By Chris Dougherty
Certified RV Technician
Parking an RV on any kind of incline, especially if it’s a trailer, can be a dangerous proposition. In the case of a motorhome, a parking pawl (metal pin or lever) in the automatic transmission and the parking brake are all that’s preventing up to 56,000 pounds of hardware from rolling away and crashing through everything in its path. In the case of either a fifth wheel or travel trailer, the tongue or front jacks are not designed to hold the weight and pressure being exerted on them on an incline. Therefore, it is always important for RVers to chock the wheels on their RV.
Heavy truck wheel chocks and small plastic RV chocks have been the most readily available options for RVers besides heavy, homemade wood blocks. Leisure Time recently re-released a steel chock designed and made just for the RV aftermarket, and it’s made in the USA.
Similar in size to the plastic RV chocks, the steel wheel chock is still pretty lightweight but has a 6,000-pound capacity, making it the best choice for large trailers and small to mid-sized motorhomes. Larger coaches with 22 1/2-inch wheels should still consider larger wheel chocks designed for big rigs to hold their enormous weight and wheel/tire size.
Clad nicely in gloss black paint, the chock features raised nubs to help grip tires and reduce overall weight for carrying and storage, and a 1 3/4-inch drive-on lip helps keep the chock in place. There’s even a spot to attach a rope lanyard if you want. Weighing only 2 1/4 pounds, the unit is 5 inches high, 8 inches wide and has on overall length of 9 inches.
When we searched for this product online, we found a chock with the same manufacturer and part number in orange and yellow. RVTravel.com contacted Mike Willhoff, who is the marketing manager for Leisure Time Marketing, and asked him to clarify. “The Yellow chock is the old Chinese knockoff part. All of the current product is Black and USA made,” Willhoff says. The new black version is available at Amazon.com. The Leisure Time 14089 steel wheel chock has an MSRP of $12.99 USD.
