Tire maintenance for winter

[Lost]

Just had a crushed asphalt driveway put in.. do I need to park the 5th wheel on wood or can I park it on the driveway without wood underneath the tires for the winter?

[Mic]

I park on some wolmanized 2x14 planks on gravel driveway..

[dutchmensport]

Depending on how heavy your trailer is, and depending on how thick and much foundation is under the asphalt, will determine if you should put something under the tires.

First, it does not hurt the tires at all to park on asphalt, or gravel, or concrete, or wood, or rubber, or anything. Tires are tires. If you car or truck can sit on the surface, your trailer tires can too. With that out of the way....

Why park on lumber or some other material when already on asphalt? Answer? The weight of the trailer will (in time) cause the asphalt to dimple under the trailer tires, leaving depressions where the tires sit. Again, depending on the weight of the trailer, how thick and compact the asphalt is, and how much foundation stone is under the asphalt will all drive how fast the dimpling process occurs .... but it will! Unless the asphalt was poured on top of concrete, it will dimple in time.

Putting a wide long board under the tires helps distribute the weight of the trailer and reduces the dimpling effect. However, I have over 8 inches of foundation stone and have another 8 - 10 inches of asphalt on top of that (depending on which side of the drive you are on (it's sloped sideways). It's been resurfaced with the original under it. We had the resurfacing done about 5 years ago and I keep my fifth wheel on boards.

Even with that, after time, the boards themselves (8 feet long and 12 inches wide) still have left about a 1 inch depression now. I've had to add another board on top of the first one to help keep the trailer level side to side because of my sloped side-to-side drive way for rain run off.

I just leave the lumber there in place all the time. I never move it now. Also, I use blocks under my stabilizer jacks (Lippert 6 point auto level electric jacks). And where each of those jacks touch the ground, I also put blocks under them. The blocks shorten the length the jacks have to extend, and it makes the trailer more stable being shorter.

But where those blocks sit on the asphalt, those spots are also dimpled. But, because I now have permanent spots in the drive way, I always park the camper and align the tires on the exact same spot when returning home. I painted markers on the asphalt for exactly where the tires need to be, so the tires and jacks always hit the exact same spot. I figure the dimples are there to stay, I don't want to create new one. I'll just keep adding more lumber on top of the old as the dimple continues to get deeper and deeper. And remember, I have almost a foot of stone and asphalt I'm parking on, and the asphalt still dimples. Summer heat just does that, and the weight of the camper.

That's why keeping a large and long and thick board (treated lumber) between the asphalt and the tires is a good thing to do. Again, the surface will not affect the tires at all. It's all about helping to protect the drive way.

Hope this helps! Your choice, Nothing wrong with doing it either way .... lumber or not.

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by Lost

Just had a crushed asphalt driveway put in.. do I need to park the 5th wheel on wood or can I park it on the driveway without wood underneath the tires for the winter?

This subject has lead to exhaustive debates in the past. If your concern is strictly about the tires don't be concerned. Trailer tires age out before they wear out. As far as the tires go, the surface they set on will be far less detrimental than the sun shining on the tires.

If you're concerned about the driveway surface then having boards under the tires will help a bit. How much is a bit? That depends on a couple of variables like temperatures, soil conditions, construction materials and installation methods. For instance a sandy soil requires more substrate, drainage accommodations, etc than a hard packed or rocky soil. So a lot will depend on the contractor and if they followed the local codes (did they pull a permit?) and was it inspected by the governing authority. We can complain about oversight but typically those codes and regulations are in place for a good reason.

There's a big difference between a contractor doing " just enough" to get it to pass inspection vs doing the job with the best outcome/longevity a priority. Getting the "lowest price" often means results in the lowest performance. Bear in mind the code books are the MINIMUM requirements ensure safety. So let's say code states 4" base under the top coat. Is that base tamped or rolled? By how much, i.e. how many times was it rolled and by what weight? If the contractor drove a lawn motor powered roller off of a trailer pulled by a 1/2 ton pick up don't expect the same results of a contractor using a 10 ton vibrating roller.

[travelin texans]

If it were mine I'd park on some treated lumber, give the tires a good treatment with 303 & cover them with either a piece of plywood tucked up under the edge of the rv or custom fit covers, whatever works to keep as much sun off them as possible. Just my .02 for peace of mind!
As mentioned it's doubtful you'll ever wear out a set of rv tires, they'll age out or if one of the known China Bombs, they'll blow out long before they wear out.
With that I'd post the brand currently on there, if it's one of the China Bombs I wouldn't worry too much about how you store them, they may need replaced before you travel again. Some have been known to blowout on the spare rack never having been on the ground.