Hurricane Irma and my RV

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Raidmagic

Active member
Joined
Jun 25, 2017
Posts
26
Location
Tampa, FL.
Alright guys, looking for your thoughts here. Should I put down my levelers or leave them up? I'm west central Fl and we will be getting some bad weather. We are boarded up and ready for the storm but I'd like to be more comfortable about the RV.  My thoughts are with them up the suspension will sway with the wind which would be forgiving, with them down it would be more stable but would that increase the chance of a tip over? Thoughts? Discussion? Thanks.
 
If you can put them down enough to stabilize the vehicle without the jacks holding all the weight, that would be pretty stable. you want to park it next to a sturdy building that will help block the wind, too, if you can.
Most of the wind is probably going to be coming from east, and north. unless the eye shifts further west.
 
Raid magic, was that you I saw on tv putting plywood over the windows on an old beat-up motor home? If that wasn't so scary, it would lt be funny. Get thee unto a shelter.
 
lol no that wasn't me. I plan on parking it in the front yard  parallel with the house. With the current track we should see winds from the east and then North as it passes. I'm going to put it in front of my house which faces south. I live on an acre and have a lot of trees in the back yard. With it up front I have less a chance of tree damage.
 
The ONLY way to guarantee no damage to your RV is to drive it North out of FL.  Maybe North of GA too.

You can park it anywhere you want but there are no guarantees it will not be damaged if it's in FL.

This is the largest Hurricane on record so all bets are off.

Good luck and I hope you come out of it OK.

Remember that it can be replaced but you and your Family no so much.
 
Latest update from NOAA shows another shift to the west, again. you could be seeing more East and south winds, in Central Florida.

Pretty much have to do what you can, and hope for the best, it seems.

Still not too late to come visit Colorado for a few days.
 
Raidmagic said:
Alright guys, looking for your thoughts here. Should I put down my levelers or leave them up? I'm west central Fl and we will be getting some bad weather. We are boarded up and ready for the storm but I'd like to be more comfortable about the RV.  My thoughts are with them up the suspension will sway with the wind which would be forgiving, with them down it would be more stable but would that increase the chance of a tip over? Thoughts? Discussion? Thanks.

If the wind is strong enough to roll the vehicle, probably won't matter much one way or the other.... just a guess tho.  The levelers are inboard of the wheels but if it pivots on the levelers it will push on the wheels/tires too.  If it were me, I'd be thinking of a way to strap 'er down to some anchors outboard of the vehicle that are tied to the chassis/frame if you want more leverage...
 
I think I would try to get the RV as far away from my home as I could. That thing is not designed or constructed for the type of winds, etc., that you may endure. It may very well end up totally torn into pieces of shrapnel that are blown towards your home and really do some damage to it or even hurt you and your family.
 
No John. Western Carolinas are in the cone. Eastern is the way to go.
 
Well we aren't going anywhere. We aren't in an evacuation area so we are leaving that to the people that need to get out. Like I said above we are as prepared as we are going to get. Just hoping for the best now.
 
Just read on another forum that someone from west central FL was ordered to evacuate yesterday at 2 p.m. They left in their RV at 11:00 a.m. and only got 75 miles from home in about 8 hours. The two gas stations they saw that had gas were backed up for a mile. They turned around and went home as they were afraid they'd run out of gas and be stranded on the side of the road during the storm. So, leaving is not as easy as some of you make it sound.

Those of us who are not in an evacuation area (like Raidmagic & myself) don't need to get on the road and make it worse for those who must evacuate.
 
Raid,

Maybe this will help maybe it won't but if it were me and I were staying [at this point you don't have a choice] I would put it where it is as protected from the wind and as far away from trees and other anticipated debris as possible.  I would place wide outrigger pads down and lower the outriggers to the pads but only to the point of taking some bubble out of the tires but still leaving weight on the tires.  This will give you as much surface area for stability as possible.  if you can I would also drive rebar or some other substantial rod into the ground and strap from the rod to the frame to use as hurricane straps, just like they do for double wide trailers.  I would also fill ALL of the water tanks (fresh water, black water and grey water) simply to add weight to your bus at the lowest point.  Assuming you properly secure it and the wind doesn't flip it your biggest issue will be debris which is what causes the greatest damage in any hurricane so if you can provide any sheeting protection such as ply-board and secure it around the bus with straps so it doesn't become debris you will have done all you can.

Some might disagree with filling your black and grey water tanks with fresh water thinking that you may need those for use after the storm if your home looses power.  As soon as the major winds subside but while it is still raining go outside and open your black and grey water handles to dump them in the rain right on the ground where it is sitting.  Remember this is all fresh water and any residue that was in the black tank will be diluted by the rain - no different than a drain field.

Good luck and if you think about it post an update in a couple of days to let us know how you fared.
 
ClickHill said:
Raid,

Maybe this will help maybe it won't but if it were me and I were staying [at this point you don't have a choice] I would put it where it is as protected from the wind and as far away from trees and other anticipated debris as possible.  I would place wide outrigger pads down and lower the outriggers to the pads but only to the point of taking some bubble out of the tires but still leaving weight on the tires.  This will give you as much surface area for stability as possible.  if you can I would also drive rebar or some other substantial rod into the ground and strap from the rod to the frame to use as hurricane straps, just like they do for double wide trailers.  I would also fill ALL of the water tanks (fresh water, black water and grey water) simply to add weight to your bus at the lowest point.  Assuming you properly secure it and the wind doesn't flip it your biggest issue will be debris which is what causes the greatest damage in any hurricane so if you can provide any sheeting protection such as ply-board and secure it around the bus with straps so it doesn't become debris you will have done all you can.

Some might disagree with filling your black and grey water tanks with fresh water thinking that you may need those for use after the storm if your home looses power.  As soon as the major winds subside but while it is still raining go outside and open your black and grey water handles to dump them in the rain right on the ground where it is sitting.  Remember this is all fresh water and any residue that was in the black tank will be diluted by the rain - no different than a drain field.

Good luck and if you think about it post an update in a couple of days to let us know how you fared.



Good stuff, these are the types of ideas I'm looking for. I didn't consider filling the grey and black tanks. I'm going to do that now. Unfortunately supplies are gone so covering it with anything to protect it won't happen. I could put the cover on it but I think that would just ruin the cover. It's going in the front yard as there are no trees there but it will open it up to blowing debris but I'd rather take my chances with that than a tree falling on it.
 
Raidmagic said:
Good stuff, these are the types of ideas I'm looking for. I didn't consider filling the grey and black tanks. I'm going to do that now. Unfortunately supplies are gone so covering it with anything to protect it won't happen. I could put the cover on it but I think that would just ruin the cover. It's going in the front yard as there are no trees there but it will open it up to blowing debris but I'd rather take my chances with that than a tree falling on it.

Another thing you could do is tie your awning by throwing a couple of ropes around the RV to keep the awning from unfurling.  Do the same for slideout toppers.
 
Thanks for checking in. We came through with flying colors. Everything went as well as you could ask. There is damage in the area but we escaped with just some small limbs down and a sleepless night. No damage, thanks for the ideas.
 
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