Storing Trailer on Sloped Driveway

Hey all,

My wife and I are considering buying a house that we love pretty much everything about except the sloped driveway. Main reason being because we want to park our TT at our house, and not have to pay to store it elsewhere.

Am I crazy to think I can park/store my 29’ TT on this driveway? Anyone else dealing with similar circumstances and have any advice?

PS - Ignore the tape measure… That was my approximate measurement of the width of the trailer.

 

I don't see any issues there as long as you back the trailer in Double chock the wheels and have a good front stand that sits on solid surface, this is assuming you are going to widen the driveway on the left side by 6 foot with concrete to make a parking pad for it don't even have to go the whole length up just the area you would like to keep the trailer.

 

Hard to tell without some details like the pitch of that slope. Photos can be deceiving in that aspect.

The next question will be regarding weather, specifically winds or ice.

I've seen it done, but mostly with the nose up high to try and keep it somewhat leveled with properly preloaded and secured chalks on every wheel. You'll want them taller than what you use for flat land and you may want to figure out how to prevent them from sliding.

 

The driveway is actually about 20’ wide and the trailer is 8’ wide and a good 80’ long so I can park it to the left side and have plenty of room to drive around it.

I’m mostly worried about getting it level on that slope.

 

Fortunately we rarely see extreme weather here. However, to your point, and as I mentioned in my last post, my concern is getting it level. It won’t be used in any way while sitting in the driveway but it’s my understanding that storing your trailer not level can cause damage. And I unfortunately don’t know the exact slope.

 

So. To be clear. You want to park it AND level it. Looks relatively easy to do to me. But you need to have a good understanding of how to jack up AND jack back down a trailer approximately 2 vertical feet (what it looks like to my eye).

Full disclosure: 40 years ago I blocked and leveled commercial jobsite trailers for my job.

 

Well, let me ask this question of the group… Is it or is it not necessary to level your trailer when not in use?

I’ve read that certain items, like your refrigerator and tank level sensors, can get damaged if the trailer sits on a slope for too long. Which doesn’t make much sense to me if the tanks are empty and fridge is off. But I don’t know these things well enough to have an educated opinion.

 

I've always understood it to be more a matter of drainage and structural stress. Not that it needs to be perfectly level when not in use, but that driveway is a healthy incline. Owners manual will tell you what is recommended.

 

My driveway is a similar grade as yours and I park a 30' TT in it.

My wheels are double chocked and I use a wheel lock. I also use a taller block under the hitch jack to get it as level as possible. I put blocks under the front leveling feet. Never had any concern or issue parking it there.

 

Do you happen to have a photo you can share? Very interested to see how you do it.

 

I've never worried about leveling with any of our travel trailers.

I use X chocks between the tires. I like these much better than incline plane chocks. There is no way to accidently dislocate the chocks by accident. In addition they lock forward and reverse tire movement. Some even have a padlock tab so the trailer can not be moved without the keys.

X-Chock Wheel Stabilizer - Pair - One Handle - 28012

$80 X-Chock Wheel Stabilizer - Pair - One Handle - 28012

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002XLHUQG

 

Yeah, I would be using both x-chocks AND wedge chocks. Can’t be too cautious when parking on a hill with no brakes!

 

The fridge won't work on propane if the trailer isn't level. And you won't be able to put the slides in and out. But I'm not aware of an issue with just letting it sit like that.

 

You could just build some ramps out of layers of wood to drive onto to compensate for the difference in heights too. Kinda depends on what the plans are over a timeline. If material costs and skills are not of concern steel or even aluminum might also be good choices.

 

Yeah cant you back it up too far then pull it forward up onto a 2x6 or 2 ramped up ?

 

I’d probably make the trailer level. You know, just in case you get in trouble and have to spend the night outside and the doghouse is already full...

 

Gotta be careful though! Might like it, hitch up, and roll out. That could get expensive!

 

I posted this over in the Grand Design forum as well and someone over there said sitting at a slope wouldn’t hurt my fridge because it’s 12v not propane. They also said as long as I don’t use my slides while in storage, it wouldn’t cause any harm.

Though, still, I’d likely try to get it as level as possible.

 

Front to back level should be easy using tongue jack and blocks. I park mine with a slope towards the back for better drainage. Side to side level also easy with some 2x6 ramps as previously mentioned. I used a 16' deck board and cut it to various lengths to make a staggered stepup ramp to the height I wanted for mine before. You level with the tires, not the stabilizer jacks as previously mentioned. If the side that's by the fence is higher, you can also regrade the area you will be parking on to get closer to level. Then use wheel chocks to keep things from rolling away. Get some quality ones, not the cheapest plastic ones you can find. Maybe do the wedges on the ground, and the X frame expandable ones for maximum stay here power. Be sure the tires on side that's off pavement aren't sitting directly on the ground long term. Put some blocks down or another 2x6 you can drive on.

 

Is it possible to take out the bushes on the right side of the picture and have a level concrete pad poured?

 

That appears to be a property line? And how would you get the camper in there? There's a fence in front of those bushes.

 

If it isn’t a property line, the garage is level. So you could pour a concrete pad beside the garage (again if it’s allowable). You could get the trailer there without too much trouble. IMO, it would be a MUCH better way to store the trailer. Having a tongue jack long enough to crank to level is going to prove difficult in my opinion. That’s going to have to be a pretty large difference to make up.

 

The right side where the bushes are is the property like and, on the other side of it, a good 10’ drop off to the neighbor’s driveway.

However, on the left side, by the fence, we’re discussing with the sellers the possibility of bringing concrete another couple feet toward the fence, widening the driveway even more. They’re already planning on redoing the entire existing driveway with Duracrete so we just inquired about bringing it over further and they’re open to it. So that would give me even more space to that side and likely level it out, side-to-side even more.

 

Just closing the loop - We're not buying this house after all, unfortunately. Found some things we didn't like about it so on to the next. However, I want to thank you all for the feedback and education! Helps me better understand storage options for my TT.