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Old 01-14-2021, 10:16 PM   #1
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Smile Long term storage

HELP ! I have my Dutchman 3605 E Series RV in storage. I always think it is bad for the RV to set on its tires in one spot for extended periods of time. My RV has the 6 hydraulic pads and I wonder if anyone out there sets their pads on the ground and take the load off the tires for long periods of storage. Will the hydraulics keep the RV in place once they are set or will the hydraulics eventually retract after sitting for a while ?
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Old 01-15-2021, 04:05 AM   #2
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Long term storage

This has been asked quite a few times on this site. I even asked the manufacturer about this and they said having the jacks extended for a long period of time is fine. Besides worst case if they did fail (highly unlikely) the tires would be there to support the weight.

I think this is better than potentially flat spotting your tires. I have also read and heard that if a vehicle won’t be moved for some time that you should air up the tires to the max rating to prevent flat spotting the tires.

Just make sure you clean the pistons with a good dry cleaning chemical before you raise the jacks for the first time to get all the dust and dirt off of them because there could be quite a bit after a long time.
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Old 01-15-2021, 11:03 AM   #3
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Thank you for the good advice especially the bit about cleaning the pistons after they have been exposed for a long time, never would have thought of that. That would be a great way to ruin the seals. Thanks.
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Old 01-21-2021, 05:39 PM   #4
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jacks

Another option is to buy (4) jack stands similar to the ones permanently attached to most rv trailers. Use your jacks to raise the 5th wheel and manually put the jack stands under the frame and then let your jacks up. The jacks stands are probably 100.00 ea. I would think keeping your hydraolic jacks down for an extended period of time may cause a problem and get stuck since they would not be excersised much. I would rather hydraulic stands get stuck up than down. Just a thought for months of storage and yes keeping the full weight off the tires during storage would be a good idea.
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Old 01-21-2021, 08:06 PM   #5
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Thank you for the suggestion. This is a worthy option and it would reduce the chance of jack failure. Thank you !
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Old 01-21-2021, 08:28 PM   #6
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Personally, I think not using the hydraulics because of concern over failure is overkill. Obviously I could be wrong and they could fail but many of us have used them for extended time periods with no issue. Also, if you go the jack stand route you will need TI make sure you find a good and secure spot on the frame to support all that weight.

The jack stands will be pretty big and could take up a lot of room so keep that in mind too.

Just some food for thought.
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Old 01-21-2021, 08:33 PM   #7
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More good food for thought and I will definitely take into consideration. Thank you very much.
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