Parking on a sloped driveway

[joes2901]

Originally Posted by AbdRahim

Anyone park on a sloped driveway? Any problems with the windshield breaking or popping out?

For a 36 foot class A, the front wheels would be about 16-18" off the ground. I am wondering about the frame twisting going in and out of the driveway, and consequent damage to the MH.

I park my 30' Bay Star on my driveway with a compound slop. The lot is on a steep hill and the passenger side is lower. The driveway is a less steep grade but I have to use an 8" block on the passenger side and 4" block on the driver side and the Equalizer hydraulic jacks are almost fully extended. I had add an extra quart of fluid to the jack's tank to get them to extend enough to level the coach in the driveway.

I back up the driveway, put chocks on each side of the rear wheels, place the blocks under the front jacks, put a 4 way level on the floor, and then manually extend the front jacks a few inches at a time alternating between the driver and passenger jacks until I am level. The front, refrig, and bathroom doors do not swing toward any low side. This method does not cause any squeeks, groans, or noise as is it jacked up. I also lower it the same way until until the wheels are back on the pavement before I use auto-retrack to fully retract the jacks before driving away.

I need a 19" 2 step platform before I can step up to the lowest step of the stairs. The picture below shows the result.

[bobbelcher]

Originally Posted by joes2901

I park my 30' Bay Star on my driveway with a compound slop. The lot is on a steep hill and the passenger side is lower. The driveway is a less steep grade but I have to use an 8" block on the passenger side and 4" block on the driver side and the Equalizer hydraulic jacks are almost fully extended. I had add an extra quart of fluid to the jack's tank to get them to extend enough to level the coach in the driveway.

I back up the driveway, put chocks on each side of the rear wheels, place the blocks under the front jacks, put a 4 way level on the floor, and then manually extend the front jacks a few inches at a time alternating between the driver and passenger jacks until I am level. The front, refrig, and bathroom doors do not swing toward any low side. This method does not cause any squeeks, groans, or noise as is it jacked up. I also lower it the same way until until the wheels are back on the pavement before I use auto-retrack to fully retract the jacks before driving away.

I need a 19" 2 step platform before I can step up to the lowest step of the stairs. The picture below shows the result.

Attachment 236926

I love following discussions like this because of the difference in peoples opinions. I used to have a driveway that was sloped and slanted a little bit and never had an issue. my front passenger wheel would be off the ground several inches anytime i leveled it at home. I have a nice level pad for it at my current house. but when I go to the gf's parents house. my driverside tires are off the ground because of the slope that i have to park on there. I do tend to stack as much cribbing under the jacks to keep from extending the jacks out super far like you are describing.

I am waiting on people to comment on how your jack shafts look like they are bending in your picture.

[AbdRahim]

Thanks joes2901. You might want to put a ramp or a few block under the front wheels to take some tension off the suspension. That is what I do. I only level when running the fridge before a trip or if there is only a week or two between trips.

Twisting the frame backing in is my major concern. I just measured the slope and I should have about 12" rise in 12 feet. So if the 3628 has a nine ft overhang like my Forester, it should not bottom out backing in. The street is 26' across, so there may be just enough space to straighten at least 95% if I take my time. I guess neighbors will just have to wait to pass. windshields on A's seem to be fragile. So far no one has chimed in who has experienced damage from this maneuver. Sounds like much patience and caution is required in backing in and leveling.

[Unplanned Tourist]

The amount of chassis twist will depend a lot on the frame and body construction.
My brother has an older DP with a Roadmaster chassis that is stiff enough to cause a front wheel to come off the ground 5-6 inches going into a friend's driveway. The owner drives in the same driveway and no wheels are off the ground, but a 1 inch gap opened up in one corner of his windshield!
So it is dependent on your choice of rig how much twist it will stand.
Not a problem to raise the wheels however far to level it. Your fridge will thank you.
Happy Glamping.

[Dav L]

Originally Posted by AbdRahim

Twisting the frame backing in is my major concern. I just measured the slope and I should have about 12" rise in 12 feet. So if the 3628 has a nine ft overhang like my Forester, it should not bottom out backing in. The street is 26' across, so there may be just enough space to straighten at least 95% if I take my time. I guess neighbors will just have to wait to pass. windshields on A's seem to be fragile. So far no one has chimed in who has experienced damage from this maneuver. Sounds like much patience and caution is required in backing in and leveling.

Are you backing straight up the hill? then no twist.
Twist comes in when you are going up the hill transitioning up an angle, usually while turning.
So if you can straighten the rig out on the level road and then back up the hill, not a problem with twist.

[AbdRahim]

That is the problem. There is barely, if enough room to back straight in. I have been backing the C in diagonal. But concerned for windshield on an A, especially since it will be 6' longer than the C.

[Bigjim7t]

Our driveway solution is kinda heavy but works very well. I brought home some 2x12 boards and cut 8 pieces with each about 8-9” shorter then fastened boards together with lags. We’ve dragged these out each autumn, lined everything up and backed in. I could’ve cut one more but this arrangement brings ‘er close enough to level for everything to function correctly.
Heavy duty MN engineering!!

[mhbell]

I broke 3 windshields on 36 foot motor homes. 2 of them on a 1998 Tropical and one on a 1995 Dolphin. A jack got stuck in the down position and a factory rep kept extending it until it was fully extended. The other 3 jacks were not extended. He finally released the stuck jack causing it to release all at once torquing the coach and breaking the windshield and popping it partly out with a big bang like a gun shot the MFR paid for it. Had the Windshield pop and crack on the Tropical while going out of a service station at an angle. Another time exiting a friends driveway that was really steep.
Mel

[bluepill]

These guys don't seem to be worried about frame twist, but they do run 2 piece windshields.....

https://youtu.be/ZiNR3kTq_pc

[SKI COACH]

When my fridge is running my wheels are up and my RV tech of 15 years says no problem !!!

[rcnuts]

With respect, some of the thread responders aren't reading the OP's original post. Where theres a will, theres a way!
Anyway, heres a question to the OP. When you back into your driveway, can you backup 4 or 5 feet further than where the MH will be parked? I ask that because it makes a lot more sense to pull onto blocking. If so, Id:
1) Build SOLID wood blocking much wider and longer than what would appear to be necessary. Don't even consider store bought ramps, no matter how heavy they are. Id build 2 solid wood ramps 2' wide and 3' long. Yeah, they will be heavy. That would give you plenty of margin pulling FORWARD onto this solid blocking.
2) Compromise. If you need 16-18" to get her level consider 12-14", which gives a larger margin of safety. I too have had to negotiate a steep driveway. Never had any problems.
Harris

[bird6465]

Getting the coach level after parking is certainly doable, but I would be very concerned about twisting backing in. I went through a dip in AZ one time and the twist popped off 2 pieces of wood trim, 1 of those wooden plugs that cover screws and blew open the door of the microwave and messed up the latch so bad I had to remove it and take it apart to reset the latch. Motorhomes don't like being twisted and I would never subject mine to regular twisting.

[Jautry]

Originally Posted by AbdRahim

Anyone park on a sloped driveway? Any problems with the windshield breaking or popping out?

For a 36 foot class A, the front wheels would be about 16-18" off the ground. I am wondering about the frame twisting going in and out of the driveway, and consequent damage to the MH.

I have EXACTLY the same situation here (Kansas City MO). For 3 years, I haven't had any difficulties with the coach, including the windshield. My main issue is I can't start the fridge 'til I get on the road. I'd like to modify the driveway so I can come up farther for a more level spot, decreasing the decline angle. Not sure it's worth the expense though.


J Autry

[soberskier]

Originally Posted by AbdRahim

No twist, but I cannot back straight in, so one rear wheel will engage the slope before the other. There is no place else to park, but is a huge factor in choice of MH. Currently, I park a shorter C here. I really want an A.

Not a good thing. Cracked windshield can easily happen if the coach has a twist in the body. We have replaced two windshields after one wheel dropped into a ditch torquing entire coach...not once but twice.