Leveling and Stabilizing 5th Wheel in Year Round RV Park

[EurekaJ]

Hello all, this will be our first RV and after researching late last year, reading reviews, looking at layouts and corresponding with various manufactures customer service departments we have chosen the Silverado by Bighorn 36TB and are excited about being a Heartland RV owner.

We will be parking our RV year round for a least the first couple years, at a private RV park in Montana that has water, electricity and sewer to each site. We plan on building a deck and other fixtures to make this our weekend getaway from May to Oct. We do not a a vehicle to tow this unit so the Dealer will be placing it for us.

Our unit is 39'11" and will be coming with "Hydraulic Front Landing Gear' and "Electric Rear Jacks". The ground we are parking on will be gravel/rock. It is a new site and are hoping the park owners can level the ground the best they can. We want to level and stabilize the RV the best and right way.

We have a couple questions.
1. Would pressure treated 2x8's/2x10's under each set of tandem wheels be best, then level from there?
2. We will not have the opportunity to have many custom options for leveling since we are using the dealer to deliver the unit, so we will not have much time. Would pre-fab plastic leveling blocks be best to have on hand?
3. In regards to tire chocks, would Bal-X locking chocks be a good idea? Would this type of chock damage the tires if left in place for a year or 2? Recommendations?
4. I have been reading in various forums about not extending the RV landing gear and jacks too far, so therefore I should put blocks of wood under all of them?
5. Since my unit will be stationary year round I do not think investing in stabilizing arms/bars would be the beat idea, would inexpensive stack jacks work best? and if so what weight capacity should they be and where should I place them and NOT place them. The dry weight of the unit is 11,600 and we can sleep up to 10.

I look forward to some recommendations as well I look forward to contributing to this forum for years to come when/where I can!!

Thanks,
Andy

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Andy, Congrats on the new Bighorn Silverado. If you can get to your site prior to the dealer arriving, I would say to place treated 2X10's where the tires will sit. Using 2X10's will insure the tires don't hang over the edge of the wood.
You can pre level the 2x10's side to side with a nice straight 8ft. 2X4 and a 4 ft level. This will get the rig level side to side. Once the dealer drops the trailer you can take it from there.
Get about 8 or so 8X8X16 concrete blocks.
Retract the front landing gear. This will raise the rear of the rig. Place a couple of concrete blocks under the rear frame rails about 4 ft ahead of the rear elec jacks. Extend the front legs so that the rear frame is on the blocks and the trailer is slightly high in the front. You can use wood on top of the rear concrete blocks as needed to reach the height of the frame.
Set more blocks and wood as needed under the front section frame rails between the hydraulic legs and the tires. Close to the storage bay would work. Retract the landing gear until the frame is resting on the blocks. Use the front landing legs and rear stabilizers to add additional support.

X chocks wont hurt the tires but be sure to cover the tires and make sure the covers can't be blown away by the wind.

A little extra advise, turn of the water and LP while you are not at the rig. Enjoy!!!

 

[goldenbetty]

Shouldn'the slides be closed as well when they are away?

 

[EurekaJ]

Thanks for the great info Ray!

My rig comes with 4 slides in total (3 slides opposite the door and one middle Kitchen slide on the door side) Should I be raising the side with 3 slides slightly to compensate for the weight of the slides? If so by how much?

When I do put the 2x10's under the wheels, "roughly" how much height will there be to the underside of the frame rails?

I do plan on closing the slides when we are not there. (Friends who are there now always keep their slides open and I don't understand that)

In regards to the electricity, it should be ok to leave on/plugged in? Keep my fridge running. I am planning on buying a Progressive Industries EMS-PT50C external surge protector as well.

So when I am using my rig on the weekends and vacations will I be using any LP. Should I switch to LP from time to time? It will always be parked and plugged into all the services on site.

Andy

 

[DuaneG]

When not on blocks the x-chocks do help our 33RK. I have to tighten them a bit to lessen the bounce and not sure I would want them on for two years. My aunt has parked her trailer for two years at a park and not moved it. I looked at the tires and I would not attempt to move it because they look un road worthy. Must be due to the weather and not being able to move them around once in a while. Also unless you upgraded your tires they are probably Towmax tires and it doesn't matter how you store it. Just plan on getting new tires in a couple years before moving it. Many of posts about those tires on this forum.

I also agree the water should be turned off when you leave. We had a nightmare water problem when our outside shower exploded from behind and flooded our undercarriage. That was from crappy Chinese equipment and not extreme weather. You might want to keep a heater on low when it gets freezing outside unless you are going to drain all water lines and winterize the unit during the winter. Otherwise you will have lots of problems when you stop by for a visit.

As for gas, many people turn it off when they leave. I go to our unit once a week and leave the electricity on when I leave along with the gas. Once in awhile the power can go off and the gas will kick in to keep fridge on. If I wasn't going to the unit all the time I would turn the fridge off and clean it out each time.

I know this has nothing to due with leveling, but where I live rats, squirrels and other creatures will find there way in to your trailer if it sits for a long period of time. I put poison bait traps under our fifth wheel that are out of reach from kids and pets. Have not had an issue with them yet and hope they stay away, but just wanted you to be aware that if they get in they can destroy your home. They can eat through wires, walls, water pipes.

Enjoy your trailer and make sure the dealer knows you can't move it and verify they will come out to your site for repair work or be willing to work with you. They always want me to bring my trailer for repairs and some have been major issues. The little ones you just fix yourself and move on.

 

[EurekaJ]

Thanks for all the info. Unit is level as of Saturday and happy with the stability. I need to ask if there are rats or mice in the area.