Long Term Storage: On wheels on jacks or on blocks

[hobo]

Just curious:  When we get our trailer home this spring, we'll be parking it in a covered shelter with a level concrete floor.  When the trailer is in the storage mode, do we simply leave it parked on it's wheels or do we take some pressure off of the tires by lifting it with the jacks and then placing blocks under the frame?  What's the best practice?

 

Thanks

[topgun2]

Hobo -

 

You're looking at a fairly large "can of worms" with this question.  See as many discussions here on the Forum regarding the use of the jacks/levelers as you can find and that should give you an idea of the various opinions on the subject of "lifting" the Oliver's frame.

 

Other than simply leaving the Oliver on its wheels for long term storage, another method would be to use "tire supports" such as the Andersen levelers.  Since these are curved they would not "flat spot" the tires as much as they would otherwise be if left on a plain flat floor.

 

Bill

[skalywag]

Hobo,

 

I have mine parked on a concrete surface as well. I extend the trailers jacks (one at a time) to allow me to rotate each wheel 180 degrees. I do this about every 30 days to prevent flat spotting. Seems to work well.  Those tires are crucial and I want to baby them. Good topic.

[KountryKamper]

Hobo,

 

I have mine parked on a concrete surface as well. I extend the trailers jacks (one at a time) to allow me to rotate each wheel 180 degrees. I do this about every 30 days to prevent flat spotting. Seems to work well. Those tires are crucial and I want to baby them. Good topic.

 

We do the same thing except rotate 90 degrees every 30 days.

 

 

[Geronimo John]

Hull 342 is parked in a dark shed on gravel.  I place jack pads under the jacks and unload the tires (by my best guess) by 50%.  In nine months when see her again I hope that she has hatched a new set of baby tires.   :-)

[DavidS]

I had read about tire "flat spots" during RV storage, and the consensus seemed to be that flat spots usually round out once the vehicle is driven. However, from my reading it seemed that prolonged storage with the tires on cement was more of a problem. So my low tech solution was to put a thin piece of plywood under Ollie's tires in my storage unit. Apparently tires on wood is preferable to cement for long-term storage, if you can believe everything you read on the web.

[donthompson]

Do not support your Ollie by placing jack stands under the axles. Do not support the Ollie in storage using the built-in jacks. When I picked up my camper in March 2017, I was warnedagainst using the electric jacks for this purpose. I used jack stands for about 3 weeks before I found info on the Dexter website warning against it. In that short period of time, supporting the weight of the camper on the jack stands deformed the axles! I store my camper indoors, on a concrete floor. The unit is unheated. I have never had any issues with flat-spotting tires.

[Mainiac]

I was thinking of rotating my tires 270 degrees, counter clockwise, doing this every 90 days on a 30 day cycle. But then February, with only 28 days showed up. Besides I would have to shovel path to get to it. New plan. Guess we will have to continue as we have successfully done before. Hook up, check tire pressure, drive off. After all, Spring and Daylight Savings Time is less than 30 days away here in the northeast, and that means camping season locally...

[BackofBeyond]

Another interesting topic, flat spots on tires from prolonged storage.

 

Given the Dexter warnings, and similar about using the installed jacks as a permanent support, it seems plausible one could support the unit on solid jack stands (or other) placed under the same structure the axles support. It would represent no different stress than the installed axles. Looking at mine, it seems workable.

 

The intermittent  rotation process works for me, but I admit, I wasn't thinking about it until ya'll brought it up. It takes a few min at best. Done.

 

I have my doubts about the problem - flat spots- on a short term basis, I won't guess what that is, but auto companies have paid out warranty claims for similar - due to long periods of sitting in a storage yard somewhere.

 

For me, if I couldn't get to my unit to do a quick rotate, and I knew it would be 9 months or more sitting in storage, I'd consider stands under the frame. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother to worry much. A few miles down a warm pavement would most likely solve the issue.

 

Heck, for me, If I it was that much time between uses, I've got bigger problem. :-)

 

RB

[John E Davies]

Use the factory jacks, take some of the weight off the suspension. Lower the trailer in spring time and drive away. No worries. No flat spots. IMHO the factory recommendation to not use the built in jacks AKA stabilizers for their designed purpose is pretty ridiculous....

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

 

 

[Overland]

As Bill pointed out earlier, we've had several discussions on the use of jacks to lift the trailer.  Oliver's guideline is that they should be used as stabilizers only, and so anyone who uses the jacks differently will of course assume whatever risk of damage or injury goes along with doing so.  My personal opinion is that taking some weight off the wheels without lifting them off the ground is probably within that guideline, since that's essentially no different than stabilizing the trailer.  You can argue just how much weight you can take off the tires, but Oliver doesn't really address that, so for me I guess the dividing line, at least where the official guidelines are concerned, is when a tire lifts or you can begin to spin a tire freely.  I'd be interested to hear other opinions on that.

 

Once you get to the point of getting tires off the ground, then you're clearly outside of Oliver's guidelines, and that's a different discussion altogether.

[Maverick]

I have carried our trailer to the Oliver factory since they put out the guide lines on how to use the rear jacks/stabilizers to have the wheel bearing repacked.  Each time Oliver employees use the on board jacks/stabilizers to raise the trailer to remove the wheel and then do their work on repacking the wheel bearings.

 

The next time you carry your trailer to the Oliver factory for wheel bearing service; ask Jason how do they lift the trailer to do wheel bearing service.  Besides I watched Oliver employees use the on board jacks/stabilizers to left our trailer.

[Mike and Carol]

I have used my jacks to lift the wheels off the ground for wheel balancing. It was only for 15-30 minutes and one side at a time. I don’t think that should be an issue. Long term storage with that much on the jacks is a different story, in my view. Based on current guidance from Oliver and from the manufacturer I would be cautious about leaving my trailer elevated on the jacks for any longer period of time, even when camping.

 

As far as flatspotting the tires, the most our trailer sits unmoved is maybe a couple of months on a gravel pad. I don’t do anything as far as taking weight of the tires and we’ve had no issues at all. 6 months might make a difference, especially if the tires aren’t aired up enough, but I don’t think I’d do anything different. Mike

[John E Davies]

Each time Oliver employees use the on board jacks/stabilizers to raise the trailer to remove the wheel and then do their work on repacking the wheel bearings.

 

Do they put safety stands under the axles? I always use the factory jacks to support the entire weight of the trailer when removing wheels, but I will not venture underneath even a foot without backup  jackstands in case there is a failure.

 

BTW there have been complete failures in the past that have not been discussed widely here. I am not sure why; people should understand the benefits and risks. I would not hesitate to jack up the trailer in a safe pull-out to change a flat. But I am alaways very aware of where I put my limbs.

 

The scary cautions and “never do this!” warnings from the factory are because of the lawyers. The fact that the techs do it at the service shop suggest that this is not such a huge problem..... OTH if I lived in earthquake country I would never ever store the trailer raised up. I would want it to be able to bounce around and absorb major shocks which could wreck the jacks and the frame if they were extended.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[BackofBeyond]

John D -  you are spot on, I never get under a jacked up anything, without a secondary support. I don't change/remove wheels without secondary protection, unless no choice in the matter. I've almost killed myself to many times, unwittingly, (well , ok I knew it was risky) to do so, wittingly. :-)

 

The older I get, seems the wiser, and much less in a hurry I become.  Nine lives of a cat, pretty sure I'm down to a few less.....

 

RB