Lessons learned about the importance of using wheel chocks with your RV, travel trailer or motorhome.
Included in this article are product recommendations and reviews.
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Imagine this: you've reached your campground or off-road location and are excited to get setup and begin your relaxing getaway. Picture it, you've stopped in the perfect location (mountain top, beach, campground overlooking the lake). And in your excitement, you start the setup process.
You unhook your RV or travel trailer from your tow vehicle and start that exciting process of leveling and wait....OMG!!
You forgot to put your wheel chocks in front and behind your tires and your rig starts rolling your direction or even worse, decides it's time to roll backwards.
This happened to me. I forgot the wheel chocks and I was at a mountain top campground. I placed the bricks under the front tongue jack and pressed the button to lift the trailer. This is where is went all wrong. Without the wheel chocks, the trailer came flying towards me. Scariest moment of my life.
Luckily, the tongue jack didn't have the flat end on it and the tongue jack itself dug deeply into the ground in front of me and stopped the travel trailer from moving forward and crushing me. And exactly then, I Remember now!!!
Before you begin setting up your RV, travel trailer, or motorhome, once you have it parked in the perfect location, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE -- REMEMBER TO PUT YOUR WHEEL CHOCKS IN FRONT, BETWEEN AND BEHIND YOUR TIRES. This will keep your rig from moving during the process of unhooking your tow vehicle or during the leveling process.
Over the years, I have tried several different wheel chocks and I can confirm that for my travel trailer, the best wheel chock solution has been the RV Tire Scissor Locking X Chock.
RV Tire Scissor Locking X Chocks (on Amazon $52.99)
The RV Tire Scissor Locking X Chocks are highly recommended as you only need one set of them for most RVs, travel trailers or motorhomes that have four (4) wheels, two (2) on each side of your rig. If your rig only has one (1) tire on each side, you'll want to opt for one of the more traditional wheel chocks. Below is what you'll get when you purchase one of the RV Tire Scissor Locking X Chock sets:
Use for Travel Trailers, Campers, Class A Moto Home, Fifth Wheel Trailers, Heavy Duty Trucks, Toy Hauler, etc
Suitable for the tightest distance of wheel down to 3.5" and extends to 12"
Applying an opposing force to the two tires to prevents wheel shift
New electrophoretic technology is adopted in the production of the surface to prevent rust
Each box contain 2pcs Wheel Chock Scissor Stabilizers, 1 pc Crank Handle and 1 pc Socket Adapter
Why I use this model?
This product is great since it stabilized the movement of my rig from moving forward or backwards. But it also provided quite a bit of stability when once my trailer was leveled. It was also very quick to setup because I could use a standard drill and connector to quickly expand the X scissor instead of the hand held jack. This convenience alone made setup and take down quick and painless.
Also, I have found that with these types of chocks, you're less likely to run over them when you're leaving because you can't move your rig while these chocks are in place. I can't tell you how many times I have rolled over the less costly (least expensive) wheel chocks when I was leaving.
What to do if you have a smaller rig?
If you are fortunate enough to have a smaller rig that is a two (2) wheeler (meaning one wheel on each side of your rig), then you'll want to use one of the standard wheel chocks that go in front and behind the wheels on each side. This means that for best practices, you'll want to purchase at least four (4) wheel chocks. (Set of 4 for $31.99 on Amazon)
Lesson Learned: Use Your Wheel Chocks
For more information on this blog posting or product recommendations, you can reply back to this posting or send your questions to therealrvblog@konvrgence.com. Please note: any prices quoted here are suspect to change by the actual recommended seller.
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