Why not store camper on jacks?

[ajcal225]

I frequently see people say not to store campers on the jacks.

I also frequently see people actually doing it.. (which includes a friend of mine who has stored and used his camper on the jacks for 10 years now).


What is the reasoning for not storing it on the jacks? Is it fear of the jacks breaking? Jack mounts ripping off? Jacks leaking down (hydraulics)?

With my old hydraulic jacks, my camper was super unstable on the jacks. I've replaced them with Rieco screw jacks and some custom made mounts, and it is rocks solid when on the jacks now (assuming it is lowered mostly down).


What is the failure mode with storing it on the jacks? Is it a serious problem, or a problem some people have had due to just the right circumstances?

[billtex]

SugarHillCTD wrote:
I only use the jacks for storage.

I want to eliminate any possible rodent pathways- I found out the hard way with our first TC. Mama mouse climbed up the 110v power cord and had a family in the cabover bed.

So it sits on the jacks extended just a few inches- no problems.

Funny you say that John. Our Airstream seems to house mice every winter no matter what we do...the TC parked right next to it does not. Both are thoroughly cleaned before storage.
TC is always stored jacks only...

Bill

[SugarHillCTD]

I only use the jacks for storage.

I want to eliminate any possible rodent pathways- I found out the hard way with our first TC. Mama mouse climbed up the 110v power cord and had a family in the cabover bed.

So it sits on the jacks extended just a few inches- no problems.

[bobndot]

On concrete you have a solid pad , dirt can shift or become soft.
Either way, more additional support is less stress on each component,
spread out the weight.
If you choose jacks only, keep the unit low to the ground to reduce sway.

[ajcal225]

Trackrig wrote:
Going back 20 - 30 years, all TCs were wooden framed I believe - at least most of them. My jacks were lagged into the wood on the corners. Occasionally the lags would come loose. When TCs develope a leak, it causes wood frames to rot. Sometimes that hidden rot occurres at the corners, then the lags pull out and down comes the camper.

I always stored my TC on four drums or a stack of pallets. It was very cheap and easy insurance if the jacks failed, a strong wind came up, the ground softened due to rains or other unexpected problems occured. After all, it isn't a problem until it is a problem. Do you have a plan for getting you TC back up and onto the truck if the jacks fail and it falls over?

Bill

Mine is wood frame, and has already fallen off of the jacks (before I owned it, was stored on soft wet ground).

I have a set of Brophy side jacks I bought to bring it home with. If it falls, they are right in the garage to recover it with. I had to rebuild all four corners with new wood, and built new mounts that grab 50" of wood and use 20-30 lags each. Its got water damage in other places, but I've fixed everything I feel is important to me and only expect to get about 5 years out of it. If I'm still using it in 5 years, I'll buy something newer and nicer (this is a 1990 coachman).

Good info on the lags coming loose. I will make them a maintenance item.

I'm not looking at long term or perm storage on the jacks, just a couple of weeks here and there when its parked somewhere other than my back patio.

[Gripnriprod]

Arctic Fox says this under the heading of outdoor winter storage:
"Always support the camper at the corners and outside walls. IMPORTANT: You must support camper correctly as set out in the diagram (Page 21A). Incorrect placement of blocking will result in damage to the sub floor and/or waste and fresh water tanks."
For some reason the diagram referred to does not show up in the online Owner's Manual but according to my hard copy, they suggest stacking 2x6's until you have enough height to lower the TC until the jacks don't touch. They are to be placed running side to side at the front of the bottom, again in the middle and again 8' from the front. As I recall, I stacked 10 - 2x6 x 6' for a total of 15". I nailed them together and attached some straps to make them easier to move around.

[Trackrig]

Going back 20 - 30 years, all TCs were wooden framed I believe - at least most of them. My jacks were lagged into the wood on the corners. Occasionally the lags would come loose. When TCs develope a leak, it causes wood frames to rot. Sometimes that hidden rot occurres at the corners, then the lags pull out and down comes the camper.

I always stored my TC on four drums or a stack of pallets. It was very cheap and easy insurance if the jacks failed, a strong wind came up, the ground softened due to rains or other unexpected problems occured. After all, it isn't a problem until it is a problem. Do you have a plan for getting you TC back up and onto the truck if the jacks fail and it falls over?

Bill

[AnEv942]

Ive never heard of anyone saying NOT to store camper on jacks, other than there are a handful of mfgs that recommend against it or using camper off truck due to the way camper is built.

Myself I store ours on stands (though most of weight still on jacks). I built stands capable of supporting camper when stored-they have come in handy when working on it.
Just a lot more stable in high winds, going in & out as mentioned, I hate seeing it or feeling bob around. Also as extra support for the water tank (basically sets on floor hung from 1x2s) that is usually stored full. I just see it as taking some of the stress of hanging from frame and jack mounts. That and when the next earthquake hits maybe it wont walk 12" across the pad :0

When off loaded camping I generally dont do anything other than lower as far as it will go. Questionable ground I do use some small stands to stabilize & for more contact. Loss of support on one of the front jacks whether frame failure, leg buckle, rain washing out the sand were parked on or simply ground squirrel borrowing and shes going over, period. Regardless if I acknowledge possibility happening or not.

If your camper frame & jacks and the ground it sets on are trust worthy there is no reason not to store on the jacks. (other than mfg exceptions). And no reason to be uncomfortable.

[restlessways]

I stored my Lance 1030 exclusively on its jacks. The manual, as I recall, even said to.

One thing I'll add, though, is I always made sure the front was a little higher than the rear, and I lowered the entire thing down as close to the ground as possible.

[languiduck]

If you are concerned about sway, there's info here on dealing with that:

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27986040.cfm

[KD4UPL]

I used to store mine only on the jacks. I didn't have any problems. However, I get in and out of it a lot for cleaning, packing, using it as a guest bedroom, etc. It has some sway that I didn't like. I built an additional support for under the front and it really helped stiffen it up.
I don't take the support when I go camping. If we unload it we camp in it on just the jacks and have no problems.

[narcodog]

Mine is an 06 and it has never had any type of support, no problems so far.

[languiduck]

Strange. I camp in mine supported solely by the jacks. I don't understand the fear either. If I was always worried as often as some seem to be, I wouldn't be able to have any fun.

[ajcal225]

Primarily fear of structure failure and not so much jack failure?

Thats good news for me. I'm unconcerned about the structure at this point, and would really like to be comfortable leaving it on the jacks (lowered) for a couple of weeks at a time if I need to.

[Super_Dave]

Most campers have jacks capable of holding them up on only 3 of the 4 jacks yet a lot of us are just worried that in storage mode, we aren't there to see the beginnings of failure. So, we add some extra support. I've driven by Rv storage yards before and seen camper sitting on their nose, legs folded underneath them. Most don't don't see frame rot until it is too late.