Step-by-step instructions to making easy homemade wheel chocks for autos, RVs, campers, trailers
posted October 11, 2009 - 8:55pm
A chock is defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary as a “wedge or block for steadying a body (as a cask) and holding it motionless, for filling in an unwanted space, or for blocking the movement of a wheel.” The word also has a second
definition to describe a piece on a boat or ship that is used to hold rope in place for mooring or towing as well.
The most common version of a chock, for many of you, is simply a large rock, a brick, piece of firewood, or whatever is lying around handy that you put in front of the tire of your car or truck to keep it from rolling, especially when you might be changing a flat. That type of chock usually isn’t particularly safe, either.
For those of you with RVs, trailers, campers and/or motor homes, you put a chock to use a lot more often. The trailer campers especially have a chock as an essential piece of equipment – they are put in place as a simple matter of doing business when the camper is set up in the great outdoors.
While you can buy plastic chocks, I’m going to give you instructions on how to make an inexpensive and easy-to-make wheel chock in record time.
This easy chock is going to be made out of 4-inch by 4-inch square wood. So the first thing you need to do is get yourself a piece of 4” x 4” wood, preferably 18 inches long. It can be treated or non-treated wood. The treated wood would obviously last a lot longer than non-treated, because it doesn’t succumb to the elements of the weather, but in this case, it doesn’t matter. Many hardware stores or lumber yards have scrap wood bins where you might find a piece of 4” x 4” that’s just the right size. If it’s a 24-inch piece of 4” x 4” that you find, that’s OK too – you can always cut it down to the 18 inches. If it’s a 20-inch piece of scrap, I probably wouldn’t even bother cutting it down. Try to keep it around 18 inches though.
Now you have a piece of 4” x 4” wood, we’re going to take it and mark it so we can do two things. First, we’re going to drill two 1-inch holes in each end. Then we’ll be making a diagonal cut through it to make our chocks.
First measure about 1.5 inches from the end of the wood and center in the 4” x4” to drill a hole. Make a mark for a hole in the center and make the same mark in the other end.
Drill your holes. I’m going to assume a couple of things here, the biggest being primarily that you have a 1-inch drill bit that is long enough to drill all the way through the 4 inches of wood, and the other that you have a decent place to do your work.
Next, you need to make a mark where you will be making the diagonal cut. For an 18-inch piece of wood, the cut will start on one side at the 6-inch mark and will end on the other side, diagonally, at the 12-inch mark. For longer pieces, you just need to figure the difference in where the middle is and go out from there, or you could cut it down to the 18-inch length to start.
Here I’m going to assume a couple of things also – that you either have a table/band saw that can make this kind of diagonal cut or you have a basic hand saw. And the hand saw needs to be sharp. Make the cut.
After you make the cut, you’ll have your two pieces of wood that are basically your chocks. Then, I’d recommend getting about 3 feet of some kind of rope (preferably something as thick as a 5/8-inch rope) and cut it into two, 18-inch pieces. Run one of the pieces into your 1-inch holes and tie a hearty knot into the end of the rope – and do the same with the other end. Now you have handles for your wheel chocks and you are basically finished.
Now that you’re finished, throw the chocks into the truck of your car for the next time you have a flat, or pack them in your camper trailer for the next trip into the great outdoors and make it an essential part of your camping and outdoor gear.
I’ll summarize here the steps to making the homemade chocks.
What you’ll need:
18-inch piece of 4” x 4” wood
2 pieces of 18-inch, 5/8 inch rope
1-inch drill bit for drilling hole
Table saw/band saw or hand saw for making diagonal cut
A place for cutting and drilling.
Get your wood (18-inch, 4” x 4”)
Mark the wood for drilling 1-inch holes on each end
Mark the wood for diagonal cut
Drill your holes
Cut your wood
Run rope through drilled holes on each end, tie knot.
Store in trunk or in camper, trailer or motor home.
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