Slides in/slides out surviving the storm

[G_Hage]

As a newbie to large RV ownership, riding out the tropical storms and hurricanes in Florida are of great concern to us. We'd really hate to loose our fiver in the wind!

I've been told by my RV service tech "You always want to pull the slides in during one of these storms to make the unit safer." I've also been told "You want to leave them out because the RV will be more stable and harder to blow over." OK, now I'm confused! LOL

Part of my concern is that we are currently set up nosed to the east, and the prevailing winds seem to always hit us on the rear/curbside of the fiver. I can see the potential of taking broadside gust during one of these storm. Unfortunately all sites that are available in our park have the same orientation. My other concern is that because we store onsite (at our lot) we are required to disconnect the utilities and close the slides while not staying onsite. We typically are away for extended periods. So getting to the Fiver isn't easy in an emergency as we can be as far away as the west coast if a TS or hurricane suddenly blows up off of the coast.

So the 64K question is this, based on past experience with you long time RVers, about how much sustained wind speed or gust typically will blow a 38-41' fiver weighing 14-16K over on its side and destroy it. Left wondering if we have a snowball's chance during the hurricane season here in Florida! LOL I've even wondered if there is a way to tie the frame to the ground like the park models (and mobile homes).

Would really suck to loose this really nice unit!

 

[TexAndLinda]

I can not answer your question.

But to say what us in the utility business say, "when it comes to Mother Nature she gets what she wants and leaves the rest for us humans to sort out. So if she wants it she'll take it no matter what you precaution is."

 

[Birchwood]

Wow are all the RVs remaining in Floida during the summer destroyed during hurricanes and tropical storms?I don't think so!You don't want to be in an RV during a hurricane as the wind noise will scare you so go to a hotel until it blows over.You may think you can ride it out but you will regret it.Close your slides before you leave.

 

[marvmarcy]

We rode out hurricane David in Melbourne, FL in our house, and caught the edge of Floyd and Isabel in NC in motorhomes. None of those storms brought dangerously high winds to where we were located. We were hit broadside by a series of gusts from a bad thunderstorm in western MT while parked in a heavy motorhome. The MT incident did serious slide awning damage, and winds were recorded closeby at 100mph. We were rocking badly, but never felt like the motorhome was in danger of being blown over.

How much wind a fifthwheel trailer can handle without serious damage depends on wind angle and duration. It also depends on how much and what size debris hits the trailer. Slides out make a bigger sail and projections the wind can grab onto. We generally pull in slides when the covers start popping or winds are forecast to exceed 35 mph. We've weathered 40-45 mph broadside wind gusts overnight in MT with the slides out and sustained only minor damage from a few large flying objects. Trailers weigh much less than a large dpmh, so less wind is required to blow a trailer over. I am guessing, but would be concerned about being blown over if hit by steady broadside winds in excess of 80mph when parked - much lower winds if towing.

I would never leave slides out in a bad storm!

Marv

 

[ramdually4100king]

Never been in a hurricane but rode out a storm with 70 mph gusts in monterey, CA with the slides out. No damage to our trailer but the Montana across from us took two 200 foot trees broadside when the trees fell over. No one was hurt but took the slide off and cut trailer in half to the frame.

I also know a trailer can take on hail at 65 mph with no damage. Some time I will tell you about the east coast blizzard of 2010 ;-)

 

[TravelTiger]

We had severe straight line winds or EF zero tornado winds blow our 5ver's front legs off the blocks and bent a leg, while the unit was at its storage facility (unloaded). That's 65-85mph, minimum. We weren't there to see it happen, but noticed sheet metal fencing was tore up, a small billboard was ripped down and a few travel trailers' tongue jacks were moved off their blocks, as well. It also took off shingles on homes and broke a telephone pole about 6ft from the ground.

I felt lucky that our damage was minimal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[G_Hage]

I agree that having the slides in are better and give the wind less to grab or get under and lift the unit.

Actually, we just rode out Andrea this week in central Florida where we had broadside gust of 40-50 mph. Other than some serious shaking, no damage to slide toppers with the slides out. Main awning of course was retracted. I will admit that we parked our super sleeper tractor on the windward side of the fiver to partially block the wind and make it easy if we had to abandon the Fiver and ride out the rest of the storm in the 26K plus tractor. Now that's a hurricane contingency plan! LOL The body of the tractor protected approximately 50% of the Fiver from taking a direct hit from a gust.

I figure anything past 70 mph and its a 50/50 chance we are going to capsize the RV!!!

 

[ParkIt]

My husband worked for FEMA during Katrina and Rita, he learned far more than most have to know.
Essentially the slides out are breaking up a "wall" of wind that can slam into you sideways though each slide can sustain damage once winds get to 40+-mph if they are out. If they are in and a 45 mph hits the side, it can push the stabilizing legs and axles out of alignment or bend them, it will push the unit in a hard gust.
The hard and fast rule FEMA uses are Coaches (RV's & trailers) are grounded at 45 mph consistent winds. Helicopters 60 mph.
Like a boat you'd want the front of the unit to be facing into the wind if it's going to get that bad with the slides in, every degree its out of direct flow can increase the potential for damage.
Not sure that helps but hope so.

 

[Mizmary]

This is purely a question. If rvs can only sustain a wind of 45 mph without damage- what are we doing towing them at 55-65 mph on the freeway? Shouldn't they be able to withstand winds of 55-65 head on with the slides in with no troubles? Maybe the difference is being hooked up to the tow vehicle?

 

[ParkIt]

The mathematical premise is based on a sitting unit, not one in movement. When you are towing, a 37 mph "wall" side gust can be tough to stay in your lane and the unit will sway if not leave the pavement. The addition of an engine and 4 to 6 more wheels with even distributed weight is what allows for travel in the 50-65 mph range. You also have all your slides in as well.

There are some that can adapt their driving to accommodate for such gusts - trust me, I've seen the ones that can't and carnage their units took because of it.

 

[wesley1963]

Before you go off and tie down the unit you better make sure it is ok. Check first with your insurance carrier, bet they won't allow it. Pasco county won't allow rv tie down at all, I was told most counties are about the same concerning tie downs. People still do it though.

We've weathered some really nasty stuff. 88 mph was the highest gust recorded while here. Shakes things around a bit, but all in all the unit is pretty stable with the slides out. We had a little water intrusion at the corner of one slide, but it was during 8 hours of rain totaling 14+ inches.

 

[jayc]

We've had to ride out two hurricanes in a Bighorn that we had. We rode out the fringes of hurricane Katrina and 50-55 mph winds with no damage with slides out and my wife rode out hurricane Ike in Louisiana, 50-60 mph winds while I had to work. She said that the wind noises were bad but the trailer didn't suffer any damage. We've had slide toppers.

 

[wdk450]

I would inspect your slide seals before the wind and rain come as mine tend to not be folded out all the way up the slide. You should be able to "pop" them in place with a thin tool and a ladder. I gotta do this today, as I hear some afternoon/evening/overnight thunderstorms are coming to the Elkhart area.

 

[jmgratz]

I can tell you during Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Ike we had sustained winds of 78-85 mph and gusts to 107 mph where our home is. Our Landmark was parked in the driveway next to the house during both. As you know Hurricane winds change direction as the Hurricane moves so keeping the RV nosed into the wind is not feasible. We had the Landmark parked with the stabilizers down and the slides in during Rita and Ike and it survived both without any damage in both storms. We stayed in our house and watched the trees fall and stuff blow around. Lost power and water for 2 weeks in both storms. A friend of ours stayed in his Teton 5er as a full timer and every time a severe storm, tropical or otherwise, came through he would put in his slides and hook up to his F650 Supercruzer and keep the 5er legs and stabilizers extended. His theory was keeping it hooked up to the truck helped stabilize it more. Bottom line, in my opinion, is when a storm that bad is coming you need to hook up the fifth wheel and haul a.. Isn't that why they put wheels on it? If it isn't possible to leave with the unit then you should abandon the unit and get to a save location pronto. Hope this helps. By the way, any storm expert will tell you "trying to ride out severe weather in a fifth wheel, travel trailer, motor home, or mobile home is foolish".

 

[ParkIt]

Jim, my Uncle in law lives on Lake Pontchartrain and they've had a 40' 5th wheel for decades (usually buy a new one every 6-7 years). What Uncle Bucky did when they bought the land was to bulldoze a 30' "hill" where they built the house and separate garage just for the 5th wheel, super reinforced for hurricanes. When Katrina and Rita hit, they had to bail from the house to the 5th wheel where they were much safer but since New Orleans was home, he knew better than to try to outrun any hurricane.

While a few folks got lucky staying in their towables, there were far more that didn't. I've got over 2,000 pictures my husband took of the damage and seeing RV's, 5th wheels and TT's ripped to shreds, sometimes miles from the park they were at is an ugly thought since most were in their units trying to ride out the storm. The outcome is not something I would post here other than what you've already said - "trying to ride out severe weather in a fifth wheel, travel trailer, motor home, or mobile home is foolish".

 

[Wolfpackers]

As to the original question...I doubt there's a finite answer due to so many variables, but I'll pass my experience and advice on. Keep in mind we are from NC and never spent any time in the Midwest. We were in Kansas last Sept and a rain storm came up...just rain at first, then without any warning, it began to hail and the winds picked up exponentially. We were in our prior RV, 10K lbs, one superslide. When I saw tree branches breaking off and landing 50-75 feet away, I didn't feel safe even trying to get into the truck to go to a stix/brix building. This lasted about 30-45 minutes and the fifth wheel was rocking so hard that I figured we'd go over if the right combination of gusts hit us. The wind was coming at the door side...slideout was on other side. We were in a small city rv park and there were several empty sites between us and the wind direction, so nothing to block the wind close to us. I expected the tornado siren to go off, but it never did.

The next day we learned that we had experienced 73 mph straight line winds. I had an empty milk crate under the rv and I found it about a 1/4 mile away. I had 2x6's under the rear stabilizers and the one on the door side was about 40 ft away in the parking lot, so we were definitely rocking enough to raise the jack off of the block.

As for advice, I would bring slides in if the winds were getting above 40mph...it'll save slide toppers if you have them and help prevent water intrusion on the windward side. Another piece of advice I received after our experience is to fill the fresh water tank to lower the center of gravity...could also fill waste tanks as well if you have advance warning of the high winds. Another must is to find out what county you are in !!!!! That way, if there are warnings on TV for your county, you will know its YOU they're talking about. Don't ask me how I found out that tip...LOL. As for hurricanes...you need to get the H__L out of there beforehand. For tornados, you don't get as much warning, but usually enough to get OUT of an RV and into a building or better yet..underground.

 

[jmgratz]

As to the original question...I doubt there's a finite answer due to so many variables, but I'll pass my experience and advice on. Keep in mind we are from NC and never spent any time in the Midwest. We were in Kansas last Sept and a rain storm came up...just rain at first, then without any warning, it began to hail and the winds picked up exponentially. We were in our prior RV, 10K lbs, one superslide. When I saw tree branches breaking off and landing 50-75 feet away, I didn't feel safe even trying to get into the truck to go to a stix/brix building. This lasted about 30-45 minutes and the fifth wheel was rocking so hard that I figured we'd go over if the right combination of gusts hit us. The wind was coming at the door side...slideout was on other side. We were in a small city rv park and there were several empty sites between us and the wind direction, so nothing to block the wind close to us. I expected the tornado siren to go off, but it never did.

The next day we learned that we had experienced 73 mph straight line winds. I had an empty milk crate under the rv and I found it about a 1/4 mile away. I had 2x6's under the rear stabilizers and the one on the door side was about 40 ft away in the parking lot, so we were definitely rocking enough to raise the jack off of the block.

As for advice, I would bring slides in if the winds were getting above 40mph...it'll save slide toppers if you have them and help prevent water intrusion on the windward side. Another piece of advice I received after our experience is to fill the fresh water tank to lower the center of gravity...could also fill waste tanks as well if you have advance warning of the high winds. Another must is to find out what county you are in !!!!! That way, if there are warnings on TV for your county, you will know its YOU they're talking about. Don't ask me how I found out that tip...LOL. As for hurricanes...you need to get the H__L out of there beforehand. For tornados, you don't get as much warning, but usually enough to get OUT of an RV and into a building or better yet..underground.

Most site maps (the site map/area guide you get when you check in) will have the county you are in on it somewhere (usually on the front). Many parks will have a designated storm shelter. Ask when you check in. Not to get off subject but many RV parks are located near or at bodies of water (lakes, rivers, streams etc). With bad storms you many times also get heavy rains. We have seen many parks with RV under water due to flooding. Be sure to know your evacuation routes too. (Remember the Nashville KOA flood?)