Stationary during repairs???

[chrisbobek]

Just dropped our 1974 international sovereign at a safe place on family property. First day with it home and I am planning on maybe 8 months of working and learning on doing a full gut and renovation. First things first if she's sitting for 8 months what's the best way to secure her? I assume I'll want her off her wheels if she ain't moving that long? Stationary Jack stands under the axles and put the stabilizers down? Wood blocks? Don't want to cause any damage to the underbelly.

Advice would be appreciated!!!

[Belegedhel]

Welcome to the Forums!

If you are planning to gut and rebuild the trailer in 8 months, I would say you are going to be very busy--I am several years into my full monty!

As far as what you need to do for supporting the trailer, first I would ask do you know how old the axles are? And do you know how old the tires are?

If the tires were manufactured more than 5 years ago, and the axles are likely to be the originals, I would not do anything with it. This is because one of the things you will do eventually will be to replace the torsion axles, and probably the tires as well. But even if your tires are brand new and your axles are recently replaced, many people let their trailers sit on the tires for 8 months at a time and don't worry about it.

Your stabilizer jacks are not meant to take the weight off the wheels and axles, only to stabilize the trailer so that it doesn't rock when you walk around in it. If you want to jack it up off the wheels, then jack agains the thick mounting plate that the axles are bolted to. If you wanted to support the whole trailer with the wheels dangling in the air, put jack stands on that mounting plate or on the main frame rails very near it. You can support the trailer with jack stands at the rear on the frame rails, and at the front on the A-frame, but these are meant to support/stabilize the main weight support at the axle mounting plate.

good luck!