Chocking a trailer - x chocks don't and run away trailers

[StrangeBird22]

If I pull my trailer with my X-CHOCKS installed, I can move it... However the wheels are locked and CANNOT roll with properly installed X-CHOCKS, so I'm dragging it on wheels that aren't turning! With that same force, I believe I could also roll it over any conventional chock.

My trailer MIGHT slide down a steep slope with the wheels not turning, but the kind of impact that would start that motion would probably knock the trailer off a conventional chock and the wheels WOULD be rolling.

Locked wheels do a lot more than stabilize. That trailer is NOT going to move with properly installed X-CHOCKS.

That said, I ALWAYS X-CHOCK before disconnecting, because my co-pilot is standing over my shoulder to make sure it happens.

X2. I also use X-CHOCKS and did the same test on blacktop. Could drag the camper but wheels did not turn and the X-CHOCKS did not budge. That being said my rig weighs around 4500lbs. So I only use the X-CHOCKS(installed before unhooking of
course). Not sure I would do the same if it was in 12,000lbs range.

 

[dedobias]

All it takes is once.

 

[dedobias]

Weight matters some but
not entirely. Your evidence is anecdotal. Too many cases of them popping out under the load you exerted or maybe just little more. The manufacturer says they aren't intended for chocking.

 

[Traveling Circus]

I use these on our trailer. They work really well to prevent any movement.

X2 I chock both sides.

 

[dedobias]

Glad to hear it, because X Chocks aren't chocks.

 

[MikeRP]

Ok I gonna open my dirty laundry. From 2004-2012, we had a Rockwood Roo 19. Nice trailer.

We stayed at the KOA near Townsend, Tn. We got there after dark and I had a hell of a time getting the trailer onto the lot. There was just a super steep slope. Anyway, for some reason, brain fart?, we only put one chock on the camper on the left side.

When I unhooked it, mind you I had 3 college men and there college women and me and my wife with me .

When I unhooked, the camper immediately twisted. I grabbed the trailer jack and held on and screamed at my wife to ge the chock under the right side wheel which she did promptly.

If it would been a heavier trailer of would have went through the camp ground maybe killing many. Campground was full.

Scarred the crap out of me and it’s something I watch for anywhere I go now.

Fyi

 

[Tundra 2014]

Chocks

I agreed w/ all it takes is once. We were on a sloped and slanted side to side site that I had to use about 4" of blocks on 1 side to level. We chocked, X-chocked put tongue jack down to level and unhooked as normal. Site was concrete w/ sand w/ about a 3' drop off behind the trailer. Great view, bad site.
When we hooking up to leave, I was backing up the truck. It had rained and was still sprinkling. My wife decided to pull the ropes on the chocks, still had X-chocks and tongue down. Trailer slid back a couple of inches. We had a discussion to not repeat sequence, never repeated. Guessing the sand and water had some effect.
Use chocks and do not pull until revoked to TV.

 

[Johnnydog]

Similar thing with us. Parked our trailer in a park near San Antonio, cranked our X chocks tight, and went out for a bite at Mama's Restaurant. When we returned the trailer had rolled forward and bent our front stabilizers. We went to Harbor freight ( because it was Sunday and none of the RV supply houses were open)and bought some stabilizers (heavier than original by the way) and we were good to go. We never figured out why the trailer rolled with the x chocks installed, but we neve trusted them again.

 

[mike.t]

Reverse, remember always carry and use your chocks. Likewise your filming equipment and presence of mind to use it.

 

[jimmoore13]

Question:
We boondock exclusively. Left-to-right leveling is always essential...especially when at a lake-side site. Slopes can be so severe that I must dig a hole for the uphill (driver's side) wheels COMBINED with EZ RV Levelers https://smile.amazon.com/EZ-RV-Leve...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

On the cam-shaped levelers, the downhill tires are generally cradled in the opposing wedges, but as lift heights increase, there can be very little wheel-chock action from the levelers. There is no way to chock the downhill wheels when on these levelers.

Fore-and-aft slopes are generally modest...well within the tongue jack's range without extra blocks. I am very wary of setting up on a steep fore-and-aft slope...but there are times when the ball coupler may be up or down as much as 12" compared to the frame height at the axles.

I use X-chocks, but what else can I do to secure the downhill axles?

 

[dedobias]

Cam shaped Anderson levelers have a chock available for them though not sure what brand you have.
https://www.amazon.com/Leveler-Andersen-Minutes-Levelers-Leveling/dp/B01LYQ1Z8S

Personally I like the Beech better - also has chocks.
https://www.amazon.com/Beech-Lane-C...ch+leveler&qid=1610938407&s=automotive&sr=1-2

 

[Reverse_snowbird]

Reverse, remember always carry and use your chocks. Likewise your filming equipment and presence of mind to use it.

Hopefully, I'll never have that lapse of memory again. Scared the heck out of me. We were extremely lucky that they'd put a huge log at the back of the site or the trailer would be at the bottom of a steep hill and shattered by trees.
If I'd known what was going to happen, I'd have set up a camera on a tripod to catch the action. On second thought.... maybe not.

 

[comfun1]

Many years ago at Moraine Park campground in Rocky Mountain National Park a couple camped next to us in a small popup camper attempted to move it by hand after they had raised the top. Their camper got away from them and rolled out into the street. Fortunately no one was hurt. Many of the campsites at that time were far from level.

 

[phillyg]

I like x-chocks, but I proved they are not the end-all, by forgetting to remove them and pulling off. They just rolled out of position. Since they wouldn't fit on my new trailer because the tires have little clearance, I now use the One Steps that are more like a traditional chock.

 

[sailorsam20500]

For me, I've decided X-Chocks provide little if any additional stability over that provided by my One-Step chocks (both sides) and the tongue and stabilizers. I'll be selling my set at the next International Rally garage sale.
FWIW, I use boards for left/right leveling and the One-Steps function very well on a board.

 

[Bronco Carl]

Because of the wind in the northern Colorado foothills, I always chock both wheels and have the jack tube supported by a 6x6 block of wood with a hole in it for the tube. Last week the wind still pushed the tongue sliding the block about a foot.

 

[Crookedhalo]

We use Levelmate Pro combined with Anderson levelers to settle on site. Then before we fully unhook we use xChocks on each side and then regular chocks on the side without the levelers. Have had no issues. Using the Levelmate lets us pick the best spot on our site to start with.

 

[GFD47]

Like jay2703 I have a pair of the One-Step chocks, and install both before unhitching no matter what the grade. I'll admit to forgetting to remove the one under the slide-out more than once before trying to pull forward to get off my leveling boards (that one is hard to get to until you pull in the main slide-out, and by the time I get to pulling in the slide-out I've forgotten I left the chock in place). Based on how reluctant my TV and TT are to move with just one in place, they've got my vote as a great tool. After a one-time adjustment for your TT axle spacing all you do is step on them to put them in place, and pull on the cable to remove them. Way less work than X-Chocks, and designed to be actual chocks.

 

[Maddy1]

X chocks don't replace chocks

thanks for the tip, I bought the X chocks but quit using my chocks...now I will use both. Maybe they should call them stabilizers rather than chocks

 

[cyberrick]

unless your boondocking on a mountainside, I have rarely seen an improved camping site that would have my trailer roll away on a slope... now if your in an unimproved site, more often than not you will look for somewhat level ground would you not?

Sure a trailer might lean and shift 6 inches or so without a chock, but really have it roll into another site?

True Story. We went to a state park in Utah call Tony Grove. The site was a pull thru so I thought we'd be great. Well, the site was on the crest of a hill. Fairly level side to side but not end to end. My wife usually will chock the tires before we unhook but this time she got distracted. So as I'm taking it off the ball, it starts to head down the hill. Luckily, I had the hitch stand on one of those round bucket holders. It has a lip around it and caught a rock in the dirt on the way down the hill and stopped. Chocks were very quickly applied and all was safe.


Moral of the story - Always, Always put the chocks in first thing! I don't want that to happen ever again . . .