Leveling on Driveway troubles

[VickiA]

Hi fellow campers,

Any advice for leveling on a driveway? We get out of stroke error and can’t get front end high enough. Tried Andersen jack blocks up front to get 6” more but still not level. Looking for any and all tips.

[chuckster57]

Does the out of stroke occur before or after the rear stabilizers extend?

Hydraulic (Level up) or electric (Ground control)

[jasin1]

what kind of angle for driveway? is it a steep incline?..may need more blocking but i’d make darn sure the trailer is securely chocked and maybe have the front blocks or cribbing secured to the ground and the trailer so it can’t slide off if the trailer shifts

[VickiA]

I believe it’s after rear. We will have to bring trailer from storage lot and verify.

It’s hydraulic.

[VickiA]

Originally Posted by jasin1

what kind of angle for driveway? is it a steep incline?..may need more blocking but i’d make darn sure the trailer is securely chocked and maybe have the front blocks or cribbing secured to the ground and the trailer so it can’t slide off if the trailer shifts

If I put my phone on driveway with level app on it measures 6-7 degrees. Gonna have to check that with a string and level after hubby gets home.

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by VickiA

If I put my phone on driveway with level app on it measures 6-7 degrees. Gonna have to check that with a string and level after hubby gets home.

i was at a Delaware state park in Nov? and the pull thru site was deceptively downhill …couldn’t tell when i was pulling in but it was raining really hard and i was distracted…it was the first time in two years that i had a error…i had to keep hooking back up to block it higher ..very frustrating

[dutchmensport]

We had our driveway completely resurfaced and widened (asphalt) about 6 years ago. In so doing, I had them slope the drive way sideways. It already had a natural down hill slope that drained absolutely everything right into the garage when it rained. Sloping side ways now allows rain to run off the edge before all 220 feet of 30 feet wide asphalt runs right into the garage. In so doing, the (North) side of the edge is about 8 inches higher than the (South) edge, which makes the drive way really out of level (side to side). But the rain run off works great now.

Meanwhile, that means the trailer is now tiled side to side quite a bit. My solution was to simply lay 8 foot x 12 inch treated lumber on the asphalt on the low side of the drive way and that side of the trailer tires roll upon the lumber. It's 3 inches high now (from the asphalt), which now comes close to leveling the trailer side to side.

However, after these years, the weight of the trailer is now causing the added edge to sink, right where the trailer sits. So, I'm pretty sure, soon I'll be adding a 3rd layer of lumber on top to keep it level side to side.

Then the electric jacks? With the tires now raised 3 inches of the ground, that means I must put something under the jacks so they do not have to extend so far, otherwise, yes .... they stroke out.

I carry a mountain of lumber with the camper all the time. I've picked up a couple more big blocks to use under the jacks (especially since I raised the back two as high as they'll go), I really need to put blocks under the jacks now.

I simply keep those 8 foot boards in the drive way all the time. They never move, even when we are gone. When we return home, I simply aim the tires for those boards and I'm parked in exactly the same spot every time.

This is your best solution. Get some treated lumber and build up the low side (if yours is unlevel left to right or side to side). If the jacks are stroking out, then put blocks under the jacks so they have to extend so far. This will take care of your problem. In other words, do all you can to level the trailer when you first park it and truly use the jacks for stabilizing and fine-tuning the level.

Here's what I'm talking about:

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by VickiA

If I put my phone on driveway with level app on it measures 6-7 degrees. Gonna have to check that with a string and level after hubby gets home.

does it look like these?

[dutchmensport]

And yes, if the parking spot is excessively out of level front to back, then in order to avoid jacks from stroking, all you can do is add blocks (of some sort) under the jack to shorten the distance they have extend.



If front to back is too steep and one end or the other can't be lowered enough, then you need to add something under the tires to made a taller distance for the low to the ground end.



This is not my trailer, it was a campground in North Carolina about 2 years ago. Talk about unlevel?

[VickiA]

Originally Posted by jasin1

does it look like these?

Oh my gosh!!! Heavens no! It is somewhere between 6 and 11 degrees. So average for a driveway.

[VickiA]

This is helpful!!

[Max23]

Originally Posted by jasin1

does it look like these?

OMG!! A- hope they never see snow or ice. B- How can you possibly take that and not scrape front and back when entering. C- How can you get into the garage without high centering??? Guess you can't own a car and if you do, just park on the street. Wow. Never seen anything like it and I've lived in mountainous terrain.

[RollaMo]

Originally Posted by VickiA

Hi fellow campers,

Any advice for leveling on a driveway? We get out of stroke error and can’t get front end high enough. Tried Andersen jack blocks up front to get 6” more but still not level. Looking for any and all tips.

The jacks can only extend so far.
If you get an out of stroke error before the trailer is level, you will
need to put more blocks under the jacks.


Here is a quick crude drawing showing you how/why this might happen.


Edit: Looks like David beat me with a drawing of his own above.

[JoeB-one]

We had same issue so I made two ramps and drop the tongue to the ground.

[Alpine Custom Upgrade]

Originally Posted by VickiA

Hi fellow campers,

Any advice for leveling on a driveway? We get out of stroke error and can’t get front end high enough. Tried Andersen jack blocks up front to get 6” more but still not level. Looking for any and all tips.

We have a 38' fifth wheel with the 6 point levelling system. We have never set up on a site that we could not get reasonably level. We carry 6 of the round Anderson blocks which would help block up the middle levelers with one block each and either the front or the rear pair of levelers could have 2 blocks each if needed. Worst case we can put three for either end. In some of the reply pics posted, we would never get the rig level. Be sure to chock all four tires well.

[Mr Mojo]

I couldn't get the picture to load, but here is a link.
My driveway slopes quite a bit. I have since made some new leveling blocks that were more consistent in height to replace the various pieces of 2 x 8 and plywood. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid....1672101575568

[MJCougler]

One thing might need clarifying for the newer RVers...

I carry 2x12x 30" (2x10s work too) PT boards for under the jack pads. I also carry four 6x6x30 PT "post" lumber to use when needed. I get less "inside movement" when the leveling lacks are shorter when on the 6x6s.

I carry two 2x12 PT (2x10s work too) boards about 4' long, long enough to carry in the width of the truck bed. Over the years on soil, they will bow or split down the center. If you choose to do this, let them dry for a year, treat them with a deck-stain weatherproof coating. And, where the two tires touch the boards, attach Simpson galvanized tie plates to the bottom of the boards, and even better, evenly space three on the bottom with two near the ends:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Simpson-...P411/205326044

If you want them to slide better on the grass, use a router to in-set the plates the thickness of the plates.

Also, when parked on a slope, rotate the steel jack feet 90 degrees to ensure the feet tilt with the pins in-line with the slope (NOT pointing down the slope). AND, put up to four thick black rubber tire chocks in front of tires, on the lumber, to keep the trailer from rolling down the hill.

[SargeW]

Here is a thought as far as leveling. I just downsized from a 40' Allegro Bus with air and hydraulic leveling to my 28 Keystone Passport 2400RBWE. Talk about change! But I am now in the process of moding the new rig. When looking for leveling options, I found this device, A Level Mate Pro. https://www.amazon.com/LogicBlue-Tec...xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

In a nut shell, it attaches to any wall of the RV, and via Bluetooth sends leveling information to your smart phone. I have used it several times now, including in my parking pad at the stick house that is out of level in both directions. It takes the guessing out of the leveling process, and takes me a few minutes to be completely level.

It sells for $149 on Amazon, so it's not cheap, but it has cut the stress of setting up way down. That and the Beech Lane stackable camper levelers (like Andersen levelers, but different) has made a tedious process quick and easy.