Do you do this when you put your TT is storage?

[Chazman]

Just wondering how many people take the time to put their units up on blocks while it's in storage. I did this with our old TT and have continued the practice with our new Rockwood 8311WS. (I usually do the same thing with our Avanti II for the Winter) I was told years ago that if a vehicle sat on the tires for a long time in one spot, the tires would develop flat spots. I bought a 20 ton jack at HF this year and discovered that when raising one axle, one side at a time, the other axle would come up with it. This was not the case with the old TT. Any thoughts, and do you this?

[valleyduo]

Flat spots were a pretty big problem with bias ply tires that sat but not quite as common with radials. I know for us we keep our tires aired up through the winter, parked on gravel with good drainage, and since we have level up, we leave jacks down to hold a little weight off of them. No problems to report thus far.

[merrykalia]

We also keep our tires aired up, level up system in use and ready to go in about 10 minutes, if we choose to.

I honestly see no reason to put it on blocks, I got it to TRAVEL in and we do that, even in the winter, occasionally.

[mlangdn]

I built a garage at home for my TT. That said, I do use it year round, even if it is just at home. The only problem I've had was when a valve stem blew. Glad it did that at home! It has sat for 5 months once and did not have a flat spot on the next trip out. I do have a concrete floor.

[Chazman]

The other thing I forgot to mention, someone told me to spin the wheels every so often... something to do with wheel bearings. Didn't make much sense to me, he could have been pulling my leg.

[babock]

I have stored my boat trailer that way. It stays out of the water from September through May. I would like to do it with the travel trailer but it's hard where its parked because it's gravel and dirt. It gets used fairly often throughout the year so it's not as critical. Our busiest times with our travel trailer are all the months except July and August so it's really only 2 months where it doesn't move.

[JohnD10]

When I had my house in Denver I always had my campers leveled and ready as a hotel room for guests...

But now that I keep my 5'ver in a storage lot, the only legs that are down are the front legs.

The back stabilizers are up and the tires are on Lynx Leveler Blocks to keep them off of the hot Arizona desert sand (tires covered, of course).

[russhd1997]

I store mine in my back yard and put planks under the tires to keep them off of the grass. I leave the jacks up and the tires aired up too. The flat spots in the tires will smooth out when you tow it down the road. It takes about 20 miles for that to happen with a car and I would think that it would be similar for a trailer.

Chazman your old trailer probably had torsion axles and your new one has leaf springs. With leaf springs jacking one axle will lift the other one on that side. That feature alone makes the leaf spring set up more desirable. It makes changing a flat real easy. Make sure when you're jacking your trailer up that you jack under the frame or spring mounting plate and not on the axle tube.

[cmysstailights]

Mine is stored in my parents concrete drvwy. Chucked up, somewhat level and stabilizers down. I have a rv cover on it and once or twice during the winter i open it when we go there and the rest of the family goes too for the holidays.

[Chazman]

Originally Posted by russhd1997

I store mine in my back yard and put planks under the tires to keep them off of the grass. I leave the jacks up and the tires aired up too. The flat spots in the tires will smooth out when you tow it down the road. It takes about 20 miles for that to happen with a car and I would think that it would be similar for a trailer.

Chazman your old trailer probably had torsion axles and your new one has leaf springs. With leaf springs jacking one axle will lift the other one on that side. That feature alone makes the leaf spring set up more desirable. It makes changing a flat real easy. Make sure when you're jacking your trailer up that you jack under the frame or spring mounting plate and not on the axle tube.

You don't store it over grass for long periods, do you? Years ago we had one that we stored on the grass and the frame rotted. I was told years later it was because we stored it on the grass. We have a concrete pad now.

[Jesse]

We keep our tires inflated and keep the jacks down, like camping. Slides out to work inside occasionally. Open and close slides once a month and rotate tires 90 degrees once a month. Close slides for snow or ice or storms, just for ease of cleaning top of slides. Keep most weight on jacks, use jacks to lift and rotate tires, then lower to just touching.

[TitanMike]

Ever since pneumatic tires started showing up on vehicles it was a common practice to "put it up on blocks" when storing for long periods of time.

Older tires with nylon cord construction were terrible for forming flat spots. Newer radial tires, not so much -------- BUT ----- when a tire sits for any length of time with moisture between it and dirt, gravel, concrete, boards, etc, they can rot.

Still not a bad idea to jack up your RV, either with the leveling jacks on many motor homes or by jacking up each end of the axle and putting it on a jack stand (they aren't expensive). This will prevent the possible rot on tires where they contact the ground/storage surface and are already up in the air for that springtime check of bearings and brakes.

In my case my TT doesn't sit much more than a month before I'm using it again. Don't leave it sitting long enough for flat spots or rot to form.

Same for me, the longer I sit in one spot the more chance of health issues catching up with me. After bypass surgery I've decided to keep on the move. When my time comes I figure that if I'm on the move it will be harder for whomever/whatever comes for me to find me

Also, based on the cost of my TT and the miles I've towed it, it's cost me about $4.50 per mile. The more I use it, the lower the cost per mile and I intend to get it down into the "cents per mile" range before I can't use it anymore.

[babock]

My opinion is if it sits for longer than 5 months, get the weight off the tires. I had 4 radial tires on my boat trailer all fail at the site where they sat all winter. All had prominent bulges in their sidewalls after a 700 mile trip.

[NMWildcat]

We cover the tires. Park it on a well drained area. That's about it. Sometimes the jacks are down, sometimes they aren't. Flat spotting modern tires is no longer a concern.

If your bearings are properly and regularly maintained, rotating tires periodically when temporarily stored is overkill. But it's your time and effort.

I would never go through half the gyrations folks go through when temporarily storing an RV. I'm basically lazy, and just won't do any extra work that is not proven to be necessary.

I figure if your RV sits long enough to warrant putting it or the tires on blocks, you need a new hobby.

[pdqparalegal1]

Grass rotting out(rusting) a steel frame. That’s a new one. Not unless you take the wheels and axles off and put frame directly on wet grass.
Have fun. 😁

[babock]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

I figure if your RV sits long enough to warrant putting it or the tires on blocks, you need a new hobby.

This we agree on.

[babock]

https://www.goodyearrvtires.com/tire-storage.aspx

Last section

[Oaklevel]

Originally Posted by Chazman

You don't store it over grass for long periods, do you? Years ago we had one that we stored on the grass and the frame rotted. I was told years later it was because we stored it on the grass. We have a concrete pad now.

Yes we store our trailers on the grass, sometimes pull them on wood planks. Been doing it for over 35 years no ill effects. I currently own 6 trailers and 2 vehicles that sit on grass.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by pdqparalegal1

Grass rotting out(rusting) a steel frame. That’s a new one. Not unless you take the wheels and axles off and put frame directly on wet grass.
Have fun. 😁

Agree

Also, if you leave the vehicle parked long enough on the grass it will all die from lack of sunlight. In time you'll have just a big rectangular dirt patch.

[jtesta1]

I just go camping year round. Don't worry about storage or winterizing.