incline parking question

[KScamper]

Hi there! I am a complete newbie to travel trailers. We just purchased a Jayco Jay Flight 23 MB and will be bringing it home on Saturday. We will be storing it off site, but would like to be able to park it in our drive way a day or two when we load up, etc. Our drive way has incline (uphill toward the house.) For access to the garage and possibly ease of parking with my lack of current skills I was considering pulling it in, instead of backing it in. Would this be ok? (assuming I chocked the wheels appropriately, etc. I have found lots of info in my searches about leveling when the tongue jack is downhill, but not when it is uphill. Is that because it is a no no? The way I envision it working is raising the tongue jack to get it off the hitch, pulling the truck forward and out of the way, then lowering as needed to get to level. There may be other factors, of course, that I am not even thinking of with my lack of experience. I am sure I can ask at the dealership when we go back, but I would like to have a plan and my ducks in a row before then.

Thank you, in advance! I am excited to start our new upgraded camping life.

[lodiguy]

Wouldn't you have to back it back out of the driveway when you leave? Not sure I'd want to back blind into the street.

[Donztoyz]

I do this all the time, just make sure you chock all the wheels good before you unhook. I even leave the safety chain connected until I'm sure. We always use a spotter when backing out even thou we live on a circle. Our trailer is a Whitehawk 27 DSRL which has two entrance doors and with the slope of our drive with the trailer level it makes the rear steps quite a climb so we use the front door.

[norty1]

Either was should work if you chock the trailer front and back of wheels. You can use blocks under the front jack if needed.

[KScamper]

Thank you all!

lodiguy- yes, you are right. We would have to back onto the street. It is a cul de sac in a very quiet residential neighborhood so traffic wouldn't be an issue. However, with our lack of skill and experience backing out that direction might prove pretty challenging.

I guess we will play it by ear and see which way we decide to go next week. I was just afraid if I pulled in forward with the tongue jack uphill I would potentially be doing damage.

[howie]

KS, if you're concerned about "lack of skill and experience backing", are there any large parking lots nearby that you could practice in?

[dmward]

I'd be concerned with un-hitching and trying to lower the tongue down to make the trailer level. I have a inclined driveway and with my 28DSBH the back bumper doesn't end up very high off the ground and the front of the trailer is probably 3-4' up.

I don't think I could do this if I pulled in.

[KiltDog]

I would back in just because it makes it easier to unhook and use your vehicle. Are you going to pull in, unhook, and then drive your vehicle around somehow to get back on the street? Either way, make sure your wheels are chocked and you should be ok.

[clubhouse]

Why even mess with the driveway? Even the strictest of HOAs allow street parking for a brief period to load and unload. We can have ours on the street in front of the house for 72hrs, but rarely do we need it more that 24. We park it "backwards" so the slide opens over the sidewalk and the utilities are closer. Even with the curved radius of a cul de sac I would think street parking to be a better option than driveway, regardless if you pull in or back in.

[Seann45]

KS as stated before find an empty parking lot and PRACTICE Practice practice. The other best advice I can give you is to put your hand at the bottom of the steering wheel when backing and if you want to go left turn your hand left and if you want to go right turn your hand right. Move the steering wheel in small amounts.. most people over steer at first.. AGAIN play in an empty parking lot first.

[KScamper]

Thanks again, guys!

Yes, I hope to be able to take it out to a local fair grounds parking lot and practice. I had this pipe dream/vision of bringing it straight home on Saturday so I could load our existing camping stuff into it Sunday and get a feel for what else we will want/need before our first trip out (which I hope to be the following weekend) leaving time to order things if we need to do so (we don't have a lot of shopping options locally.) But, doing things right is better than doing them quickly. So, if I have to I will delay our first voyage or just make due with whatever we already have for our first trip. (probably practical anyway)

clubhouse- I will have to check with our HOA to see how long we can street park. That might be an option, too. The width of the street and the landscaping at the edge of our yard might make it challenging, but it's worth investigating and it would make my husband happy to not have to mess with the driveway, I am sure.

[redenbacher]

Not sure how big the incline is, but another concern is whether the fridge will work. We have a small incline and we back in. But once in, I level it.

[xtruckerbob]

While perfecting the art of backing all ways use the "GOAL" get out and look. We owned and I drove a small fleet of trucks for 10 years,(sold out) and wife still gets out and watches me back in. Besides it is cheaper to look than have it repaired. I have even had people comment on the wife but I'm not ashamed of at all.