Trailer leveling

[egrum]

I seem to be having an issue with getting the trailer level once the slide is out.

I have tried compensating by blocking the slide side, up a bit, still seems unlevel after the slide is out, seems to be high one side or the other, I have even crawled under and jacked the wheels up individually and blocked, that is no easy task and certainly not a very practical event.

We own a Sunset Trail 26BH

Any hints or suggestions are appreciated, we have tried using bubble levels, framing levels, laid on the kitchen counter, used a bottle of booze (as a level not as a compensator), placed levels on the hitch and even down loaded an "app". Trailer never seems level.

Thanks

[Hunter11]

I always level the trailer first front to back and side to side and then get all the stabilizer jacks set tight before we put the slides out. Never had an issue so far.

[martinstwopopfarm]

I level the same as Hunter. It has always worked for me too.

[DirtEngineer]

I have a 26BH as well, and have had difficulty at times too. Generally what I do is level front-to-back, and leave the slide side a bit high. Then I put the jacks down and tighten everything up. Then I roll out the slide. It works well for me. When I say a bit high, I use a 12" long carpenters level, and I level off the shelf below my TV. I leave somewhere between 1/16" to 1/8" only under the slide end of the level.

[drcook]

we have a 30 ft cruiser and do the same as everyone above. one thing I didn't see mentioned is that I carry 1 1/2 ft long pieces of treated 2x6 lumber to put under the jack feet. spreads the force out over a bigger area, less compression under the jack feet (unless you are sitting on concrete of course)



in fact, I put boards under the wheels also. overkill, probably, but it sure helps keep everything from settling



as a suggestion for lowering the jack feet, I went to harbor freight and bought a middle of the road electric impact wrench. i use extension cords to plug into the sites electric and with a quick "blip" the feet are down, no more cranking (I know some of Crossroads RV's come with electric jacks as an option) then I fine tune the jacks with the actual hand crank.

[ClassicHammond]

I would not be without my Makita cordless for running jacks up/down. The worst thing for a cordless is not using it. Keeping it charged for the trailer keeps it in top shape for drilling/screwing. And at my age it's more camping/less ...well what did you think I was going to say?

My biggest question is when is the trailer level? The floor? Fridge? Counter top? I never compared all of the above to see if they agree. Might the frame twist a bit when you extend the slide?

And I always prefer alittle tilt...high on the awning side...water runs away from the awning.

[drcook]

I carry 4 or so 8" levels and put1 on the floor, 1 on the frame, 1 on the stove and 1 on the counter top and just set it the best I can. Inever thought to go back and check after the slide was deployed, I guess I am going to have to do that now and see what happens. This is our first year with a slide and now you have me wondering................

[stevenrees]

I was told to level from the freezer. Since that is the main reason to have the rig level in the first place. My mk-33 works fine when I level the coach front to rear & side to side with the level placed in the freezer. Then I put the slides out, double check the level, if the bubble is within the lines, I leave it alone. No problems at all so far.
Good luck.
Steve Rees

[anaro]

We level before the slide is out and leave it about a half bubble high on the slide side. Once the slide is out it compensates for the half bubble. We use lynx levelers under the wheels and have not had a problem yet.We also recheck level once the slide is out. We level on our counter top andif I am suspicious it is off, Icheck somewhere else in the TT as well.Stab jacks go down after slide is out for us.

Edited by: anaro

[Sirsea]

We use one of the Camco rv levelsfrom Walmart that can be installed on the front of the trailer or the pin box of a fiver. A quick glance in the rearview mirror tells you if the rig is levelor which side you need to raise and how many inches is needed. We level from side to side, unhitch, level front to back, put down the rear stabilizers (on 12 x 12 pads) snug them up and then put out the slides. If the fridge door stays in place when you open it half way, we consider it good enough.

[Hamops]

I use a level on the floor of the our 5vr because the floor is attached to the frame. I have 2 lengths of 2X10, that I can use to place under the wheels to level the trailer from side to side. Once I have the side to side level, I level our 5vr with the landing gear, front to back. I also have large 2X10 pads to spread the load on the ground from the landing gear and the rear stabilizers. After the trailer is level on both planes,being lazy and a power tool junkie, I use a battery operated impact wrench to drive the rear stabilizers and snug them up. I also have JT Strongarms that I lock down to prevent wobble in our 5vr.

Now here is what one longtime RV'r suggested. Take one can of beer (cold preferred) and lay it on the floor of your trailer so that it can roll from side to side. If it rolls to a side, then raise that side until it stops rolling. Now place the can so that it can roll front to back and vis-versa. It rolls to the back of the trailer, lower the tongue until it stops rolling. Once you're satisfied with your effort, then take the can of beer, open it, and reward yourself for your effort.

[Pinecone]

Originally Posted by egrum

I seem to be having an issue with getting the trailer level once the slide is out.

I have tried compensating by blocking the slide side, up a bit, still seems unlevel after the slide is out, seems to be high one side or the other, I have even crawled under and jacked the wheels up individually and blocked, that is no easy task and certainly not a very practical event.

We own a Sunset Trail 26BH

Any hints or suggestions are appreciated, we have tried using bubble levels, framing levels, laid on the kitchen counter, used a bottle of booze (as a level not as a compensator), placed levels on the hitch and even down loaded an "app". Trailer never seems level.

Thanks

You have got lots of good advice in the above posts. You may be making this a little complicated. Leveling is really for the refrigerator, and it's nice to not have stuff rolling off the kitchen counter.

When you are at home and the refrigerator is empty, take a small level and get the fridge or freezer level (slide in). At Walmart you can find some of the small 4" stick on/screw on levels. While the fridge is level attach these inside the trailer close to your entry door (one front to back and one side to side) calibrating them to "the refrigerator's level position". Put them in a place where you can see them from outside the trailer.

Now when you park just open the entry door and glance in at the 2 levels, one side to side, and one front to back. Adjust trailer with blocks to level. Don't worry about the rest of the trailer, just get the fridge level. That's the best you can do. Leave trailer just "slightly" high on the slide side and it should settle out between the lines on the level when extended.

[Hamops]

While the fridge needs to be level to work, a bit of tolerance is allowed. Checkyour fridge manual.The fridge side to side elevation should be as level as you can get it (one or two degrees off vertical), whereas thefridge frontto back elevation is a little more tolerant but not by much.(maybe 2 to 3 degrees off vertical) Basically, if the trailer is level in both directions then that will be ok for the fridge.

[scottw]

Originally Posted by Hamops

Once you're satisfied with your effort, then take the can of beer, open it, and reward yourself for your effort. </span>

Now THAT is the best idea yet! Makes me want to rush through all the steps leading up to that though.