# Relieve The Pressure By Jacking



## ricksherri (Apr 10, 2005)

Hi All,

Time to put the trailer into hibernation.

So, I was told that it is a good idea to relieve some of the stress on the trailer suspension and tires by placing jacks under the frame and slightly elevating the trailer. Not enough to raise the wheels mind you, just take some of the weight off.

Anybody do this? Is the advice I have been given flawed?









Any and all info is appreciated,
Rick


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## camping479 (Aug 27, 2003)

For the past two winters I have used 4 jack stands, one by each wheel to raise ours slightly like you suggest. I think it's a good idea to take some pressure off of the suspension and tires. The axle manual recommends it be done for long term storage.

This year I'm not sure if I will or not as I had the axles flipped and now the trailer is 4 inches higher so I will need to put the jacks on blocks to get them high enough. Not sure I want to go thru the hassle.

Mike


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

I never have but it could not do any harm I guess.

The only thing I might do since I never sent the 4 tires I had replaced under warranty back to Nanco is put those tires back on my old rims and put them on the trailer in the off season. Only cause the option is available to me.

John


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## johnp (Mar 15, 2004)

When I finally give in to the cold weather I put cement blocks under the frame just high enough to spin the wheels.

John


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

johnp2000 said:


> When I finally give in to the cold weather I put cement blocks under the frame just high enough to spin the wheels.
> 
> John
> [snapback]59732[/snapback]​


I'm trying to picture this - what am I missing? How do you raise the frame to get the blocks under there? Raise with the jacks & then lower it down on the blocks?


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## huntr70 (Jul 8, 2005)

Wolfwood,

Lower the front end using the tongue jack. Put blocks behind whells while rear end is up. Then raise it again at the tongue and put blocks in front of wheels. Lower onto blocks.

Steve

PS- That may work for flats too if you want to carry blocks or jackstands around.


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

huntr70 said:


> Wolfwood,
> 
> Lower the front end using the tongue jack. Put blocks behind whells while rear end is up. Then raise it again at the tongue and put blocks in front of wheels. Lower onto blocks.
> 
> ...


Got it! Thanks! Sounds like a good idea - will likely do this myself in the next few weeks. Any opinion as to whether its better to leave the tires on the surface (ergo: no snow underneath) or to raise them to relieve pressure? I'll be parking it on the soon-to-be frozen tundra (not pavement) of NH.


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

I have never done anything like that. I just lower the stab jacks to the ground, just like when camping. No problems.


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

This is a new one to me. It will be interesting to see what the overall concensus is.
My Outback is parked on gravel, would that have any bearing on the need to do this?

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

huntr70 said:


> Wolfwood,
> 
> Lower the front end using the tongue jack. Put blocks behind whells while rear end is up. Then raise it again at the tongue and put blocks in front of wheels. Lower onto blocks.
> 
> ...


Be very careful the tongue jacks are rated at only 2000 pound and this does not really have enough margin to take much load off the wheels.


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## vdub (Jun 19, 2004)

I do nothing. I could put the stab jacks down, but if I lose air in one of the tires, I will overload the stab jack. So, I don't do anything.

Oh yeah, don't pay any attention to what Andy says. If you look at his sig picture, you'll see that his TT doesn't do much setting around even in the winter.


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Great topic.

I basically park the Outback and cover the wheels and that is it. I do not lower the stab. as I would camping. The dealer walked me thru this process during my PDI and showed there yard full of TT stored just being parked. The reason they told me not to put the stab down was in case the ground shifted during the freezing. For example if the tires sink into the ground more than the stab you could wrap your frame. Now if you store your TT on a solid ground it should not be a problem.

Called another dealer today and they gave me the same answer. Mind you the storage yard is gravel based.

Thor


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

I just park it next to the house and thats it
I never really thought of the ground raising in the winter








I just may the stab. up this winter.

Don


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## BoaterDan (Jul 1, 2005)

I'm with Andy. The process Steve describes means at some point the entire trailer is supported by the back blocks and the tongue jack. Maybe it would be ok on smaller trailers, but that sounds like a recipe for disaster on my 8,000 pound rig.


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## Moosegut (Sep 24, 2005)

Eh, eh, eh, hem. As I consider myself the resident expert on this subject







(See picture below) I expect all to defer to my wisdom.









*DISCLAIMER:* After typing this missive I realized how I had been rambling on and hijacked the thread a bit. Sorry. It's the frustrated English teacher in me. Certified in English and elementary education. Taught elementary before moving into administration, so now I get all my writing frustrations out wherever and whenever I can. *ONLY READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO DO! *









I store my TT on a hill, as you can see from the photo. When I had the popup, it was not a problem to store it on the hill and just make sure the wheels were chocked big time. But, when I got my Layton, for many reasons, I did not want it stored on the slant. So, I dug into the hill (oh my aching back







) and laid down two level, concrete pads to accommodate the wheels, two concrete pads to accommodate the jack stands which were placed near the front of the TT directly under the frame, and a concrete pad to accommodate the tongue jack - all on different tiers (if you will) of the hill. I also placed a 2 x 6 across the jack stands to lock them together in supporting the frame. When I lifted the front of the TT, since the wheels were on a level spot it was not a problem to lift - using the power jack, of course. I did it the first time with the manual crank







and bought the power jack that night.

The only problem I have with all this is . . . NONE OF THE PADS LINE UP WITH ANYTHING ON THE OUTBACK!!!







I had to re-dig and extend and re-dig again and . . . Oh, it's a mess.







The Outback is worth it though.







I'm actually in the throes of a fight with the town to allow me to excavate the whole area and bring it down to street level, build retaining walls, make it look very pretty and make my life a WHOLE LOT EASIER when returning from a trip. But, I live in a sort of Co-op (it's a very weird town and hard to explain) and as others have discussed the difficulties with associations (or co-ops) in other threads, I'll not add to that discussion here.

Any way, the wheels of the Layton were centered more on the trailer than the wheels of the Outback - the Outback's are farther toward the rear. I don't like this set up with the Outback. That's a lot of trailer forward of the wheels that I'm lifting, and when I do it, I get myself in a ready position to run if I have to. Once it's up, it's fine because the wheels are level. However, lifting it through the angle to get it there is scary. With the Layton I could lift it past horizontal, just a little, onto the back stabilizers (I have level areas to accommodate them too - uh, excuse me - had), and then position the jack stands in the front. The design of the Outback inhibits that.

Now, the directions for leveling the TT at a campsite, that came with the Layton stated, "Level the TT, and then lower the front end two inches. Set the rear stabilizers to the ground, raise the front of the TT four inches and set the front stabilizers to the ground, then lower the TT" (or words to that effect). This relieved a small amount of the weight off the wheels and helped stabilize the TT. Because of the position of the wheels, when I would lift it past horizontal onto the rear stabilizers it was not that bad. You know - the whole length of the lever vs. position of the fulcrum thing. But, the length of the lever and the position of the fulcrum on the Outback are VERY different. My power jack is struggling to get it through the angle to a level position and I donâ€™t like it a bit. And no matter what. I had been placing that fulcrum at the very rear of the trailer. Placing blocks right behind the wheels won't be as bad, but the fulcrum is still pretty far back.

Setting it up has become a precarious situation and Iâ€™m considering pushing the envelope on the fight with the town so I can get it leveled before winter. However, Iâ€™m trying to keep a low profile (difficult to do since I live on a very visible corner in town) and not get people angry just yet. The board has referred my situation back to the Recreational Vehicles Committee (Yeah, we actually have one) for review. Theyâ€™ve been reviewing it for a month-and-a-half, so Iâ€™m starting to get a little angry myself.

Wow! I have to lay off of the coffee on Saturday mornings. Iâ€™ve really been rambling. The bottom line is, donâ€™t listen to vdub







when he says,



vdub said:


> Oh yeah, don't pay any attention to what Andy says.Â If you look at his sig picture, you'll see that his TT doesn't do much setting around even in the winter.Â Â
> 
> 
> 
> ...










I AGREE with CamperAndy (who is my winter camping hero by-the-way







) and suggest that you be very careful about how much weight you lift with the tongue jack. The design of the Outback puts a lot of trailer forward of the wheels and that jack could easily fail at the end of that LONG LEVER.

Sorry for the ramble.

Scott


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

PHEW


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

I just park it. I will probably cover the tires this year, but didn't last year. I also remove the battery, spread about 1000 of the heaviest scented dryer sheets gratuitously about the coach, and leave the fridge and freeze door ajar.

Oh yeah, don't forget the antifreeze.

Tim


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