Storing a heavy trailer in the driveway - can it be done?

[SGT ROC]

I’m not a civil engr…all I can give you is some “life experience” hauling grain and heavy equipment. It’s likely going to depend on your base under the asphalt and soil type where you live. If you are rocky, you might be fine. If your topsoil is deep over clay, and the asphalt was laid on top, you are probably doomed to crack it. The driveways for grain bin sites where I put down a 2” rock base with CA6 roadpack to lock it in place have been perfect for 20+ years. CA6 by itself is a disaster.

Not a whole lot of topsoil where I live, but still, I agree with you. My driveway is about 20 years old. When it was put in I know all they did was scrape it to get the right slope then put on the asphalt. That left loose soil underneath. I do know that they put down a base layer and a top coat - approximately 2" each. Most of the problem is probably that where the tires/boards were is also the low point of the DW, so the water runs off right there. When we had the pavement put in we had no thoughts of parking a 5th wheel there. We had mostly light TT's, and all were parked to make sure we had access to the two most used garage bays.

[IBEW Sparky]

I have just sold my bumper pull travel trailer and purchased a much larger 5th wheel GD Momentum 336M. I stored the old travel trailer in the driveway with no issues (no damage to the driveway), however the new trailer is significantly heavier (going from 7,000 lbs to 17,000 lbs). Are there ways to distribute the load to prevent sinking (plywood, 2" PT lumber etc) ? Also, how much of the load is taken over by the levelling system once deployed? My driveway is the typical residential asphalt driveway (4" thick). Thanks

I'd use 2x12s long enough to span both tires and the jacklegs behind the wheels. For any remaining jacklegs I would make 2'x2' squares out of 2x12s putting 2 pieces side by side and 2 pieces on top of that in the opposite direction. End result is a 2'x2'x3" thick pad for each jackleg. It will require a 2x12x8' for each set of wheels and 1 for each remaining jackleg.

[yobigal]

I did not put anything under my tires of our solitude and over 5 years the area where the tires are has sunk in due to the weight so you definitely will need boards to help prevent it from occurring or a least keep it to a minimum.

I have the 14" plastic pads that has a smooth surface on one side that contacts the asphalt under each jack and this has prevented any indentations from happening from them.

[Lance Glogowsky]

I have never given this a thought with my driveway. Eight years ago we started with a Grand Design 297rs, then a few years back a 303, and now a Solitude 2930 and have never considered the weight being an issue for our driveway. Lucky enough everything is still intact. I’ll have to consider taking the advice of putting something under the jacks from now on.

[WhittleBurner]

I’m not a civil engr…all I can give you is some “life experience” hauling grain and heavy equipment. It’s likely going to depend on your base under the asphalt and soil type where you live. If you are rocky, you might be fine. If your topsoil is deep over clay, and the asphalt was laid on top, you are probably doomed to crack it. The driveways for grain bin sites where I put down a 2” rock base with CA6 roadpack to lock it in place have been perfect for 20+ years. CA6 by itself is a disaster.

When we had our driveway laid not only did we have 6" but the ground was also properly prepared for it.Sine the driveway was next to the house I asked them to give it a 1/2 to 3/4 " slope away from the house so there would be no pooling of water next to the house.

[serban]

I ended up parking in the driveway. It has been two months and so far no issues whatsoever. I guess the one thing that helps is the way the weight is distributed between the wheels and stabilizers. And yes, I put boards under the wheels (2 by 12 PT lumber) and jacks.
Serban