Wheel chocks: 2 or 4?

[AmyFL]

Hi - I bought a pair of Camco wheel chocks. I have watched a few videos, but do not know if I need a pair per tire, or just one pair for one tire. I am new to the world of Casita camping, so I have lots of questions. (I practiced backing up today. I almost cried. Almost - but mostly from laughing at my lack of talent!) Thanks - Amy

[Glenn Baglo]

A pair, for a tire, on both sides. Four in total.

[Iowa Dave]

You should chock them as Glenn described. If you only chock one wheel the trailer can pivot in a heavy wind and that’s not good. I often thump mine tight with a rubber mallet. I’ve camped on a river gravel pad in a 50mph wind/ thunderstorm. I felt the trailer rock up and drop back down a couple times. When it was all over the sand pad stabilizers were better than an inch off the gravel as they had “mushed” the gravel out. But I had a chock front and back on the tandems so the trailer stayed straight. The storm came up pretty fast but I would have had time to put the trailer on the hitch if I would have thought about it. Using the maximum number of contact points is something I believe in.
Iowa Dave

[C&G in FL]

What Glenn and Dave both said.

[mary and bob]

Backing up just takes some practice. If you can find an empty parking lot, like a school on a weekend or maybe a church lot, and preferably with the spaces marked on the pavement, those are good for a place to practice. Many people find backing around to the left (driver side) is easier than the right (blind side). But backing to the left is not always possible in some campgrounds so practice both ways. At one rally I got elected to do backing training using a golf cart and garden tractor trailer. Not the best things to learn on but it got the principle across. A couple ladies told me later it really helped them. A common suggestion is to put your hands on the bottom of the steering wheel and then move them in the direction that you want the trailer to go

[bobblangley]

So far as learning to back up goes, I've always found it easier when pushing the rear of the trailer to the driver's side of the car; it's much easier to see what is going on.

You will develop an understanding of the dynamics of backing up that will, then, make it easier when going to other direction.

Also, especially with a short trailer, it will turn more quickly than you anticipate and, often, by the time you realize you have turned the trailer too much, it is too far turned to correct that so you have to pull forward and start again.

[Gdfrick122]

I use a chocks on each tire so 4 of them. I also use a pair of X-cocks. They do a really good job of stabilizing the camper so we don't have much shaking inside. Here is a link to the x-chocks...

https://www.amazon.com/X-Chock-Wheel...26661179&psc=1

Take care,

Gregg

[Gdfrick122]

I use a chock on each tire so 4 for me. I also use a pair of X-Chocks. The X - Chocks do a great job of keeping the movement of the camper to a minimum when people are moving about the camper.

X-Chock Wheel Stabilizer - Pair - One Handle - 28012 $59.37 Amazon

Thanks Stanks

[Iowa Dave]

Though I’ve been parking trailers for well over 50 years I rarely put the trailer exactly where I want it on the first shot. I usually put it on the pad and pretty straight but with respect to the location of the Electrical box, width and depth of the site and how much pad I have to work with on the door side, I often move the trailer around to get it right where I want it. There is no dishonor in making multiple passes. It’s your trailer and your site so what your neighbors are thinking is of little concern. I backed into a site in Illinois after dark one night. The site was sloped downhill and I could not see the rear of the site. The camp host across the road came over and walked to the back corner of the pad by the electrical panel and showed a flashlight on the ground. I backed in one shot. Without that light there would have been some jacking around. The host said he did this often for people and some did not take kindly to it. I thanked him and before we left the next day I gave him some garlic, Poblano peppers and Cortland
Apples. Easy does it, take your time and get out and look (GOAL).
Iowa Dave

[PatrickTXFL]

Just an option they sell a heavy rubber one at HF that are often on sell for $4.99 each. Durable however have a rubber odor when new.

[jimknoch]

Originally Posted by PatrickTXFL

Just an option they sell a heavy rubber one at HF that are often on sell for $4.99 each. Durable however have a rubber odor when new.

Those Harbor Freight Wheel Chocks are great, despite the odor. I have flattened those Camco wheel chocks trying to align the hitch and tongue, moving the TT a few feet and forgetting to first remove the chock. I tied a short length of rope to mine to make them easier to retrieve and save my back. The rope works on the Camco wheel chocks, too. I don't think you can crush the rubber HF wheel chocks and they don't slide on asphalt or concrete as much as the plastic Camco chocks.

Good Camping ..... Swampy

[Tammie]

Also, the plastic chocks have an expiration date! Apparently, the plastic will become brittle over time, and of course, Camco recommends periodic replacement..
We got our rubber chocks at Tractor Supply, and they have nice metal handles. The new tire smell went away after a couple of years

[AmyFL]

I love the helpful advice about backing! I am going to go slow, and pull forward to straighten up as many times as I have to. I know people who camp are very kind, so I will ask for help if I feel overwhelmed. Just ordered the second pair of chocks! Thanks all! Amy

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by AmyFL

I love the helpful advice about backing! I am going to go slow, and pull forward to straighten up as many times as I have to. I know people who camp are very kind, so I will ask for help if I feel overwhelmed. Just ordered the second pair of chocks! Thanks all! Amy

When you back up and have the steering wheel turned a little after a couple of feet straighten the wheel and the trailer will keep turning the way you wanted it to go. If you see the trailer turning then it is to late and you have to straighten up the trailer more times. If you want to turn the trailer sharply then you can wait until you see the trailer turn very slightly then straighten the steering wheels. Then as you back up the trailer will keep turning. When I learned about how much to turn the steering wheel and how far to back up before straightening I got pretty good. I have to back our 17" into a 60 foot long garage with very little clearance on both sides and then put it towards the driver's side toward the back. Women see differently than men and have a little different mindset with these things. Neither is wrong we are just different.

[k corbin]

sometimes you do need to back into a space at night. Nowadays there are lots of fairly inexpensive, battery camping lanterns around. Get 4 of them to set on the ground to use for "aircraft runway" lights that you can see in your side mirrors. Two of them to mark where the back of the trailer should stop the others forward of that. That way you know where the back end of the space is as well as the sides. It avoids that issue of dismally dim back up lights not doing all that good of a job at letting your see what you are doing. It helps if you are traveling solo or with a helper.

[AmyFL]

Jann - that was very helpful. I could not figure out why as I was backing, the trailer kept turning after I straightened my wheel. KC - will definitely get a couple of extra lights in case of night parking. Hopefully this won’t happen until I figure out how to back into a space when it is light out! Amy

[Jon in AZ]

I only use one light. You can’t see the ones on the side opposite your direction of turn anyway. I put it on a camp chair exactly where I want the rear corner of the trailer to end up (on the side I can see as I turn). Aim for the light and stop when the trailer bumps the chair. I do the same thing in daylight only without the light.

Jann’s point about straightening the steering wheel as soon as the trailer begins to turn is the most important thing I learned about backing. Beginners almost always oversteer, then over correct. Small movements go a long way with a short trailer. Mentally I think of nudging the back of the trailer into the turn, then following it back.

[AmyFL]

Iowa Dave - thanks for mentioning about hooking back to the hitch if bad weather for stability. I would have never known that! We have some bad storms come up in FL. Amy for the other responses about backing : I understand the theory about the lespft side, but I feel like my trailer is always backing to the right. I hold my hands on the bottom of the wheel, and I turn the wheel toward the direction I want the trailer to go. I think I am over-correcting. I was going to say I am practicing again this weekend, but I am going camping!

[trainman]

All short trailers are harder to backup then longer ones. I've been backing trailers for over 50 years and even today they sometimes can become a hand full. The biggest problem I find is you can't see around the trailer because of it's height and pretty much blocks your view, thus forcing you to use your mirrors and when you have a dogleg in your driveway it become a slow process in getting the trailer where you want it to go. Don't let pulling forward several times to get the trailer inline again get you down, it's what we all have to do when backing into spots are not ideal. We now have an Oliver and it is 23.5 feet long and it's a breeze to backup compared to our Casita that was a 17 footer. Just go slow and make slow corrections with your tow vehicle as quick corrections turn the trailer much faster then you probably wanted. Try to keep your trailer and tow vehicle in line as much as possible, when you get at sharper angles you can't control the trailer and like I said, pull forward and start over again.

trainman

[Fred762]

Originally Posted by AmyFL

Hi - I bought a pair of Camco wheel chocks. I have watched a few videos, but do not know if I need a pair per tire, or just one pair for one tire. I am new to the world of Casita camping, so I have lots of questions. (I practiced backing up today. I almost cried. Almost - but mostly from laughing at my lack of talent!) Thanks - Amy

1. Get yerself a pair of cheap but good battery-powered walkie talkies..cheap but functional. These are Godsends for campgrounds [CGs] where there is no cell service and saves yelling at your mate.
2. go to Youtube and look up LOLOHO and go to their fine videos..they have a GREAT vid teaching how to back a trailer effortlessly and safely. They also have other great vids about setting up and breaking down a campsite, hitching etc etc.. use the 'search' function to find LOLOHO
3. Never un-hitch without chocking at least one tire..front and back..bks you never know what the trailer will do off that hitch ball!! Chocking BOTH tires is better. Get some 10" pieces of 2x6 presure-treated boards to make great, cheap, secondary chocks too, and also great slabs of wood, for under that trailer tongue and under the stabilizing jacks.. . so the metal "foot" does not sit in water or mud!! I always use those big yellow chocks for the primary chocks..front and behind the wheel.
4. get a pack of those orange leveling blocks..you will need them to raise that low side tire up, as you back in. The orange blocks are stack-able.

5. you level the trailer 'front to back' using the tongue jack..after the trailer is level side to side. .. {The frig works best if the trailer is level..and you don't roll outta bed as often} ;-)
6. once level, you can then put down the 2 rear stabilizer jacks if you want them..use a couple of those wood slabs to keep the jack feet outta that mud. There is a YT video showing you how to easily put those funny rear stabilizers down easily w/o getting dirty reaching under the trailer
7. be sure to NOT raise the tongue up IF the rear stabilizer jacks are down, bks the leverage of raising the tongue CAN force the rear stabil jacks into the trailer bottom OR bend those jacks.
8. hint..put a plastic grocery bag over your hitch ball to keep that ball grease off yer pants or legs after you un-hitch!! ..don't ask how we found out! Remove the bag prior to hitching up!!


Best thing we ever did when we bought our Casita in 2018.. (we were old "tent-ers")..was to use the walkies..we even have helped several other newbies in 2 yrs w trying to back into difficult campsites. You'll see!! Welcome to the camping world!!