Correct leveling of trailer

[dwilli1]

I definitely put some pressure on all 4 stabilizers, also use a combination of 2x6's, 2x8's and 6x6's for leveling. Put the X-chocks on BOTH sets of tires and next morning tighten them down again bc the tires cool overnight and you'd be surprised how much play there is by morning. Mine's pretty solid after that.

[jeff64]

Originally Posted by NavyLCDR

I will stack more than 4 high but I do not place my jack pads in the center of the lynx block. My round tongue jack pad gets centered over one of the circles in the corner of the lynx block. My rectangular stabilizer jack feet get placed over two of the circles on one side of the lynx blocks. Placing the rectangular stabilizer jack feet may actually work better centered over two of the circles in the lynx blocks diagonally across from each other, I'll have to try that.

You can buy a set of caps for the lynx blocks. I use them all the time

[NavyLCDR]

Originally Posted by jeff64

You can buy a set of caps for the lynx blocks. I use them all the time

Yeah, but the 1x6 boards were already in my garage

[TTnewbie]

Hey dwilli, good point! Never thought about tire pressure changing overnight. That is something I will have to remember to do.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by TTnewbie

I used a drill to lower my jacks. As soon as they touched the leveling pads I stopped. I did not put any "strain" on them like I have read everywhere not to do. I honestly don't think I put them down enough like GXPweasel said above. The question now is.....how much more should I lower them?

I think it depends if you have scissor jacks or electronic stabilizers. I've seen way too many of the electronic stabilizers that have buckled and bent. I'm glad it works for GXPweasel, but the description gave me the willies.

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by TTnewbie

I installed a Levelmate Pro in my trailer. It made leveling the trailer very easy. I backed in using the app and was able move the trailer to the area that was the most level. I then used Anderson levelers to get the trailer in the green zone. Next, I adjusted the tongue jack and got that in the green. After that was all said and done I laid out 3 leveling blocks under each scissor jack and opened them just to the point where I felt resistance in the drill I was using. Finally, I used and X chuck in between the passenger side tires. I had a second one but I did not use it on the other side.

When I was the trailer there was a lot of movement. You could feel the trailer moving as my family walked around. This was especially noticeable when it was bedtime. If my kids moved in the back bunks I could feel it on the other side. If I moved around in the bed they could feel it too. Did I do something wrong? Is the trailer supposed to move so much after it is leveled and secured with jacks? I did not put a lot of pressure on the jacks.

Did I do something wrong or is this just part of life when you use a trailer?

One thing i do and have for the last 6 yrs . I lower the front by a bubble or bubble and a 1/2 lower the rear jacks then raise the front to level and set the front jacks . this takes weight off the springs the jacks can hold 6000 lbs each and the unit has 4 for a TH that weighs 9300 loaded . have not had issues with the jacks doing this cuts down on movement . Then i install the x chocks and have 4 separate screw jacks [for when i'm set up for months ] i don't use the screw jacks for shorter stays . this maks the TH very solid takes weight off springs and tires and works well for ME!

[Mike134]

Originally Posted by TTnewbie

I used a drill to lower my jacks. As soon as they touched the leveling pads I stopped. I did not put any "strain" on them like I have read everywhere not to do. I honestly don't think I put them down enough like GXPweasel said above. The question now is.....how much more should I lower them?

Don't be afraid to see the corner of the trailer lift a bit from the jack pushing into the ground. Don't worry about the NONSENCE you hear spouted by anonymous voices on the internet that some irreparable harm will happen to your trailer from too much pressure on the stabilizing jacks.
Keep in mind your trailer likely just survived 400 miles of bouncing down the highway, buffed by 65 MPH winds, and the final insult to it was to be LIFTED just at the front by the tongue jack to get it off the hitch.

[Daebado]

Originally Posted by Mike134

Don't be afraid to see the corner of the trailer lift a bit from the jack pushing into the ground. Don't worry about the NONSENCE you hear spouted by anonymous voices on the internet that some irreparable harm will happen to your trailer from too much pressure on the stabilizing jacks.
Keep in mind your trailer likely just survived 400 miles of bouncing down the highway, buffed by 65 MPH winds, and the final insult to it was to be LIFTED just at the front by the tongue jack to get it off the hitch.

I think the concern is generally not so much for damage to the stabilizers but for damage to the trailer frame. It was not meant to be lifted by the corners with all that weight in the middle.

And using the tongue jack to raise the front end isn't lifting the entire trailer. It is pivoting over the axles which is way different.

[Wolf26]

You will also have to come up with a good story to tell the the kids as to why the camper was bouncing around so much last night.

[dave961]

I believe the standard 30" jacks can take 1,500# (might be even higher) so you should definitely apply more pressure. I swapped mine out for 7,500# jacks and can see the trailer go up a little when I put them down.

[TTnewbie]

Originally Posted by Wolf26

You will also have to come up with a good story to tell the the kids as to why the camper was bouncing around so much last night.

Not for nothing, but I thought about just that this weekend. There is no way we can squeeze in a good session with the kids in the trailer. We got lucky that there were mothers' day activities at the pavilion and the kids are old enough now to go on their own. Otherwise, there would not have been an opportunity for my wife and I. I don't know how families can live together in a trailer for extended periods of time and the parents still maintain active in that department.

[TTnewbie]

Originally Posted by dave961

I believe the standard 30" jacks can take 1,500# (might be even higher) so you should definitely apply more pressure. I swapped mine out for 7,500# jacks and can see the trailer go up a little when I put them down.

That is what happened to the 1st and 2nd jack. I dropped them until they touched the leveling blocks and then I saw the trailer go up about 3/4 - 1 inch so I quickly raised them. The next time I am going to put a little more pressure on them and see how shaky the trailer is.

[rlocicero]

Originally Posted by TTnewbie

I installed a Levelmate Pro in my trailer. It made leveling the trailer very easy. I backed in using the app and was able move the trailer to the area that was the most level. I then used Anderson levelers to get the trailer in the green zone. Next, I adjusted the tongue jack and got that in the green. After that was all said and done I laid out 3 leveling blocks under each scissor jack and opened them just to the point where I felt resistance in the drill I was using. Finally, I used and X chuck in between the passenger side tires. I had a second one but I did not use it on the other side.

When I was the trailer there was a lot of movement. You could feel the trailer moving as my family walked around. This was especially noticeable when it was bedtime. If my kids moved in the back bunks I could feel it on the other side. If I moved around in the bed they could feel it too. Did I do something wrong? Is the trailer supposed to move so much after it is leveled and secured with jacks? I did not put a lot of pressure on the jacks.

Did I do something wrong or is this just part of life when you use a trailer?

You buy the adhesive backed levels and install them on your level trailer. To use them, follow these instructions. level the trailer pretty close and tweak the adhesive backed levels to show that the trailer is perfect.
she will never know how you got it so level. REadjust the levels occasionally.

[RadRik]

WE use 2 X-chocks, the Steadyfast system, 2 Valterra stabilizers, and a 5th wheel hitch tripod. The Valterra stabilizers go under the frame by the steps and under the frame by the back bumper. This takes out most of the shaking unless we are on a very uneven site.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by rlocicero

You buy the adhesive backed levels and install them on your level trailer. To use them, follow these instructions. level the trailer pretty close and tweak the adhesive backed levels to show that the trailer is perfect.
she will never know how you got it so level. REadjust the levels occasionally.

Regardless of its title, this thread is not about leveling or levels. It’s about stability/removing trailer wiggle.

[Jim in Halifax]

6" or 8" sq blocks work the best and should be stable on the ground......Stabs should not be over extended...I also use two scissor jacks under the frame as close to the front wheels as possible tight to the frame.......I find that this takes a lot of the bounce out of the TT....I also use this method for my 5er PS I lalso extend the stab jacks very tight to the ground but not raising the unit...If stabs are loose you are wasting your time extending them!!!!!!!!

[Wes Tausend]

...

One other item of note is that when the corner jacks are pressurized in the least, the TT gets somewhat sway-backed in the middle. If anyone doesn't believe this is substantial, I invite you to stand on a step ladder and eyeball down one of your rain gutters when the stabs are down in any tension. From the TT looking level on the wheels alone, my guess is that it is assembled resting on the wheels, because that is the only time mine was straight.

This doesn't seem to be a problem with door closing, or cabinets, but I've never tried to jack the ends to extremes either. The original assumption was that once the weight was off the springs, then the springs no longer suspend the TT and it can't bounce up and down in the least. Wrong. The rubbery frame gives a lot.

Since the frames are flexible, with end jacks, there is always some weight more or less on the springs I suppose, until the tires just about come off the ground.

In our last TT, a 30 footer, any jacking at all immediately caused the rain to run to the center of the roof. If there was little rain, it ran off the roof center and then along the tiny 1/2 inch deep gutters that these units come with and then properly drained off the end spouts. If it was intermediate rain, or more, the gutters overload and rain runs off the sides of each tiny trough... after it mostly runs to the roof middle. Then it runs down the wall, or on the slide roof, depending on TT side tilt.

This "feature" dumped rainwater directly on the slide roof and it did leak until I replaced the slide roof wiper with a taller, robust rubber wiper selected from my RV dealer's unassigned generic stock. Although the TT was level when I set up, it always leaned to the slide thereafter, and I left it, which helped keep rain from running inside the slide attachment wall.

A long term fix on longer campouts was to jack the frame up in the center too, with at least two more jacks. Four were better. One other help was to jack a lower step under light, but solid tension. Most of our objectionable bounce was somebody coming up the cantilevered step assembly and this really helped. Some TT's may have built-in step feet and this should help about the same.
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Our long current Class C seems pretty solid as far as bounce, using the spastic hydraulic jacks. Any harder extensive footing, or leveling, will prevent the bathroom door from latching however. These long chassis are like noodles. Motorhomes of all kinds suffer from not being able to tilt fore-and-aft on center axles. Even a moderate off-level pad requires hard jacking and one end or the other may even leave the ground on down-slopes. I know they can because my campmates once allowed the insane auto-jack feature to extend to the degree all four wheels were off the ground while I was trying to sleep in.

If the rear axle is off the ground, the front must be very well blocked from rolling. Ideally one would park the rear axle on very sturdy blocking that will positively resist the duals slipping because that's where all the brakes are. In some cases, I do not have room to bring that much blocking. We have a residential fridge, resistant to tilt, so sometimes we just sleep crooked.

Wes

[RnRushin]

Screw jack stands such as the Camco Olympian. A bout $35 for pack of 4. My dad used them before trailers came with stabilizers. A little movement does not bother me but DW can't sleep when the grandkids are bouncing around in the bunk house. Surveyor 32 BHDS with stabilizers and 4 screw jacks there is almost no movement.

[TTnewbie]

Where exactly do you position the screw jacks for added support?

[ppinto1960]

Dont need that much pressure on Jack's just rest on ground. Is camper light gor the amount of weight you have in it.should not feel if someone moves in as bed,