We bought our 2017 Scamp on Tuesday in Willmar, MN and I drove it straight to our storage space in Farmington, MN at the local fairgrounds. Then I came home and read my owners manual. Of course I didn't know until then that I needed to proved jacks/blocks for them to raise it up to unweight the axle. How much damage will I incur with one winter parked on the tires?
Thu, 10/31/2019 - 10:12
#1
Winter storage axle question
How much damage will I incur with one winter parked on the tires?
Almost none.
Do make sure the tires are fully inflated or even a little over inflated if it will sit on one spot for a long time. Remember that pressure goes down a little with lower temperature, and most tires loose a little pressure over time anyway. Check the tire pressure when you make your weekly or monthly checks.
Taking weight off the axle will extend its life but it will take years to see any difference.
When the trailer is in long term storage taking some weight off the axle is better than not taking any at all . And its easy to take partial weight off the axle by raising the tongue as far as you can (with wheels chocked well!), then placing jack stands (not stabilizer jacks) under the frame just in front of the axle, then lower the tongue, probably as far as it will go. Since the trailer is now mostly perched on two small jack stands I like to deploy the rear stabilizers and also use two portable stabilizer jacks on the frame near the front, esp if I plan to go inside. I would leave the tires fully inflated unless they are removed for storage.
Thanks, that's what I thought. I'm not going to lose sleep over it.
<p>Rich and Maggie P St Paul, MN 2017 Scamp 16 2014 Little Guy Silver Shadow</p>
This is how I do it, with no extra equipment:
I don't actually go to extremes to do this: not to max extension of the stabilizers, for instance. And I like the trailer to be level for the winter, because sometimes I go visit. :)
I did replace my front hitch jack a couple years ago. (Inexpensive and easy to do.) It's about three times the capacity of the original one.
Anybody who sees anything dangerous in this procedure, let me know, but it seems to work really easily and it's a breeze to get operational again in the spring. And I don't have to go find my jack stands.
That is with stabilizer jacks on the bumper? Then it sure sounds like too much weight on them and on the bumper. The frame should be used to support the weight of the trailer.
A while back I called Scamp to ask about What "Going Light" was doing because I was doing the same thing. The folks at Scamp told me that supporting the trailer on the stabilizers and front jack would not damage the trailer. The reason they do not recommend supporting the trailers that way is that they feel the two stabilizer jacks are not made to do that. (Read that as "not strong enough!") During the camping season when we are not scamping I take most of the weight off the axle by lowering the front jack, putting down the stabilizers, then raising the front jack until most of the weight is off the axle. For winter storage, longer periods of time, I put our Scamp up on jack stands.
I do the similar thing by jacking up on the frame just in front of the axle enough to get an inexpensive 3 ton set of Jack stands ( harbor Freight ) behind the axle . only enough to get the tires of the ground. then cover the wheels and scamp with a Tyvec breathable cover . This year I cut two 4x4x12 long blocks and stand them up to add the rear stabilizer legs to the supporting mix and still keep the legs out of the majority of the wet and snow.
2019 Scamp 13 standard
Thanks, everyone, for asking around and reporting what you've learned. Looks like all I have to do then is replace use of the stabilizer jacks with jack stands: just a little more cranking (down in front, place jacks under frame, then up), and should be good.