Jacking the 5er when not in use

[PSDave]

What is the tribal wisdom on lifting the coach off the tires, while it is standing unused? When off tires, I plan on jacking the 4 corners.

I live in SoCal, where the sun is pretty strong (even thru the smog, ozone and other). I have wheel covers for the 5er and my tow vehicle (for the west side. East side is protected by a 5' block fence).

Please feel free to chime-in. Thank you.

PSDave

[GBHRPS]

Antique car owners are told to not store their vehicles with the wheels and suspension hanging down unsupported, but rather with jack stands under the axles so that the weight of the car sits on the suspension but the tires are off the ground. I do this with all of my antiques as it prevents the bias ply tires from flat spotting when stored for any time

I would think you could do the same without any problems with your 5er, provided your jack stands support the trailer axles with the tires just off the ground. Obviously you'll have to use your front jacks to support the front of the trailer. Even with the trailer tilted slightly towards the front I wouldn't think you'll have any problems.

I wouldn't jack anywhere near the front or rear of the trailer frame. A friend has a 2001 276 Cougar and tried to level his unit at a camping site using one of his rear stabilizers. He managed to buckle the rear wall of the trailer on the side closet to the stabilizer jack, and even after lowering the jack the rear wall has not come back. Obviously the trailer frame back there is not able to take the same weight as it does around the suspension. Good Luck!

Gene

[Jim W]

From what I have read on other forums and from my experience as a mechanical engineer, you should not jack up the frame to raise tires off the ground when in storage. The issue here would be twisting of the frame by placing on do force when lifting a corner. You will never get all four corners up at the same time, so when you are jacking the frame up one of the outside corners will twist and cause stress in the frame. These frames are not design for this type of loading.
I store my 5er weeks at a time with just the landing legs down and no rear stabilizer lowered. The tires are placed on 2x8's that are 6 ft long when in storage. This way they are out of the mud, stones and water at the storage lot. I have tire covers that are placed on them to protect from direct sunlight.
Just my $0.02
Jim

[hankpage]

Mine sits for 11 months leveled, stabilized, tires on wood and fully inflated and covered. I've been doing this for years and never a problem. Jacking a 5er off the ground can be tricky not to twist the frame or overload the landing gear and radial tires don't seem to flat spot like biased tires used to. If you do jack all wheels up, place the jack stands as close to the spring shackles as possible. That is where the frame is designed to carry the load and don't shift too much weight forward to the landing gear. JM$.02

[PSDave]

Thank you all for the obvious, but enlightening information about trailers, per se. Jacking sequentially from the corners (single operator) would cause undue torque to be applied to the wooden or aluminum box seams and joints. I want no leaks, especially when there are alternative storage methods.
I will simply drive the 5er on a long 2x6 (one for each side), air up the tires to recommended pressure, give them all a squirt of Armor All® protectant, and cover them, as I planned!

Thank you very much,

PSDave

[Ruffus]

Hey PSDave
I had a Fleetwood Yukon fifthwheel before I went to Keystone and I put over a 120,000 miles on it before selling. It was stored at my home in Calif. on concrete and in it's later years at our home in Colorado where I would park it on 2X12 lumber to keep it from sinking in the clay. I always kept the air pressure up and the tires covered when stored. It was pulled from California to Florida, back and forth from there to mid-west and from Colorado to Fairbanks Alaska and back spending several weeks in Beautiful BC. The only problem that I ever had with tires was the tread would wear out after 50 or 60 thousand miles, go figure? My own opion is keep them aired and covered and you should be fine.

[stephano]

The advise to keep the tires covered and aired properly is correct. Jacking up the axles so that the tires are off the ground will do nothing to protect the tires. The few things that are bad for tires is not exercising them and direct constant sunlight. If the rubber is not exercised then moisture can build up inside the tire and cause it to rot and UV rays dry out the oils in the rubber. Amorall and other tire "protectants" can be worse than using nothing at all so be careful what you use and how you use it. Covering the tires and occasionally moving the trailer should keep your tires happy. This is why people cant understand why their newer tires fall apart with so much tread left on them.