Chip Chester
Diamond
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2007
- Location
- Central Ohio USA
So I'm having blacktop driveway installed Friday, in a conversion from gravel. One parking area will hold a mid-size 24' Class C RV -- ~12K lbs (max) on a dually E350 Super Duty chassis.
Rear axle probably sees 75% of the weight, so 9K, leaving 3K on the front. (That's a guess -- although seems 8 and 4 would be more likely.)
Each tire looks to have a 7" x 7" footprint, so ~50 x 6 = 300 sq. in. Which works out to 40 psi if I did things correctly.
My blacktop job is fairly standard residential, with about 6" of compacted road base below a stated 6" blacktop compacted to 4" blacktop coating over the area where the RV will be parked.
Question of the day is: Will a 3'x3' chunk of 1/2" A36 steel plate ('road plate') under the rear duallies prevent divots in the blacktop due to long-term RV parking? (Getting me down to ~3.5 psi in the back.)
And will 24" x 18" do the same for the front? (Also ~3.5 psi.)
I know the areas covered will produce reasonable loads, but will 1/2" bend enough to be worthless? Should I opt for 3/4", or even (ugh) 1"?
I'd like to avoid jacking it up, or using thick wood, because I try to drive it around monthly even in the winter...
3' x 3' is about all I care to handle (183 lbs) for a vehicle that is supposed to be about recreation. I'm sure I can work out a way to move into place, since it will stay put for quite a while. Just don't want to screw up the new driveway.
I have 72+ hours from Friday evening before I can park the heavy stuff on the drive, so I have a little time to work some things out.
Just want to make sure I'm aiming at a reasonable target...
Thoughts?
Chip
PS -- So happy to move on from clearing snow from a gravel drive, too...
Rear axle probably sees 75% of the weight, so 9K, leaving 3K on the front. (That's a guess -- although seems 8 and 4 would be more likely.)
Each tire looks to have a 7" x 7" footprint, so ~50 x 6 = 300 sq. in. Which works out to 40 psi if I did things correctly.
My blacktop job is fairly standard residential, with about 6" of compacted road base below a stated 6" blacktop compacted to 4" blacktop coating over the area where the RV will be parked.
Question of the day is: Will a 3'x3' chunk of 1/2" A36 steel plate ('road plate') under the rear duallies prevent divots in the blacktop due to long-term RV parking? (Getting me down to ~3.5 psi in the back.)
And will 24" x 18" do the same for the front? (Also ~3.5 psi.)
I know the areas covered will produce reasonable loads, but will 1/2" bend enough to be worthless? Should I opt for 3/4", or even (ugh) 1"?
I'd like to avoid jacking it up, or using thick wood, because I try to drive it around monthly even in the winter...
3' x 3' is about all I care to handle (183 lbs) for a vehicle that is supposed to be about recreation. I'm sure I can work out a way to move into place, since it will stay put for quite a while. Just don't want to screw up the new driveway.
I have 72+ hours from Friday evening before I can park the heavy stuff on the drive, so I have a little time to work some things out.
Just want to make sure I'm aiming at a reasonable target...
Thoughts?
Chip
PS -- So happy to move on from clearing snow from a gravel drive, too...