half extended now. Everything seems a lot more stable without so many 2x6 blocks stacked under the tongue jack. I still have a lot of 2x6s stacked under my front stab jacks, but I'll remove those when the 6 ton jack stands arrive from Amazon in a couple of days.

Once again, thanks for all the suggestions.

Kim

This one? Looks like a good idea
http://www.harborfreight.com/dirt-bike-stand-67151.html

[ragged_claws]

I want to thank everyone for all of your suggestions. I think I've solved my problem. I bought a dirt bike stand from Harbor Freight for about $30. It's made of steel, only weighs about 10 pounds, and is rated for 1000 lb. load. It's 16" high. I made a leveling pad out of some 1x6 with some 1/2" plywood screwed to it. The stand with the pad under the down slope bottom rail is perfectly level in my driveway. I was able to get my trailer perfectly level, fore and aft, with this stand and two 2x6s stacked on top of the stand. The tongue jack is only half extended now. Everything seems a lot more stable without so many 2x6 blocks stacked under the tongue jack. I still have a lot of 2x6s stacked under my front stab jacks, but I'll remove those when the 6 ton jack stands arrive from Amazon in a couple of days.

Once again, thanks for all the suggestions.

Kim

[CaveRun]

ragged claws wrote:

Dannyabear1 wrote:
What about 2 concrete (cinder block) instead

I've read that cinder blocks can crumble under load. That would be a great option otherwise.

They use cinder blocks under mobile homes all the time.

You could stack 2 cinder blocks side-by-side and put 2 more on top the same way, then lay a piece of 2x6 on top of the blocks.

You can also buy ''solid cinder blocks''.

[RJCorazza]

I have used cinder blocks in the past without issue. Structurally they should be placed as used in a wall, topped with something to spread the load across the entire block. That said, I have also placed them with the solid surface down and positioned the jack plate right in the middle of the center web.
You can also get 1/2 height solid cinder blocks.
When I have my trailer on the sloped driveway I rubber chock both sides and also x-chock both tandems.

[nomad297]

westend wrote:
Any tree trimmers in your area? A piece of tree works very well for stability and can be rolled out of the way when not in use. Lacking that, I would buy some 6 x 6 and make cribbing to reach your height. I've supported thousands of pounds with both methods.

This works well. At my last house I had to stack 4 pairs of 6x6 and then fully extend my jack. It looked precarious, but it was very stable.

Bruce

[hawkeye-08]

Jaxom wrote:
Could you use a Hi-lift jack to level it after unhooking from tow vehicle? That would eliminate the multiple jack & block scenario.

Yep, just did that the other day. put the hi lift jack in the truck bed for camping now..

[hddecker]

If you are just stacking one 2x on top of the next, it will be very unstable.

Check out the cribbing in this article. http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/wood-cribbing-block-diy-for-raising-the-car-in-addition-to-jack-stands/

Use wedges or an additional piece of material to level the cribbing before you load it with the weight of the tongue jack.

[RVJimofOregon]

Be careful when you extend a tongue jack all the way as they get a bit weak. Even on level ground I made a 12 high stand for it to rest on because of this reason. If you want to know why I know the RV part store has some of my money for a replacement.
RV Jim

[Jaxom]

Could you use a Hi-lift jack to level it after unhooking from tow vehicle? That would eliminate the multiple jack & block scenario.

[rbpru]

I had the same problem plus I had to change the tongue jack on my 26 ft. TT.

I chocked the TT wheels, one chock in each wheel and then I used a hydraulic bottle jack and raised it. I jacked it slowly and placed cinder blocks and 2x8s on each side of the frame as I went, so that if the jack slipped the TT would only drop 2” or less. A cinder block was used under the jack also as it was more stable that a bunch of 2x8s.

It was slow going but when I was done the TT was level, supported on the frame by two cinder blocks and a couple of 2x8s on each side of the frame.

Having it on the driveway made working on and under it a lot more convenient, plus I could easily replace the tongue jack.

Bringing it down was similar except now I had the tongue jack instead of the bottle jack. I still used a cinder block with a 2x8 over the holes which is their strongest orientation.

[ragged_claws]

Thanks for all the ideas guys. The concrete in a bucket sounds good, but would be heavy to move. Cinder blocks with a 2x pad on top might be doable if I could be sure that they wouldn't break under the tongue load. Another problem is that I will have to raise the tongue in increments. I will need to start the leveling process after I unhitch the trailer from my truck. At that point I won't have 16" clearance under the jack foot. keep the ideas coming. I really appreciate the suggestions.

Kim