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Old 04-04-2013, 03:47 PM   #1
sleeplightly
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leveling issues

Has anyone tried to put blocks under one side of the wheels to aid in leveling the TT. I have a double slide camper and no matter how much I try the camper seems to lean to the slide side once extended. I had thought if I raised that side about the thickness of a one by or a two by it may help. I believe the campsite I am at to be relatively level but I am afraid to put much more force on the stabilizer jacks. The handle seems a little week and I tbought that may be a "weak link" on purpose. Thanks in advance to the experienced campers out there helping us newbies.
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Old 04-04-2013, 04:17 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sleeplightly View Post
Has anyone tried to put blocks under one side of the wheels to aid in leveling the TT. I have a double slide camper and no matter how much I try the camper seems to lean to the slide side once extended. I had thought if I raised that side about the thickness of a one by or a two by it may help. I believe the campsite I am at to be relatively level but I am afraid to put much more force on the stabilizer jacks. The handle seems a little week and I tbought that may be a "weak link" on purpose. Thanks in advance to the experienced campers out there helping us newbies.
The ONLY correct way to level your TT left to right is with some sort of blocks/boards under the tires.

The ONLY way to level fore/aft is with the tongue jack after successfully leveling left to right.

The stabilizers are not leveling jacks at all... Ever... On any unit. Unless you have purchased a unit with the one-touch hydro type level-up things, those jacks are to firm-up AFTER leveling as I've described above.
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Old 04-04-2013, 04:22 PM   #3
raytronx
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If you crank to hard on the stabilizer jacks you can twist your frame and cause damage to the trailer. Most folks use plastic or wood blocks under the wheels. I carry some 2x8 boards.
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Old 04-04-2013, 04:26 PM   #4
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Didn't mean to sound so abrupt with my reply!

Glad you're asking... And yes. By all means, use 2x6 or 2x8 under your tires to level. Maybe even some 1x's so you have a few options.

There are commercial "block" products you can use if you desire as well.
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Old 04-04-2013, 05:31 PM   #5
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Thanks I was pretty sure that was the case. No harm in the reply. I appreciate the help
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Old 04-04-2013, 06:08 PM   #6
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We carry the lynx levelers to save the weight of carrying boards. They work well. We estimate what we need build it, pull forward push the blocks into place and the back onto the blocks.
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Old 04-05-2013, 03:44 AM   #7
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I have two plastic totes one with pieces of 2 x 8 and one with pieces of 1 x 8
They stay in the front compartment by the batteries.
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Old 04-05-2013, 04:01 AM   #8
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I've had the best luck with pieces of 2x8 pressure treat cut to about a foot in length. A lot of folks like to use a single piece of lumber that is 4 feet or so in length so that they can place a single board which both tandems will drive up on. There's a potential danger with this. If the board gets grabbed by a wheel just right, it can flip it up into a near vertical position. With a four foot long board, this would probably jam up against the bottom of the trailer and could cause a lot of damage.

With one foot long boards, if it flips up, it can't reach the bottom of the trailer so no damage potential. And, I have found that on slopey campsites, it's sometimes handy to build up higher under just one wheel.

I also use the boards as "sand pads" under the stabilizers and landing gear. Many campsites are simply open patches of land or sand with no gravel or other hard surface. Using a sand pad spreads the weight over a larger area than the foot of the stabilizer. Generally, that means it won't sink down into soft sand or wet earth nearly as much if at all.

I also carry several pieces of 4x4 pressure treat cut into pieces about a foot in length. I'm not a fan of extending the scissors jack stabilizers out all the way. I think they become weak and wobbly so I try to keep the extension to about 50-60%. I use the 4x4's to build up under the jack foot in a cribbing (lincoln log) stack.
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Old 04-05-2013, 09:23 AM   #9
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Taking this further; my Springdale TT is pretty much permanently in one spot. When it was parked by previous owner it was not perfectly level left to right. Since it won't be moving (maybe for years) it seems wise to get the weight off of the wheels and tires. I'm thinking cement block and/or pressure treated wood. However, I haven't a clue on how to jack it up and where or how to place blocks/supports. Any thoughts greatly appreciated.
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Old 04-06-2013, 07:04 AM   #10
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We like to use odds and ends of 2x10's that we salvage from construction sites. We like regular lumber rather than pressure treated since it is lighter, and if it splits it makes good kindling for the fire. Pressure treated would be better for a seasonal or semi-permanent site. We cut them all to the same length with a 45 degree cut on each end so we can use them like this: (by the way, I grabbed this diagram from another RV Forum)

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Old 04-06-2013, 07:17 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by cathcartww View Post
We like to use odds and ends of 2x10's that we salvage from construction sites. We like regular lumber rather than pressure treated since it is lighter, and if it splits it makes good kindling for the fire. Pressure treated would be better for a seasonal or semi-permanent site. We cut them all to the same length with a 45 degree cut on each end so we can use them like this: (by the way, I grabbed this diagram from another RV Forum)
Wow! Nice graphic! My boards are pretty much the same as yours with the angle cuts and all. It really is an effective and flexible solution to leveling a trailer side to side.

May I snag a copy of your graphic? It's the best I've ever seen.
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Old 04-06-2013, 07:27 AM   #12
cathcartww
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveC7010 View Post
Wow! Nice graphic! My boards are pretty much the same as yours with the angle cuts and all. It really is an effective and flexible solution to leveling a trailer side to side.

May I snag a copy of your graphic? It's the best I've ever seen.
As I noted in my post, this graphic was originally posted by "AVid" on the RV.net Forums:

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...g/1/page/1.cfm
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Old 04-06-2013, 07:37 AM   #13
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I got tired of hauling around all the extra weight of 2X6's or 2X8's so I spent a few dollars and bought 2 Tri-Leveler's... does the same job for a lot less weight and space...
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Old 04-11-2013, 04:15 PM   #14
haffcke
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what not to level with

Me being that guy always looking for a short cut to everything, i had made 2, four foot 2x8 to level side to side, well guess what, backing onto them (thank goodness we had just arrived home) they came up and ripped off the dump valves, destroyed both tanks and we needed to leave again in about a week, went to dealer was told they would have to be ordered, ended up buying new trailer plus proper leveling blocks expensive lesson learned, although sometimes still take dumb short cuts once in a while just not as often.
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Old 04-11-2013, 05:33 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by cathcartww View Post
We like to use odds and ends of 2x10's that we salvage from construction sites. We like regular lumber rather than pressure treated since it is lighter, and if it splits it makes good kindling for the fire. Pressure treated would be better for a seasonal or semi-permanent site. We cut them all to the same length with a 45 degree cut on each end so we can use them like this: (by the way, I grabbed this diagram from another RV Forum)

Thanks for the post! Just finished making these today. I had been debating on buying the Tri Levelers and after seeing the diagram decided on these. I cut a 2x8x8 to a total of 12" long including 45 degree cut (8 total). I made two from 1x8s. I then used 2x4s to make 4x4s. I did that over treated to save a little weight. I made 10 of those, 12" long, for under stabilizers. Painted all flat black. All fit into 2 milk crates that store nicely in the pass through storage. Total cost $22.
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