Store With Stabilizer Jacks Up Or Down???

[Steve & Susan]

Here's another vote for up.

Reasons: snow weight as mentioned (we get a lot here in the snow belt of Lake Erie), possible loss of tire air as mentioined, and finally - four fewer points for critters to climb.

Additionally, we tilt the trailer slightly with the tongue jack to allow for better drainage off the roof (newer models are not as round as the older ones and there are flat spots that can hold water).

[Silverhobby]

Another thought to consider... Leave the stabilizers down. It IS another small deterrant to a thief and makes the trailer more difficult to steal. The shower of sparks might be an alarm, if the thief were able to get hitched up to it.

[dogpound]

I have seen a variety of reasons whether or not to store with your stalbizers down or up. All good reasons. I do however see some units parked on concrete. If you do not have something between the tires and the concrete you may be having problems in the future. Concrete has a caustic material in it that is not good for tires. This was told to me by my Big O dealer. You should park the trailer on a piece of 2 x 10 lumber to prevent any reaction between concrete and materials in the tire. I park my unit on a level area with about 3 inches of gravel on top. We live in an area where we had about 42 inches of snow on the level last year. I never store with the jacks down.
Bob
FCU
WBCCI # 10105
Air # 28748

[purman]

Theft really isn't a problem where I live.... Everyone knows everyone else has a couple of guns in the house... I don't even lock my doors.... I do when I go on a trip.. I only have a front door key and my wife doesn't even have one of those... We come in through the garage.. I could put a sign on my AS that said FREE TOW AWAY and I bet it would be a month or so before it disappeared.... We live on a dead end street in the middle of nowhere...

[Ray Eklund]

Snow sticks onto the roof on the Northern Hemisphere and the jacks should be up. Snow sticks to the bottom of the trailer on the Southern Hemisphere so the jacks should be down.

This also applies to the toilets when you orient the trailer east or west, since the water rotates counter clockwise up North and clockwise in the South. Airstream makes models for each hemisphere with the changes to the plumbing and stabilizer jacks. The winterizing fluids for your water system are color coded so there is no confusion as to which hemisphere it is intended for use.

The equatorial Airstream has no stabilizer jacks, nor wheels. This makes them less expensive, but harder to tow when not on the beach. They come without a furnace and it has been replaced with a fish smoker. The roof and bottom have a special coating to prevent snow from sticking, which solve many problems that the North and South Hemisphere owners wish they could afford to their out of date models.

I store our trailer with stabilizer jacks up. It makes it easier for us to leave town with short notice if relatives are coming out to visit us during ski season. I am recovering from Camping Withdrawal, so some of my advice might be a bit off for some time. I did notice the AS photographs from the Northern Hemisphere with the snow on TOP. You will NEVER see an Australian AS with snow on top, since it is on the bottom. I have seen some Hawaiian AS's without wheels in New Mexico, if you are curious.

[dogpound]

Jason;
Having travelled up through Cedaredge quite often while I went to school at Western State (in the early 70's) I know you are in an area that is quite beautiful in the summer. I was a little disappointed when I learned that most of the apple orchards are giving way to vineyards, but that is the way of agriculture.
Hope to meet up with you sometime when we are at a FCU rally.
Bob
FCU
WBCCI # 10105
AIR # 28748

[purman]

Originally Posted by dogpound

Jason;
Having travelled up through Cedaredge quite often while I went to school at Western State (in the early 70's) I know you are in an area that is quite beautiful in the summer. I was a little disappointed when I learned that most of the apple orchards are giving way to vineyards, but that is the way of agriculture.
Hope to meet up with you sometime when we are at a FCU rally.
Bob
FCU
WBCCI # 10105
AIR # 28748

Yeah, It kind of sucks, but Stoney Mesa Winery has some great wine... And Red Mountain Ranches just down the road from us is still selling apples... The best of both worlds..

[SmokelessJoe]

Does it make sense to jack the trailer up at the axle mounts and put the trailer up on blocks - under the frame rail, at each of the four corners – when storing the trailer for a long time, like over the winter?

Sergei

[FreshAir]

Originally Posted by Ray Eklund

Snow sticks onto the roof on the Northern Hemisphere and the jacks should be up. Snow sticks to the bottom of the trailer on the Southern Hemisphere so the jacks should be down.

This also applies to the toilets when you orient the trailer east or west, since the water rotates counter clockwise up North and clockwise in the South. Airstream makes models for each hemisphere with the changes to the plumbing and stabilizer jacks. The winterizing fluids for your water system are color coded so there is no confusion as to which hemisphere it is intended for use.

The equatorial Airstream has no stabilizer jacks, nor wheels. This makes them less expensive, but harder to tow when not on the beach. They come without a furnace and it has been replaced with a fish smoker. The roof and bottom have a special coating to prevent snow from sticking, which solve many problems that the North and South Hemisphere owners wish they could afford to their out of date models.

I store our trailer with stabilizer jacks up. It makes it easier for us to leave town with short notice if relatives are coming out to visit us during ski season. I am recovering from Camping Withdrawal, so some of my advice might be a bit off for some time. I did notice the AS photographs from the Northern Hemisphere with the snow on TOP. You will NEVER see an Australian AS with snow on top, since it is on the bottom. I have seen some Hawaiian AS's without wheels in New Mexico, if you are curious.

wow...really....that sure makes a lota sense...............AWWW YER KIDD'N huh.

[jimmini]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

We do not store ours over the winter months, we use ours. It's a desert thing.

ME to NO stabilizers used,NO storage,NO winterization,just fun camping
We don't need no stinkin snow.
Huh.
Oh well every desert trail has it puddles.

[SteveH]

I store our Airstream with the rear stabilizers down, the front ones up. I figure that way, I can't be all wrong.

edit: Wow! Four rivets for such an important post!

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by SteveH

I store our Airstream with the rear stabilizers down, the front ones up. I figure that way, I can't be all wrong.

But either way, you'd only be half right...

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by overlander63

But either way, you'd only be half right...

Yep, I'll take that......better than all wrong!

[Diesel1]

Originally Posted by Ray Eklund

Snow sticks onto the roof on the Northern Hemisphere and the jacks should be up. Snow sticks to the bottom of the trailer on the Southern Hemisphere so the jacks should be down.

This also applies to the toilets when you orient the trailer east or west, since the water rotates counter clockwise up North and clockwise in the South. Airstream makes models for each hemisphere with the changes to the plumbing and stabilizer jacks. The winterizing fluids for your water system are color coded so there is no confusion as to which hemisphere it is intended for use.

The equatorial Airstream has no stabilizer jacks, nor wheels. This makes them less expensive, but harder to tow when not on the beach. They come without a furnace and it has been replaced with a fish smoker. The roof and bottom have a special coating to prevent snow from sticking, which solve many problems that the North and South Hemisphere owners wish they could afford to their out of date models.

I store our trailer with stabilizer jacks up. It makes it easier for us to leave town with short notice if relatives are coming out to visit us during ski season. I am recovering from Camping Withdrawal, so some of my advice might be a bit off for some time. I did notice the AS photographs from the Northern Hemisphere with the snow on TOP. You will NEVER see an Australian AS with snow on top, since it is on the bottom. I have seen some Hawaiian AS's without wheels in New Mexico, if you are curious.

Ah hah- I was wondering why I've found no snow on mine, I have one of the rare early equatorial options!

[Cracker]

Down, but only a half-turn after firm ground contact - to distribute snow loads a bit. Keep an eye on the tire pressure - although, for the record, after three years on the present Goodyear Marathons - I've never lost more than a pound or so over the winter.

[Forrest]

I leave the stabilizer jacks down with a plastic pad under, but I'll also get the tires off the cement by putting safety stands under the frame. Good for the axle and tires, but also makes it harder to steal, which might be a problem where I store it.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by dogpound

I have seen a variety of reasons whether or not to store with your stalbizers down or up. All good reasons. I do however see some units parked on concrete. If you do not have something between the tires and the concrete you may be having problems in the future. Concrete has a caustic material in it that is not good for tires. This was told to me by my Big O dealer. You should park the trailer on a piece of 2 x 10 lumber to prevent any reaction between concrete and materials in the tire. I park my unit on a level area with about 3 inches of gravel on top. We live in an area where we had about 42 inches of snow on the level last year. I never store with the jacks down.
Bob
FCU
WBCCI # 10105
Air # 28748

Hi, Bob. I park all of my vehicles on concrete or asphalt and have had no problems. Most of my vehicles move quite often, but my Airstream and my 1959 Galaxie sit for long periods of time. [Airstream for months and Galaxie for years] If it could cause a problem, I think wood would soak up water like sponge and rot before it drys out, so I think, maybe, plastic blocks might be better for storage than wood. Or just do what I have been doing. [concrete driveway]

[osolow]

I leave My jacks down while my A/S is parked due to aim in and out of it working on it all the time.

its parked on a concrete driveway

when i go to get ready to pull it some were i do not notice any problems with leaving the jacks down (but aim a newbie). but i would think the best person to ask about this would be someone who's fulltiming it

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by osolow

I leave My jacks down while my A/S is parked due to aim in and out of it working on it all the time.

its parked on a concrete driveway

when i go to get ready to pull it some were i do not notice any problems with leaving the jacks down (but aim a newbie). but i would think the best person to ask about this would be someone who's fulltiming it

They did, and I did. See post #11 above.

[Poprivet]

Originally Posted by Redcobra

This is my first Winter to store my Airstream. I have the stabilizers down to help take some weight off the suspension and tires. I store it inside on concrete. After reading everyone's comments, maybe I should leave them up?

For long term storage, taking some of the weight off the suspension and wheel bearings is the right thing to do. Just take the advice of most seasoned car collectors - they block the car up so the wheels are just off the ground. Many will also place a plastic sheet on the ground to act as a vapor barrier. Also, on older trailers it will help reduce frame sag