Story & Question

[robbecky]

Hi everyone. So here's a story: about 70 days ago my wife and I bought a Forest River Flagstaff E-Pro E16BH, about 20 feet long. We owned (past tense) a Chrysler Town & Country and wanted to keep that and use it to pull our trailer. We went to Camping World (yes, I now know, big mistake). They showed us this trailer and told us it weighed 2900 pounds, which is within the towing specs for the van. Well, at that time I had not learned anything about all the different weights and didn't know that the sales person had given me the dry weight. I am guessing he knew exactly what he was doing and just wanted to make an end of month sale.

Well.............I should add that we had to buy the weight distributing hitch and we paid $700 to put in the electronic braking system into the van.

After one camping trip we knew we didn't like how the rig was handling. We knew what the van weighed so we took the rig to a weigh station and it turned out our 2900 pound trailer weighed 4100 pounds, which was 600 pounds over the towing limit for the van.

I felt like we should sue to return the trailer but we didn't have any hard proof of what the sales person said and didn't want months of fighting over it.

So I ended up trading in the van for a 2019 Dodge Ram 1500. Hate the payments but love the truck. Well, one more camping trip in rainy cold weather where we had to spend most of our time in the trailer and we knew right away our trailer was too small for us.

So we started thinking, if we'd known we were going to get a 1/2 ton pickup, we never would have gotten such a small trailer. We decided that even though we would take a beating trading a 65 day old trailer in, we wanted something bigger.

So this time I did my homework correctly, found another dealer with a great reputation and great ratings, and we traded in the trailer for a Forest River Vibe 251RKS (30'). It is unbelievable, we absolutely love it.

So that's the story. Here's the question. The new trailer has electronic stabilizers. One button controls the front ones and one controls the back ones. My question is: Since they operate in pairs, how do you level the trailer side to side?

Phew.... I'm done :-)

[dalford]

Lol, been there done that.. bought a 20’ + trailer, then moved to 30’ trailer the 37’ 5th wheel. Finally got the size we wanted. TV went from a Toyota Highlander, to an F150, to F250 and now F350..

You leveling problem is not your stabilizers. The stabilizers are not for leveling. They are meant to just contact the ground enough to stabilize your RV. Do not use them to lift your RV.

You need to level with blocks or wood under your tires. Once your level then drop the stabilizers to take the wobble out.

Have fun

[bikendan]

Sorry you had such a bad experience.
I wish more people did some research before buying a RV. There is so much helpful information out there, to help newbies make better decisions when shopping for a RV.
Luckily I joined numerous RV forums and got lots of help and information before I bought my first RV. A friend had suggested I do that before making a purchase.

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by dalford

You[r] leveling problem is not your stabilizers. The stabilizers are not for leveling. They are meant to just contact the ground enough to stabilize your RV. Do not use them to lift your RV.

You need to level with blocks or wood under your tires. Once you[‘re] level then drop the stabilizers to take the wobble out.

This is exactly how you should do it.

At first, before ever using them, I was skeptical about the electric stabilizers on my Windjammer — I thought they were just going to be something that looked fancy, yet ineffective at doing what stabilizers are supposed to do. I was wrong. They do a great job at keeping my trailer solid. They work best for me when they are in direct contact with the ground; without blocks beneath the feet, but I usually do place blocks beneath them, just to keep them clean.

Some people have reported problems with blown fuses when they are fully deployed or retracted, but I have never experienced this. There appears to be some sort of device that prevents this from happening on mine — the motors will just stop and seemingly reset themselves right away.

Have fun with your new camper!

Bruce

[CampingGator]

Don’t use wood blocks or the LEGO-like stacking blocks. We use Anderson Levelers, which make leveling a cinch! You just back up on them while your parking helper holds a level against the trailer. Easy peasy! Here is a link to Amazon and a YouTube video.

https://www.amazon.com/Andersen-Hitc...63719760&psc=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk7teMWhN6c

[GL1800Rider]

X2 on the Anderson levelers, they make leveling very simple. One other thing I always did when leveling my travel trailers, especially with one slide, is to set it up very slightly higher on the side slide to compensate for the weight after extending it.

[Oaklevel]

Wood blocks, legos or Anderson levelers are all equally good to use. It is a matter of personal preference. You will need to decide what works best for you. Personally after using wood 2x's for 40 years I think they are easiest for me.

Before putting your stabilizers down level the trailer. I have a 2' carpenters level. I figure out how far off of level the trailer is put down the blocks and drive or back up on them. Then I disconnect the trailer level it back to front ( of course chock the wheels). Then put the stabilizers down. (Just a little different procedure for the Anderson's but similar)

[formerFR]

we bought a gently used 40' fifth and truck combo back in '14...
traded it in for a brand new '15 Georgetown 38' ClassA within a month and a half...
traded that in for our '14 Palazzo 34' diesel pusher within another month and a half...

4/12 years later, we'll see what happens ! : )

[JimChow]

We carry two 2 X 10's for extreme use otherwise we use Anderson Levelers, gotta say we like em'.

[MR.M]

Always level up side to side first . weather you use blocks or the andersen levelers . Then chocked the wheels disconnect TT and set level front to back with tongue jack . once level then drop your stabilizers. having 2x8 or 10 blocks is good to carry with you at all times . put them under the stabilizers pads to keep from sinking into the ground . and added side to side leveling for those sites that are way off

[67L48]

Thanks for sharing the story. It may help other people, too, as it's a pretty common situation you found yourselves in. I hope you have a good camping rig at this point and enjoy yourselves.

Otherwise, I'll just echo the others: stabilizers stabilize things; levelers level things. Don't level with stabilizer. Not on your trailer, not on any trailer, not on a small popup trailer. People bend their frames or ruin their stabilizers doing that.

For me, the Anderson levelers don't work because my axles are too close together. For the Rockwood Mini Lites, a person needs to trim those Andersons to fit. I went the easier (cheaper) path and got the Camco Levelers at Amazon for $50. They fit great and work great.



Good luck.

[omahagirl]

We had experience with a great dealership, so few of those left. We chose a used tt knew what we could tow. They weighed the tongue it was 1,000 not the expected 750lbs. Too heavy for our tow vehicle. They let us buy a new one at their cost. 8 months later at the Hershey show we found a gorgeous 5 th. They told us what type of truck we’d need and that search began. They fully paid off the tt. We found a diesel F250 king Ranch used. Great deal when we traded it in 6 years later it was for 4K less then we paid. It and the 5th were traded in for our 11 FR Berkshire 390 RB 360 hp. She’s a beauty and beast

[MillMitch]

Originally Posted by GL1800Rider

X2 on the Anderson levelers, they make leveling very simple. One other thing I always did when leveling my travel trailers, especially with one slide, is to set it up very slightly higher on the side slide to compensate for the weight after extending it.

I don't want to hijack the thread, but had a question about the Anderson's. I assume you use two of them if you are leveling a dual axle trailer? Otherwise all the weight is on one axle. I currently use the lego blocks, but have looked at the Andersons.
thanks

[purduepete97]

Originally Posted by MillMitch

I don't want to hijack the thread, but had a question about the Anderson's. I assume you use two of them if you are leveling a dual axle trailer? Otherwise all the weight is on one axle. I currently use the lego blocks, but have looked at the Andersons.
thanks

Correct. One set (leveler and chock) per axle.

[CNYCamper]

Originally Posted by 67L48

For me, the Anderson levelers don't work because my axles are too close together. For the Rockwood Mini Lites, a person needs to trim those Andersons to fit. I went the easier (cheaper) path and got the Camco Levelers at Amazon for $50. They fit great and work great.

I bought the Andersens based on their reputation; they were a pain to trim for my close set axles. If I had it to do over I would buy the Camcos.

[hshaynes]

We have a Vibe 268RKS and love ours as well. I use Anderson levelers like others. They are great and easy to use and well worth the cost. Use the lego blocks under jack and stab pads to keep them clean.
Hope you enjoy your Vibe as much as we have.