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Enlarging my parking for the motorhome...

Desert_Captain
Explorer II
Explorer II
Since moving to our new home in Payson AZ I've been parking our 24' Class C along the south edge of our concrete driveway {the ability to park the toys on our new .57 acre property being a huge benefit}. Unfortunately with the coach there our access to the attached garage is somewhat restricted. To gain more clearance I had been trying to come up with some more space but there is a fairly steep slope that falls away from the edge of the concrete driveway.

I finally came up with a solution. I dug down 3 to 6" along the south edge of the slab and framed the opening with 8', 6 X 6" beams creating a "box" for lack of a better term that was 24' long and 3'wide. I secured these beams by drilling and driving 2' pieces of 3/8" rebar 18" into the ground and tying the beams together with steel straps and brackets.

I had to remove nearly 2 tons of compacted clay with an assortment of some fairly large rocks that were embedded on the slope. The last step was to backfill my "box" with 1.5 tons of gravel which I compacted by driving over with the Rzr SXS. I still need to do some additional compaction and wet it all down a couple of times but once the passenger side tires are sitting on 2 X 10's the coach should be dead level with the existing slab.

Here is a shot of the finished project:



As you can imagine this was a lot of very physical labor for this 69 year old but I have succeeded in improving my garage access. Here is a shot of the coach in its new parking location. As you can see the the garage has a much easier entrance and though smallish handles my new Can Am Spyder along with my brides car:


:C
13 REPLIES 13

Desert_Captain
Explorer II
Explorer II
OP here with a final update. After compacting the new pad several times, first with my Rzr, then the Honda and finally with 11,000# of coach and gently wetting it down a couple of times it was down about an inch from completely level with the existing concrete driveway. Nothing another half ton of gravel would not cure... so off to the yard onece again. I went with the concrete rock this time, all rock/gravel {no dirt} and aesthetically it nearly matches the driveway.

After spreading and leveling I rolled the coach up and down it at least a dozen times and then parked it using a pair of yellow Leggo blocks under each of the passenger side duallies. The coach is now dead level not only from side to side but front to back as well. My 25,' 30 amp extension cord is due in today and will enable me to connect to the dedicated 30 amp outlet my electrician installed at the front corner of the garage. The coach now sits 12' back down the driveway from the front of the garage and I gained a full 3' of additional clearance on the south side.

Like the man said... "Mission Accomplished". My bill for the beams, hardware and rebar at Home Depot was $245. The gravel yard got me for an other $28 and I get my Ibuprofen for free from the VA. :B Here are a couple of pics:





I

Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Explorer III
Desert Captain wrote:
The Ridgeline is a a lot of truck, plenty of payload, 18" wheels, AWD that rides and handles like an Accord with pretty much the same economy/performance.

"Straps kinds look "RedNeck".

Hey, I resemble that remark. ๐Ÿ™‚ Actually I am a liberal redneck... I get to annoy everybody!

:S


Nice!

Equal opportunity offender. ๐Ÿ˜‰
2015 RAM LongHorn 3500 Dually CrewCab 4X4 CUMMINS/AISIN RearAir 385HP/865TQ 4:10's
37,800# GCVWR "Towing Beast"

"HeavyWeight" B&W RVK3600

2016 MobileSuites 39TKSB3 highly "Elited" In the stable

2007.5 Mobile Suites 36 SB3 29,000# Combined SOLD

Grit_dog
Nomad III
Nomad III
Nice work DC! And love the new place, as is evident yโ€™all do as well.
Youโ€™ve got basically the perfect location for weather, scenery etc. A very beautiful part of the state!
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5โ€ turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold

Dtank
Explorer
Explorer
Cummins12V98 wrote:
Looks good but the only thing i would have done different is skip the straps and add more rebar. Straps kinds look "RedNeck". :B


History lesson!

Long before the "common" definition of a "Redneck":

1638-1641 Scottish Presbyterians would not accept the Church of England as the official state church. Many signed the National Covenant documents in their own blood and wore pieces of cloth around their neck as a distinctive insignia. The term Red Neck became slang for a Scottish dissenter. Many fled to Northern Ireland and eventually the USA.

The Ludlow, CO Massacre, 4-20-1914. From the State of Colorado House Joint Resolution on the 90th anniversary of "one of the bloodiest assaults on organized labor in American history"- between miners and Nat'l Guardsmen which resulted 19 dead inc'l 13 women and children hiding in tents.
(Picks up at about the 14th "Wheras" & abbreviated)
"Wheras Greek miner Louis Tikias in charge of the large tent camp suggested that all strikers wear a red bandana around our necks, as the Greek miners already wore.. Now the bandana becomes our proud uniform, and every one of us is a redneck!"

The Matewan, WV Massacre, 5-19-1920. The coal mine wars. Ten people died, which led to a massive labor insurrection and national coverage ....of ten thousand miners all wearing red bandanas marching through Southern WVA.

Lots of the miners migrated South, working the fields (as the only job they could get). So the term "drifted" from it's original meaning. They were poor, often illiterate miners, often called hillbillies, Rednecks (or worse) - but had nothing to do with working in the sun - or "strong ties" securing posts!


~

Desert_Captain
Explorer II
Explorer II
The Ridgeline is a a lot of truck, plenty of payload, 18" wheels, AWD that rides and handles like an Accord with pretty much the same economy/performance.

"Straps kinds look "RedNeck".

Hey, I resemble that remark. ๐Ÿ™‚ Actually I am a liberal redneck... I get to annoy everybody!

:S

Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Explorer III
Looks good but the only thing i would have done different is skip the straps and add more rebar. Straps kinda look "RedNeck". :B
2015 RAM LongHorn 3500 Dually CrewCab 4X4 CUMMINS/AISIN RearAir 385HP/865TQ 4:10's
37,800# GCVWR "Towing Beast"

"HeavyWeight" B&W RVK3600

2016 MobileSuites 39TKSB3 highly "Elited" In the stable

2007.5 Mobile Suites 36 SB3 29,000# Combined SOLD

MFL
Nomad II
Nomad II
Well...there goes that grocery getter label!!

Jerry

Desert_Captain
Explorer II
Explorer II
Yes, we live in Payson Arizona which is a smallish town, probably with less than 20,000 people. We are at 5,000' but the Mogollon Rim is nearly 8,000' and just 30 miles up highway 260. As far as zoning or parking restrictions that just does not happen up here. Probably 7 out of 10 homes have an RV, a couple of utility trailers not mention ATV's/UTV's {we have my Honda Ridgeline, my brides Toyota Solara, the Can AM Spyder, our Class C, the Rzr SXS and my cargo trailer}.

The best part is that they all reside on our property, no more shelling out $100+ a month for storage and being told when and for how long I could park in front of my home

When we paved our driveways there were no permits required, up here it's your land and Zoning is almost an urban legend. :B One of my major motivations for the move was to get as far away from an HOA as possible... and 175 miles seems to be working.

Here are a couple shots of my 17 Ridgeline, GVWR of 1,477# loaded with 2,100# of gravel. The loader at the gravel yard got a little carried away when I asked for half a ton. I still had to go back for another half ton as the 2,100# wasn't enough and the truck came through it all just fine. Having a tail gate that wings out as well as dropping down enabled me to just back it up over the hole and drop the gravel using just a rake, no shoveling involved.




:C

ssthrd
Explorer
Explorer
Water is your friend when it comes to compaction. Good job!
2014 Keystone Laredo 292RL
2013 Palomino Maverick 2902
2018 GMC 3500HD, 4x4, 6.5' box, SRW, Denali, Duramax, Andersen
DeeBee, JayBee, and Jed the Black Lab

The hurrier I go the behinder I get. (Lewis Carroll)

spoon059
Explorer II
Explorer II
Nice! Beautiful looking area. I assume you are up in the mountains a little bit there?
2015 Ram CTD
2015 Jayco 29QBS

wing_zealot
Explorer
Explorer
Did you check local ordinances regarding parking RV's in the front yard?

MFL
Nomad II
Nomad II
Looks like you did a great job! Hopefully it will stand the test of time!

Hard work is good for everyone, any age! Just takes a little longer, but knowing you are still capable, is a great ego booster!

Jerry

Lwiddis
Explorer
Explorer
Looks terrific!
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad