So This Is What Ill Be Towing From Now On

[18CrewDually]

I only have four levelers on my rig (electric). The front landing gear and the levelers right behind the rear tires of the 5'ver. Only reason I asked was because of what I saw on the GD owners forum.

I thought that my site was level until I hit auto level and it lifted only the tires on the one side. The pin stabilizer I do not try to lift anything with it, only to reduce some movement. Going to try the stabilizers from MorRyde (X-Brace stabilizer) and possibly one of their rear hitch ones too.

Maybe ought to steer this thread back to the black tank discussion.....LOL

On my 32' 5er I have 4 jacks also, the front are hydraulic, back are electric right behind the rear axle. Mine are not auto-level, I do it myself. Our last trip to Lancaster the port side were off the ground by 4". The electric ones are gear drive so there is no worry of it coming down since it's mechanical, no chance of an internal ram failure or hose.
The front gear has some play so what I use are 2 Ratchet load spreader bars. I cross one in the front from top of port side leg to the foot of the starboard side. The 2nd load bar goes from the chassis where my steps are, down to the foot of the starboard side. This triangulation takes out all the movement.

These are my rear levelers. I fabricated these before Auto-leveler systems were even a thing. I also made sets for other people over the years. They are bolted to the web of the I-beam and lock into the I-beam flanges. I lift my entire unit to service the wheel bearings or change tires.

 

[Tulecreeper]

I have been a little concerned about this too. the parking slab we have in the backyard slopes a little to the rear and from one side to the other. unless I set the front pretty low, when the system is thru leveling, the wheels on one side are barely touching the pad because the rear kacks are well extended. I have thought maybe I would drag a floor jack over there and raise that axle and slide a layer of the orange squares under that side. a layer or even two would not really transfer much weight from the leveling jacks to the tires tho. I have never noticed this situation having any affect on the suspension when towing later.

Why are you concerned about keeping the rig leveled if you're just parking on a slab in your back yard while not using it?

 

[OC455]

Why are you concerned about keeping the rig leveled if you're just parking on a slab in your back yard while not using it?

I know in my case, if I have to bump the slide out, out to get into one part, it's level and not have to worry about it binding up the slide out.

 

[NCRaineman]

I know in my case, if I have to bump the slide out, out to get into one part, it's level and not have to worry about it binding up the slide out.

Plus it's a good habit to be in, always leveling whenever you unhook. Means you are less likely to forget at some point, be in a hurry, and mess something up. My Father-in-law has a Grand Design toy hauler he pulls with his 3500. Very nice rig with a very nice price tag attached.

 

[runamuck]

I level it after parking and unhooking because I have a lot of money invested in it and I think it probably stores better between trips if it is level. when getting ready for a trip we are in there a lot while loading and will have all the slides out and we precool the fridge before loading it. If just a cargo trailer, probably wouldnt worry about it. I have one of those too but I park it over next to my shop. I actually lleave it a little nose high to help rain to runoff and not collect.

 

[2003F350]

I level it after parking and unhooking because I have a lot of money invested in it and I think it probably stores better between trips if it is level. when getting ready for a trip we are in there a lot while loading and will have all the slides out and we precool the fridge before loading it. If just a cargo trailer, probably wouldnt worry about it. I have one of those too but I park it over next to my shop. I actually lleave it a little nose high to help rain to runoff and not collect.

It actually doesn't hurt to leave your camper nose high when not in use, one could argue it's the same reasoning as a cargo trailer - sure the roof is crowned but that's only going to let so much water off, putting it nose high ensures it'll run off. Older campers it was more important as they had basically flat roofs.

That said...everyone has their own way of storing one. So long as it doesn't leak or roll away everything should be fine.

 

[nlambert182]

If you intend to leave your rig plugged in to power while stored it's a good idea to level to ensure that the fridge operates properly as well. A few degrees off-level is probably ok but you wouldn't want it to be severely unlevel as it can cause some refrigerators not to function properly. Since my rig is always plugged in to shore power, I always level it. Plus, I can run the slideouts in and out as needed without concern.

Norcold actually has a specification for how level the rv needs to be for their gas/electric units. They will operate up to 3 degrees off level (side to side) and up to 6 degrees off level (front to back). That's about a half a bubble if I recall. Anything past that and there's a chance that it won't cool properly.

If you're truly putting it in storage mode then it isn't a big deal. As 2003F350 mentioned, most newer RVs have a crowned roof so they really won't hold water so leaving it nose high isn't really necessary. But... keeping it nose high definitely ensures that water won't sit for long.

 

[Tulecreeper]

If you intend to leave your rig plugged in to power while stored it's a good idea to level to ensure that the fridge operates properly as well. A few degrees off-level is probably ok but you wouldn't want it to be severely unlevel as it can cause some refrigerators not to function properly. Since my rig is always plugged in to shore power, I always level it. Plus, I can run the slideouts in and out as needed without concern.

Norcold actually has a specification for how level the rv needs to be for their gas/electric units. They will operate up to 3 degrees off level (side to side) and up to 6 degrees off level (front to back). That's about a half a bubble if I recall. Anything past that and there's a chance that it won't cool properly.

If you're truly putting it in storage mode then it isn't a big deal. As 2003F350 mentioned, most newer RVs have a crowned roof so they really won't hold water so leaving it nose high isn't really necessary. But... keeping it nose high definitely ensures that water won't sit for long.

While I agree with your premise, that only applies to absorption-type refrigerators (some call them 'RV' refrigerators). Most fridges in mid-level and higher RV's these days are compressor-type (residential), and most of those in the past couple of years have 12 volt compressors that run off battery power and don't need an inverter. Compressor-types don't require leveling - although I'm sure they won't work on their side.

 

[nlambert182]

While I agree with your premise, that only applies to absorption-type refrigerators (some call them 'RV' refrigerators). Most fridges in mid-level and higher RV's these days are compressor-type (residential), and most of those in the past couple of years have 12 volt compressors that run off battery power and don't need an inverter. Absorption-types don't require leveling - although I'm sure they won't work on their side.

Yea I probably should have specified. That was what I meant by gas/electric.

 

[Tulecreeper]

Yea I probably should have specified. That was what I meant by gas/electric.

In my post above, I meant to say "compressor-type" fridges don't require leveling. I edited it.