Levelling the travel trailer

[Woodworker]

Originally Posted by 2edgesword

Two stick on levels $5

Level Mate Pro $139

Exactly

[Shorty Cox]

You guys are making work out of fun. I park, take a look, if it looks close side to side, I call it good, then run the landing gear down until it looks level ft to rear. Then, pop a top and enjoy. It has been my method for years and thus far, no problems. No tools, No levels (long or short) Fridge works, doors close, water drains. What else do you want.

Shorty

[2edgesword]

Levels for those that don't trust our old eyes . I also find that perception of what is level can change depending on the slope of the immediate and surround terrain. Sometimes things "appear" level to the ground but in reality aren't level.

[tylersdad]

Originally Posted by Shorty Cox

You guys are making work out of fun. I park, take a look, if it looks close side to side, I call it good, then run the landing gear down until it looks level ft to rear. Then, pop a top and enjoy. It has been my method for years and thus far, no problems. No tools, No levels (long or short) Fridge works, doors close, water drains. What else do you want.

Shorty

How is that fun?

Fun is cracking your favorite cold beverage open and relaxing around the campsite. I don't see how make small adjustment, check level, make small adjustment, check level, etc etc etc is fun at all.

[gypsmjim]

Originally Posted by Woodworker

The first time I leveled the trailer by using a level on the freezer rack both front to back then side to side. When that was level then I put the levels on the outside of the camper at level. There was enough variance between the floor, counter top and fridge I went with the fridge to set the bubble levels outside

OK, now we know what's level, and the new instruments tell us where it is. But on subsequent tests its not all that easy to get it back to level.

Sometimes 1 block, sometimes a half block. So how close does it need to be?

If its off by 1/2 bubble, is that close enough? 1/4 bubble? What's the requirement?

[Woodworker]

Originally Posted by gypsmjim

OK, now we know what's level, and the new instruments tell us where it is. But on subsequent tests its not all that easy to get it back to level.

Sometimes 1 block, sometimes a half block. So how close does it need to be?

If its off by 1/2 bubble, is that close enough? 1/4 bubble? What's the requirement?

Look at the paperwork for your fridge. It will tell you the variances you can be to run the fridge without harming it

[gypsmjim]

Originally Posted by Woodworker

Look at the paperwork for your fridge. It will tell you the variances you can be to run the fridge without harming it

The Norcold manual isn't too clear. It says it must operate less than 3" off-level. Is that the trailer side-to-side level, or the fridge itself?

If its the fridge and that little sucker is 3" off from side to side the trailer would be so crooked that you'd fall out of bed!

If 3" is the true criteria I would deduce that level isn't that important. Nobody's trailer would be that far out.

[Snake Plissken]

Originally Posted by Dave.H

Level Mate Pro

https://logicbluetech.com/

That looks interesting. How accurate is it? Where do you need to place it? I use a long level and have never had any issues but I'm a huge tech guy and may want to try this.

[2nOZ]

Originally Posted by Snake Plissken

That looks interesting. How accurate is it? Where do you need to place it? I use a long level and have never had any issues but I'm a huge tech guy and may want to try this.

Love mine. I can watch the app on my phone while backing into the campsite and tell what I need the DW to do without getting out of the truck.

[Woodworker]

Originally Posted by gypsmjim

The Norcold manual isn't too clear. It says it must operate less than 3" off-level. Is that the trailer side-to-side level, or the fridge itself?

If its the fridge and that little sucker is 3" off from side to side the trailer would be so crooked that you'd fall out of bed!

If 3" is the true criteria I would deduce that level isn't that important. Nobody's trailer would be that far out.

My manual gives the variance left to right and front to back of fridge. Don't recall what they are

[gypsmjim]

Originally Posted by Woodworker

My manual gives the variance left to right and front to back of fridge. Don't recall what they are

Yes, I gave the easy dimension that should be visual to the eye. The 2 specs are 3" and 6".

[nighthawk87]

If the fridge is so important what do you do when a Stuck in traffic on a 7 degree mountain pass?

[Woodworker]

Traffic is not the concern it's the being set up for days or weeks too far out of level and running the fridge

Originally Posted by nighthawk87

If the fridge is so important what do you do when a Stuck in traffic on a 7 degree mountain pass?

[fragmag]

I just use a standard RV bubble level. Place it in the center of the floor and wha-la! Easy, quick and only a few bucks. Works perfect.

[ETCrockett]

When I had my 35' TT, I used to do what most said by putting a level in on floor inside. I quickly got tired of having to walk around the rig every time I wanted to check the level. I'm camping! I'm supposed to be lazy. Buy yourself an electric tongue jack with bullseye level on the top, find a level parking lot, and do all the steps suggested by everyone to level your TT side to side/front to back, and then adjust the bullseye level to be dead center. Then for leveling your TT all you have to do is watch the level on your tongue jack. The only time I had to recalibrate the tongue level was if I had to manually crank the tongue jack due to dead battery. I had to remove the bullseye level to manually operate the jack. It was still the easiest solution: saved walking and saved my back on that crank.

[vcbice]

First, as noted above, the refer does not have to be very level to be within operating specs.

Second, what is inconvenient to you? If the water pools at the "back" of the shower? Bacon grease in frying pan flows to one side? Or none of that matters to you?

My method. When we first got the trailer I used a 3 foot carpenters level on the floor at a few places, fore and aft, side to side (including the floor in the bathroom and bedroom). Got it as close as I could. Then I checked the doors to make sure they were square in their frames. FWIW, the frame is a bit "twisted" as it came from the factory.

Then, I applied the bubble level stickies on the outside of the trailer near the switch for the front jacks. Now I know they are on correctly. For grins I apply a second one on the frame at the back of the trailer as well.

When we pull into a site I first level side to side. How close do I get? Within 1 lego block. Then I set the front and rear jacks so that it is just a little nose high. Why nose high? Two reasons. First, when I sleep I like to have the head of the bed level or slightly higher than the foot of the bed. Second, the drain for the black tank is at the rear of the tank on my trailer. So, nose high means it will drain a bit better than if it were tail high.

[Rice1951]

I realize this is not a new thread but I just found out about a built in app on my iPhone. It may even have been on the JOF recently but I couldn’t find it or I may have read it on another forum. Anyway, display the directional compass that is on your iPhone. Then swipe the screen from right to left. 2 circles will be displayed with the degree differential from level. Simply move your phone to align the 2 circles and when you display 0 degrees the screen will turn green. In other words use your phone as a level wherever you are, including your TT, 5er or MH. Isn’t technology wonderful? Well, some of it anyway.