Permanent setup on blocks

[WILDinTHEwoods]

We have a seasonal campsite now and I need help with a couple of setup things.
1.  I'm thinking of taking the wheels off, (going to store them in our shed) to get them out of the sun and so I can lower the camper a little so that the deck doesn't have to be so high.  Is this a good or bad idea?
2.  I am going to put the trailer on blocks and remove the hitch.  Including the hitch and bumper the PT is 42.5 feet long.  How many piers of blocks should I have on each side?

This "travel trailer" is really big.  It's a Wildwood PT 402-2B with 3 slides and 1 1/2 baths.  The dealer is delivering it to the campground and if everything goes well it will be there for as long as we own it.  And heavy too, around 12,000#.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

No reason I can think of not to do this. You can probably remove the axles and wheels by unbolting the suspension from its anchor points on the frame. I'd sell the tires and axles - the tires will be rotten after 7 years anyway and they take up a lot of storage space. If you ever need to move the trailer, a mobile home moving company will usually be able to provide axles for the move.

I would put blocks under the frame about every 10 feet.  They will probably settle after a few weeks and need to be re-shimmed unless you pour concrete pads for the blocks to rest on.

 

[Ned]

In some areas, if you remove the wheels and make the trailer a permanent installation, it will be subject to property taxes.  If the wheels are left on and the trailer is kept licensed, it's not taxed.  The campground owners should be able to tell you if that applies in your area.

 

[WILDinTHEwoods]

Thanks guys!  I think Gary is big on removing the axles.   I've seen him say remove the axles before.  If there's room between the top of the axle and the bottom of the camper I am thinking I might storethe wheels on top of the axles.

Every 10 feet..... that makes sense.  That would give me 5 piers on each side.

Should I still use the stabilizer jacks for ease of adjustment?

The taxes thing.  I never even considered that.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The stabilizers are just that - stabilizers. They aren't intended to support the entire weight of the trailer.

 

[WILDinTHEwoods]

The stabilizers are just that - stabilizers. They aren't intended to support the entire weight of the trailer.

That's disappointing.  I ordered the camper with the stabilizers thinking I could use them.  This is what the product description says... "Bal Levelling Jacks extend from 4 inches to 24 3/16 or 30 inches, and have 7,500 pound capacity per jack."

I think the difference is in the type of jack we are talking about.  My TrailLite Bantam had "stabilizer" jacks.  The owners manual said that they were ONLY for stabilizing the camper, NOT lifting the camper.  The Wildwood comes with "Levelling" jacks.  They're like a larger version of the jack that came with my car to change the tire.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

"Levelers" are different than "stabilizers". You inquired about using the "stabilizers" and described what you had as "stabilizers", but it appears you ordered the BAL brand "levelers", which should be more capable and usable to actually lift the frame of the trailer..

 

[WILDinTHEwoods]

Forest River calls them stabilizers in the brochure.  What I think are stabilizers are the ones that have a single arm that comes down, and what I think are levellers are the ones that look diamond shaped like the Bal brand levellers.