Angle of tandem wheels when parking

[NottieMatt]

Hi there!

My 30' Crusader 5er fits perfect in my driveway. However, I don't have a lot of maneuvering space getting it in there. I pretty much approach on the alley, 90 degrees to the drive way. Then I crank the steering wheel over and just back it in. The pickup ends up at about a 75-80 degree angle to the trailer when the trailer is in it's spot. This means that the truck, in addition to pushing the trailer up the driveway, was putting a fair amount of sideways force on the pin. I've noticed that the front and rear trailer wheels are not in a straight line - the front wheels are an inch or two to the right (the direction I was backing from). I also notice a few degrees of camber on the front wheels.

My previous trailer was an Aerolite - a low rider with torsion axles. Experienced the same thing, but much less dramatic, due to the lower height and reduced side-to-side flexibility of the torsion axles. By comparison, the Crusader's sitting way up there on its leaf springs.

Now, I can unhook and line the truck up straight-on in front of the trailer and straighten it out by going forward and back about 10 feet, but that requires driving on the neighbor's lawn. He says he's cool with it and it's not a big problem with the current Texas drought, but if it's wet and muddy, it'll make a mess and he may reconsider.

Is there actually any problem with just leaving the suspension loaded like that? Do I really need to straighten it out?

Thanx y'all!

[TURBS]

In my opinion I would not leave it loaded.
Not good on tires or suspension.
Jack the axle up close to the wheel as possible to let everything unload.
one wheel at a time.
Others will discourage my method use your own judgment.
I jack on my axles if I need to. Never an issue.

[PrairieBoy]

I would not leave the axles loaded either. I would do whatever was necessary to correct the situation before it was left parked for any length of time.

[lindy]

If possible when backing in over back too far, then when you pull forward it'll take the pressure off the axles. You'll only need about 1' to do this.

[flyrotor]

Originally Posted by lindy

If possible when backing in over back too far, then when you pull forward it'll take the pressure off the axles. You'll only need about 1' to do this.

That's exactly what I was thinking too.

[NottieMatt]

Thanx! I'll give that a try this weekend.