Long term "parking" - what to do.

[Ted-Thompson]

When I bought my Sunline there were 2 purposes behind it. One was the idea of being able to camp in it, obviously, but the other and more important was being able to "live" on the jobsite during the week and ditch a long commute.

The plan is working out well, especially since I have shower/bathroom facilities not too far away so I only use the toilet and then only in extreme situations.

My question is this. Since making the switch other factors have made it so that the camping idea probably won't happen much, if at all, and if at all not for a long time. Would I be better off elevating the trailer so the wheel are off the ground? And if so, how? (I'm thinking jack stands) and of course where? (several points on the frame, under the axles, under the frame fore and aft of the axle... where?)

[JohnB]

Hi Ted

I’m not an expert on this but this is what I would do if that situation ever came to be. Which I hope our camper is never in that situation…..

Use 2 x 8’s under the tires to get the tires off the ground. Ground being worse is dirt, next worse is concrete. I only picked 2 x 8’s as I already have them for leveling so I have them. Key is isolate the rubber from dirt and concrete.

If you want to hold up the frame, this is a way that I know will not affect the frame. Do this on hard surface only. If your on dirt, lets talk again first. Use 4 jack stands of known equal height and place then directly behind the spring hanger on the rear axle and directly in front of the front axle spring hanger. The loads are then going into the frame like the hangers normally do. I would not really lift the trailer high up off the ground. Just take some weight off the tires but tires still bearing weight on 2 x 8.

Then use the normal trailer stabilizers to take the wiggle out.

This is some longer term stability, less pressure on the tires and can be removed quick for that camping trip you need to work in to escape work….

Hope this helps and good luck.

John

[Ted-Thompson]

Ok, thanks.

It is on asphalt. I thought it might be better to raise it until the tires were clear, just a little bit, but no?

[henryj]

People storing cars will often remove the wheels and place axle stands under... the axle. This leaves the weight on the suspension where it's supposed to be rather than dangling in mid-air. However, trailers specifically are not supposed to be lifted by the axle. The lifting points are as John indicated. If you want to lift the wheels off the ground, I would remove them, but agree with John that taking some weight off is good enough. Either way, get the tires out of the sun.

Asphalt is not a good surface for long term storage and will set under the weight. I would still use boards under the wheels and stands to spread out the weight and save the driveway.

Henry

[Ted-Thompson]

Would stands *right* behind the rear axle only and then the tongue be OK? Thinking that leveling might be a worry if there were stands fore and aft of the suspension...

Right now I have the trailer sitting on it's wheels (obviously), the tongue jack, and then two "stands" under the rear frame so it can't tip backwards (it's never tried to, I just thought it made sense)

[markbrit]

For winter storage I used 4 jackstands on the frame to raise the tires off the ground. Then another 2 smaller jackstands to lift the tires off the blacktop. Not very high, just enough.