Leveling Left to Right

[Gerry]

We are newly retired and new to RV life. We just received our 2670MK. I have some questions maybe someone can help with.

First, leveling. Front to back is simple, using the electric jack. I placed the 3 foot carpenters level on the floor in the middle of the camper and made the bubble dead center.

However, left to right. I used the same level and placed in the kitchen area and the bedroom area on the floor. My question is this-are the stabilizer jacks to be used to level left to right? OR are they just to keep constant contact with the earth?

[Country Campers]

Gerry

I am trying to keep up with you. Glad to have you here and I am sure you will get answers to all of your questions, we have all started at the beginning and have learned along the way.

I use some 2 x 8 treated wood pieces cut to about 15" long. When I need to level side to side I will put one or more under the low side to get the trailer level side to side and then I level front to back. They also make different plastic items that will do this as well. Also make sure that you use wheel chocks before un-hooking from your tow vehicle.

Brian

[Cate&Rob]

Hi Gerry,

Levelling side-to-side (left to right) is best done with blocking under the low side tires. There are a number of different ways to do this from pieces of wood, to plastic blocking to curved lift blocks. There are electronic levelling tools, but we use simple bubble levels attached to the outside of the trailer. One for side-to-side and one for fore-aft. After a little practice, you will get pretty good at looking at that side-to-side level when you are a few feet from you final setup spot and knowing how much blocking you are going to need under the low side tires.

The manual stabilizers are typically used to reduce the bounce that would otherwise be felt if the trailer were just sitting on its tires & suspension . . . not to level the trailer.

Rob

[howson]

We are newly retired and new to RV life. We just received our 2670MK. I have some questions maybe someone can help with.

First, leveling. Front to back is simple, using the electric jack. I placed the 3 foot carpenters level on the floor in the middle of the camper and made the bubble dead center.

However, left to right. I used the same level and placed in the kitchen area and the bedroom area on the floor. My question is this-are the stabilizer jacks to be used to level left to right? OR are they just to keep constant contact with the earth?

What Brian and Rob are referencing (I use both):

[ckreef]

Definitely do not use the stabilizing Jacks for leveling. You can bend/warp your frame like that. They are only used for stabilization once level. See the above posts for different leveling methods.

[Yoda]

I have a pair of these https://www.amazon.com/Beech-Lane-Ca...s%2C225&sr=8-4

I just think they are better than the red ones. Use the same, just drive on to level and wedge

[Guest]

Level Mate Pro Gen2 is very nice among other examples to see where your level is. Even while in the vehicle if your moving around to seek out a level spot. The Level Mate Pro will tell you within a 1/4 inch in what to add under the wheels or at the jack. Also use the red ramps but have also heard the models illustrated by Yoda are stronger.

Jim

[Gerry]

I want to thank everyone for their responses. i greatly appreciate your assistance. But question. If I remove all the tension on the stabilizing jacks and place a level on the floor inside the camper, the floor is not level. But if I place the level on the vertical sides of the camper right at the wheels (as shown in the Anderson Leveling videos) it is perfectly level. AND the slideouts are perfectly level. So where is the best location for placing the level? The Grand Design manual states to place a small level in the refrigerator or counter top or floor or countertops. I can get different level readings at each location. So what is the best point of reference?

[howson]

I want to thank everyone for their responses. i greatly appreciate your assistance. But question. If I remove all the tension on the stabilizing jacks and place a level on the floor inside the camper, the floor is not level. But if I place the level on the vertical sides of the camper right at the wheels (as shown in the Anderson Leveling videos) it is perfectly level. AND the slideouts are perfectly level. So where is the best location for placing the level? The Grand Design manual states to place a small level in the refrigerator or counter top or floor or countertops. I can get different level readings at each location. So what is the best point of reference?

I've experienced the same results. The "feel" of the camper will eventually tell you when it is right. The swing of the interior doors (medicine cabinet in the bathroom, etc) will also give you a clue whether you're level or not. Bottom line: you'll have to experiment.

[Canyonlight]

Gerry - we get slightly different readings at various floor locations, counter tops, center island, etc, as well. Prior RVs had the same challenges. We have determined that readings just inside our entry door both forward/back and side/side are pretty accurate. We have learned that these readings allow the fridge door when opened at various positions to not move which has proven to be a level condition.

We also (some years ago) when at a level concrete site installed levels on the front and street side of our 303 where I can see them before/during unhitching. I am most concerned about side to side and get the RV level using proper blocks under the tires before un-hitching. Like Rob, our 303 as with all early build Reflections did not have the auto level systems.

Dan

[Yoda]

I want to thank everyone for their responses. i greatly appreciate your assistance. But question. If I remove all the tension on the stabilizing jacks and place a level on the floor inside the camper, the floor is not level. But if I place the level on the vertical sides of the camper right at the wheels (as shown in the Anderson Leveling videos) it is perfectly level. AND the slideouts are perfectly level. So where is the best location for placing the level? The Grand Design manual states to place a small level in the refrigerator or counter top or floor or countertops. I can get different level readings at each location. So what is the best point of reference?

Fortunately my floor is pretty level with the fridge and stove so when leveling I have the RV door open and set my 3' level on the floor and do side to side first while still hooked up using my leveling wedges. Then when unhooking I make sure the landing jacks touch ground on both sides at the same time. I carry some leveling blocks and thin wood squares 1/4" and 1/2"thick for fine adjustment. This prevents any frame warping and keeps the side to side level. Once unhooked I then set front to back level with level still on the floor. I then check the fridge (use top door frame). Sometimes I set front to back just out of level (bubble just touching a line) nose high so AC condensation runs off the back. Then I check the stove top to keep the DW happy. If I need to tweak these I use the stabilizer jacks to do the final fine adjustment . Last as I have the steady fast system is lock everything down.

Hope this helps

BTW when unhooking and I get the king pin high enough to clear the hitch, I mark the landing gear position so I can remember where to set it to hook up later. I use the blue painters tape. Keep the roll on top of one of the propane tanks (don't need to unlock storage ).

[familytruckster4]

We often went between the reading on the level and the "feel" of level and split the difference. Most of the time we used the jacks to make up for any minor East/West leveling.
According to my level the auto level on our 337 is about a 1/4 bubble off of level, not enough for us to worry about.

[mpking]

Hi Gerry

Let me try to sum up.

Why do we level?
Leveling serves two purposes.

1. You will feel more comfortable if the trailer is level, especially sleeping. But you can tolerate some amount of un-levelness, but it's highly dependent on you. You'll probably get more frustrated with the bathroom door swinging on it's own.
2. The Ammonia based refrigerators (Propane Refrigerators) require the trailer to be within 3 degrees off level side-to-side and 6 degrees off level front-to-back. (You will feel uncomfortable at these levels of level, see point #1). They will operate off level, but long term use will cause damage. (Don't worry about being on the road, the movement of being on the road keeps the damage from happening.

Where do you measure?
So, this is why GD recommends you take the measurement on the refrigerator, so that you can ensure that fridge is not damaged long term.

Personally, I leveled my rig by the refrigerator, and then installed a LevelMate Pro (https://amzn.to/3ADb5gu). It's a battery powered device, that sync's up to a smartphone app. It will tell you how far off level you are in real-time
:


There is a newer model, the LevelMatePro+.
https://amzn.to/3ADyUom
It has a bigger battery, plus the ability to hardwire it to a 12volt power source, and Apple Watch support.

Why can't I use the Stabilizers to Level?
The Stabilizers are just that. They are to stabilize the trailer. You must not use them to level the camper, they are not designed to lift the camper, and you can "tweak" the frame if you try to lift the camper with them. They are other bad things that can happen

How do I level side to side?
The accepted methods for travel trailers without automatic levelers (More on this in a sec)

• Boards you drive onto on the low side
• Dig out the high side with a shovel
• Levelling blocks (look like large flat lego's) that you stackup to make a ramp.
• Anderson Leveling block (and the knock off's, I personally use a Camco ones (https://amzn.to/3lQYxw3) cause they were cheap, I could get them next day, and they seemed to have a slightly better design.

This is crap, how do I do this automatically?
You spend some money, and install the Lippert Ground Control TT system. NOTE: I've seen many references that they don't want tires off the ground, so you still have to get kind of close first to prevent the tires from going airborn.
https://amzn.to/3EETMOJ

(it's $3000 ish dollars, not including installation)

[BobinICT]

Great post on the LevelMate Pro! Thought I had everything by now. Just ordered one direct from the manufacture. Next trip is going to be so nice. Can't wait to get it in and set up.

[trkester]

Great post on the LevelMate Pro! Thought I had everything by now. Just ordered one direct from the manufacture. Next trip is going to be so nice. Can't wait to get it in and set up.

I love my LevelMate Pro. Mine is an older one with no USB but got a 12v to 3v cover and soldered it to the battery terminals and no longer need a battery. Might have been Howard who posted info on that.

Now I set the timeout to 10 hours and turn on the power at home. When at the site, send the DW to put the Anderson levelers under the wheels while I sit in the cab and back til level (or. Pull fwd). 😁