Community Forums

allucinere · 12-26-2016, 12:05 PM

We have a keystone challenger fifth wheel, with new to us tires. It is currently sitting in storage, and we wanted to take all the weight off of the tires, so they can last longer. I am hoping someone can recommend the best way to do this. I did see in my manual for the axle, that you aren’t supposed to put the jack stands on the axle tube or on the equalizers. That said, what would I need to lift this thing off its tires? And where would I put it? Thank you so much 

Old Scout · 12-26-2016, 12:15 PM

Curious--why do you think lifting the tires off ground will extend service life?

V3600 · 12-26-2016, 01:06 PM

If you have 6-point leveling you can lift it and put jack stands under the axles. Or, what I do, is use a floor jack to lift the axle and slide a jack stand under it. As long as you're lifting the axle at the leaf spring a junction you'll be fine.

If you choose not to lift it, I recall Good Year, I believe who recommends increasing tire pressure by 25% for long-term storage.

FWIW, I don't do anything with my tires while in storage as they are LT truck tires and are much tougher than trailer tries. So far no issues, but then I rarely go more than 2 months between trips.

Gigattime · 12-26-2016, 02:07 PM

Had previous unit for 12 years before upgrading this past spring to a 5th wheel toy hauler and never lifted weight off tires during the off season (which for us is November through March). Never an issue. Always parked on concrete (or gravel a couple of seasons), maintained correct air pressure, and replaced when timed out. Ran Maxxis tires and never was an issue. Maybe I would think twice if leaving sit for more than 4 or 5 months.

jpharley · 12-27-2016, 09:29 AM

Tires have a finite shelf life no matter how low the mileage. One should check them often and at the 5 year mark start seriously inspecting and replacing them. If one has the "china bombs" then all bets are off. Some have reported tire issues immediately with those tires.

PhoneDude 8289 · 12-27-2016, 11:29 AM

I keep my tires at max pressure, our storage is gravel. If we are not taking it out for more than a month I will hook up, check pressures, wheel torque and take it for a 50 mile "test" drive, just a habit I formed a long time ago. It's rare that we keep it stored longer than a month. I could be wrong but I don't think raising the wheels off the ground would ad a longer life to the tires. Age on any tire on a trailer will get them long before they are worn out unless they are towed lots of miles in a years time for several years.

Whitewolf · 12-27-2016, 01:43 PM

I'm with the others that don't lift ours off the tires during storage. That being said, your are correct, do NOT lift by the axle tubes.

If you want to lift your unit for storage, I would lift at the frame and put jack stands under the leaf springs where they bolt to the axle.

Depending where you are storing, if it's outside and on gravel or dirt, I'd only use the front landing jacks to stabilize your 5r. My neighbors son stored his camper with all stabilizing jacks down and come spring he had a twisted frame from frost heave.