How To Avoid Flat Spots On Your Trailer Tires

Trailer tires are supposed to be round, not square. But when you get your RV out of storage this spring, what will be the shape of your RV tires?

Many people keep their RVs in winter storage. But even if they do everything right and winterize according to manufacturer’s instructions, there’s one thing most will neglect to do: get the RV up off the ground. Taking weight off the tires is critical for safety reasons.

Allowing your trailer to sit directly on the ground for extended periods of time can cause a problem with your tires known as “flat spotting.” This occurs because tires have memory: when they don’t move for any length of time they remember the position in which they were parked.

The spot on each tire that was in direct contact with the ground can remain even after the spring camping season begins and you start driving your RV again.

When the wheel finally turns and the flat spot makes repeated contact with the road, that angled portion of the tire will cause vehicle vibration and handling difficulty. Sometimes the tire will return to its original shape and you won’t have a problem.

But if your trailer has been sitting a while your tires may not become round again. In time the flat spot can serve as the catalyst for tire failure. Flat spots become weaker than the rest of the tire, they can blister and become the origins of premature wear and tear.

The best way to avoid flat spots on trailer tires when your rig is in storage is to get it up off the ground. Until now, the only way people could get trailers off the ground was to put them on vehicle jack stands. And while jack stands are strong enough to hold a trailer up, they are inherently dangerous.

A trailer precariously perching on jack stands can accidentally fall and cause serious axle damage or grievous injury if someone happens to be working underneath the RV. Last year at the Quartzsite RV Show in Arizona, we discovered a new product that prevents this calamity.

Trailer legs keep RV tires round

Gordon from Southern California demonstrated his brand-new product, Trailer Legs, an ingenious RV gadget that keeps trailer tires round and off the ground.

Trailer Legs are durable trailer stands that you can use to easily lift your trailer off the ground in under five minutes. Each stand is made with recycled plastic and has a 2 ton capacity. Here’s how they work:

Place each Trailer Legs stand under both sides of your trailer axle. Trailer Legs will act as a cradle for the axles.

Next, get in your vehicle, pull forward up onto the Trailer Legs and your tires are off the ground.

It’s that easy.

Trailer legs come in two sizes. Either with an 8,000-pound capacity, which you can buy as a set of two for a single axle trailer. Or you can get four Trailer Legs if you have a dual axle trailer.

They are 100% American made from recycled materials and come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.  You can get them online from Amazon.com.

Rene Agredano

Often called “The O.G. of full-time RVing,” Rene Agredano and her husband Jim Nelson hit the road in a fifth wheel trailer in 2007, after their dog Jerry lost a leg to terminal cancer. Sixteen years later they are still traveling and sharing their nomadic adventures at LiveWorkDream. As a self-employed wordsmith, Rene shares her expertise for many RV industry videos, publications such as the Escapees RV Club Magazine, and has authored numerous books, including the Essential RVing Guide to National Parks, and  Income Anywhere, a guide to earning money on the road. She has been featured in global media outlets including the PBS documentary “NATURE: Why We Love Cats and Dogs,” The Guardian Sunday Edition, and the Dan Pink book Free Agent Nation.