Leveling with Slideouts

[Gary Hadden]

I have always had the same problem most folk have. I level my trailer and it goes out of level when I put my slides out. Here's my new trick. I now have two levels on the front of my trailer, one for slides in and one for slides out. The larger rear-view level (for backing into the campsite) is easy to see and set slightly off level (to allow for the slight tilt I will get when my slides come out). The second, smaller, graduated level is set to be right on when our trailer is truly level. When we first set up, this larger level is dead on and the second level is off. Now, after we are in our site, we put the slides out and the large level will be off but the smaller graduated level will show us to be dead on.

Maybe using two levels is a bit of overkill but the large level is easy to see from the cab of my truck and makes getting set up real easy. The smaller level just confirms that when our slides come out that we are dead on level.

The inside doors in out trailer used to swing open or closed with the slightest tilt and now they don't move at all. Its amazing what a few degrees off level can do. I would love to hear any body else's leveling tricks.

[youroo]

Why not Set the Big level for the (Slides Out ready to use)? Do you use your unit with the slides IN? Youroo!!

[Gary Hadden]

We don't use the trailer with the slides in. The large level is slightly off level. It gives us a quick way to level the trailer so that when the slides do come out, the slight tilt they give the trailer will make it perfectly level. The smaller level is for us to make sure we are really level after the slides are out.

[Gary Hadden]

If I set the larger level to be level when the slides are out it will always be out of level until the slides are deployed. By setting it level when the slides are in I know the trailer is in the right spot to become level when the slides are extended. I really don't want to have to move the trailer slides out so what I did was . . . leveled the trailer with the slides out and put my small level on to show true level. I brought the slides in and put the larger level on to be level. Now I know when I setup, based on the larger level, the trailer will tilt slightly and be perfectly level when the slides are put out. The smaller level is just to confirm this.

[Witch Doctor]

How far out do you guess you are out of level with the slides out, I tring not be stupid here but how are your slides going to make you unlevel?

[Gary Hadden]

When the slides are out I get about a 2" drop on the slide side of the trailer. Now I will be the first to admit, that is not a lot but it is enough to make my bathroom and bedroom doors always swing open or closed. Not serious but an annoyance. I found that by allowing for the slight tilt and getting the trailer perfectly level the doors don't move an inch.

[CJP]

I always level the trailer, then pull forward and put a 2x8 board under the slide side wheels, then back onto it, pretty much level after that when we extend the slides.

[donanddona]

I generally have to reset/relevel after camping a few days. I also put bottle jacks under the axel to take the bounce out. I'll try to pay more attention to the slide thingy. How many slides do you have and are they on both sides or just on one side? Does the size of the slides matter? Are you camping on grass, gravel, or pad? I use two outside bubble levels and the DW uses one in the refer and we use the door movement thingy too.

[Gary Hadden]

Our trailer is a 31' Flagstaff 831FLSS with both slides on the back side. The living room is a big slide and then the bed slide in the back. I set up the levels on my driveway where we store the trailer. As far as camping, it is mostly on grass or gravel. The doors are looking like a pretty good way to tell when we start getting off the best level. We had a 25' trailer with a single slide and noticed it here as well, but it is more noticeable in a bigger trailer with two slides.

[donanddona]

Sounds good. Mine are on the rear, maybe thats why I haven't noticed it so much. Still, I do have to make adjustments, some I know is in the use of bottle jacks. Additionally, I use 4X10s for the landing gear.

[AVid]

Quick question for ya Gary. Do you put the stabilizing jacks down before you put out the slides?

When I set up, I level side to side, unhitch, level front to back, then put down the jacks. After all that, I put out the slides. My level doesn't change by the slides. Got three of them.

John

[Gary Hadden]

When we setup, we always level and drop the jacks before putting the slides out and still notice the little tilt even with the jacks in place. The skew on my large level helps compensate for that slight tilt and get me perfectly level when we put them out.

[jevanb]

I get a 2.5inch drop with the slides out compared to slides in, I level after the slides are out, then stabs. being I have 3 slides on the drivers side and they go out about 2.5-3ft can really tip her low

[Gary Hadden]

I'm trying to avoid moving the trailer too much after my slide go out. I really wanted a way to set my levels so I would basically have the trailer tilt off when I set it up and let the slides compensate for the tilt after I put them out. This seems to work so far. The smaller level is a quick way to make sure it's still working for me.

[offroad]

We have three slides, two on the off awning side and one on the awning side. I level the trailer, put down the stabilizers and then extend the slides.
There is little, if any change to my side to side level when the slides come out.

I'm wondering if the biggest change would be on a rig with two slides, both on the off awning side, or a four slide rig with only one on the awning side? On our TT, the off awning side has one shallow kitchen/sofa slide, and a deep bedroom slide. On the awning side there is a deep dinette/entertainment slide.

The dealer says to put them out like this: Kitchen slide-1, Dinette-2, Bedroom-3.
I'm guessing the Dinette slide helps to balance out the other two and perhaps even the deployment order helps a bit as well.

[dcheatwood]

My rockwood sits 3/4" lower on driver side even with slides in. I just block up driver side wheels @ 1/2" above level before opening slides. Seems all the weight is on the drivers side.

[Shinny]

I have two slides, one for the living room and one for the bedroom in the rear of the camper. They're both on the driver's side and I haven't had a problem with the camper going out of level when I put them out.
I pull in or back in to the site, level side to side, unhitch, level front to back, set the rear stabilizers and then extend the slides. I've had it set up for a month on gravel and it didn't lean to the slide side at all.

[AshnJim]

Y'all have multiple or heavy slides? We've never had any trouble with our HighWall PUP, but wonder if the kitchen slide on the mini lite 2304KS will cause an off-leveling.

[HONDAMAN174]

Mine always drops an inch when I put out the slide. So we pull into campsite, check the levels, and back it up and set down the Lego blocks accordingly.


2014 Stealth Evo 2850 "Woodstock"
2011 Toyota Tundra Rock Crawler TRD 5.7 "Clifford"

[mark0224]

I level the trailer so it's half a bubble off slide side high. Then put all stabilizers down, chock the wheels and open the slides usually come out perfect.