How to use leveling blocks?

[tnvolquicksilver]

Hello again everyone! After doing our first "trial run" of setting up our 8.0 in the driveway, we found it to be "wobbly" while inside the camper.  I've bought some leveling blocks, but I'm not sure how/where to put them.  Are they best placed under the tires or under the leveling jacks or both? And...does the trailer jack stay down or up once youre set up. Thanks in advance for your advice! 

[charliem]

[font size="3"]Leveling blocks are primarily used under the tires to level the trailer side to side on uneven ground. However, if the ground is soft you may also want them under the stabilizers and tongue jack. The stabilizers should be cranked down just until they start taking a load. They are not for leveling the trailer. If you do not have front stabilizers the tongue jack should be left down. If you have four stabilizers the tongue jack is not as important, but it's usually left down. You should also have wheel chocks to prevent the trailer from rolling once set up.
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[david]

Here is how I do it. It isn't entirely kosher and as Charlie says above, you should not take much load on the stabilizers, but....

I back into the campsite and unhook the trailer. I jack the tongue up or down to get it level fore and aft.

I then look at side to side leveling. I use an iPhone app- Bubble Level to check it. If it is ok then fine. If it is out several degrees then I will take up the difference, usually an inch or so by jacking up one stabilizer more than the other. But I never take more than half the trailer's weight on the stabilizer.

If that won't do it, say 5 degrees or more, I put a plastic leveling ramp in back of the low side tire and back the trailer up on to it. At the first step I can add about 3" to the low side and if I back it further so it goes up the second level I can add about 5". Make sure that your chocks are set well before unhooking if you are on the ramp.

Then I am level fore and aft and side to side. I set the other stabilizers to take a slight load for well, stabilization.

David

[pinstriper]

Following David's procedure is a lot of extra work if you do in fact need to adjust the side to side level.

Since he's already unhooked before checking side/side level, and has put the stabilizing jacks down, he now has to raise them before he can raise the jack and hook up to the tow vehicle again so put the trailer onto the blocks. If he doesn't, it is even more likely to damage the frame and jacks than using them to level the trailer in the first place. (See pics in the trailer pad washout thread for a sample of what it looks like when the stabilizer jacks end up holding the whole trailer. Too lazy to find it and link it.)

Since the trailer connection is a ball, you can check side to side level BEFORE unhooking. It won't change after unhooking. Using a level app on the phone is very convenient and a good idear. If you need to put a block (or several) to achieve side to side level, you can do it very easily. Once you've got level, you chock the wheels, THEN unhook, THEN use the tongue jack to establish fore/aft level. You're only changing position in the campsite about 6". I prefer to pull FORWARD onto the blocks if I'm using them, as there is then no chance that I've backed up enough to have a curb at the back of the pad (if there is one) interfere with the rear stabilizers.

THEN you drop the stabilizer jacks, as Charlie said, just to the point where they begin to take on weight. Depending on how tall the stabilizer jacks are and how far out of level the site is, you may need to put blocks under them as well so they reach the ground, or to spread the load on soft ground. This may also be true of the tongue jack, by the way, which bears the most weight other than the tires, and all on a very small wheel.

[david]

pinstriper:

You are correct and come to think of it, the one time I needed leveling blocks I put them in place before unhooking and checking fore and aft level. Here is a rough breakdown of about 20 camps, all in rustic, gravel sites:

Leveling block- 1
Side to side stabilizer- 6
No leveling side to side- 13

We aren't camping in any more or less rustic sites than 15 years ago, but the sites seem more level now.

David

[peislander]

I highly recommend a BAL Leveler for side-to-side leveling. With a single axle trailer you need one --- two needed if you have tandem axles. With the BAL Leveler you simply get the trailer where you want it then slip the leveler in place at the low side. You can be hitched or unhitched. The leveler uses a threaded shaft and a ratchet wrench to lift the tire. It acts as a very secure chock at the same time.


[a href="http://www.amazon.com/BAL-R-V-Products-Group-28050/dp/B000BH5MAA"]BAL Leveler on Amazon.com[/a]


With regards to the stabilizers my small but mighty Camplite 11FDB has the kind that swing down & extend. I imagine the Quicksilvers have the same ones. Once when I was setting up a friend showed me "how to do it right". After you swing the stabilizer down & extend the foot down you take a screw driver and extend it from the front holes through to the back ones and use it to leverage the foot down. It will generally go down a little bit and be nice & tight. Doing that adds greatly to the stabilization of the trailer: Significantly more stable than just using your hand or foot to plant the stabilizer's foot. I generally use a Camco plastic pad thingie under each of the stabilizers and they keep the foot from sinking into the ground.

[fasteddieb]

[fasteddieb]

http://youtu.be/AG7-aM3DfPQ

[pinstriper]

pinstriper:

You are correct and come to think of it, the one time I needed leveling blocks I put them in place before unhooking and checking fore and aft level. Here is a rough breakdown of about 20 camps, all in rustic, gravel sites:

Leveling block- 1
Side to side stabilizer- 6
No leveling side to side- 13

We aren't camping in any more or less rustic sites than 15 years ago, but the sites seem more level now.

David

I should have marked my post DAMHIK. I had to figure the order out myself, too, after having to hookup again !!!

[mitch]

I'll chirp in on this one since I always seem to have to level up

Put the trailer mostly where I want it, get out and check my levels (I have one gauge on the tongue and one on the back driver side bumper).

If I only have to level up a few degrees I'll use the Anderson Leveler, it's quick and easy, I usually back onto it but it's not important which way you go.
once I'm level side to side with the Anderson I put wheel chocks on the other wheel and only then do I unhook.  Once unhooked I level up from front to back with the trailer jack and then deploy my four corner stabilizers. I have the drop down type so you need to use the screw driver approach to get enough pressure to be worth a damn. I only go one hole after ground contact and that's usually plenty. I usually put a pad under the corner stabilizers.    

If it's more than a few degrees I'll break out the BAL leveler.  If using the BAL leveler I place it into position and proceed to unhook.  The wheel chocks for the other wheel are less important in this case because the BAL is a pretty substantial chock all by itself. Once unhooked I use the ratchet and get level side to side. Once I'm done side to side I follow the same procedure as above to get front to back and deploy the stabilizers.  A note about the BAL, because you can raise the side so high it may be that the drop down stabilizers, even when fully extended, do not touch the ground.  For this situation I carry pre-cut 2" x 6" boards that I can stack high enough so that the stabilizers can be firm.

One last item, I have two feet for the trailer jack, one is a wheel the other is a flat foot.  If I'm using the wheel I always put it into a plastic doughnut to prevent it from rolling.  It doesn't take much slope for the trailer jack wheel to turn and move even if the rear wheels are chocked. Trust me on this, you don't want it to happen it's very scary.

Using this process I have firm control over the trailer (little possibility of rolling while unattached to the Tow Vehicle) and once complete it's very stable.    

[aznighthiker]

I don't use leveling blocks, I use a Bal-Leveler but only had to use it a couple of times just found a better campsite. If the stabilizers are to short, I use screw jacks (aluminum ones) to stabilize the camper.