How Level is Level?

[gypsmjim]

The owner's manual says to level the trailer. Easier for walking inside. Most important to keep the fridge level.

I get all that.

But how level? Obviously, the jack can get front to back spot on. But what about side to side?

If one side of the trailer is an inch higher than the other - is that too much? Does it need to be no more than 1/4"?

I set the trailer up on a permanent sight and it was dead nuts on. Then I installed levels on all 4 corners. Winter heaving has moved things around. Just looking for some parameters to see if i need to do some work.

[Grumpy]

Rule of thumb for the fridge is 2 degrees left to right (front to rear of trailer) and 5 degrees front to back ( side to side of trailer). 2 degrees is about a 1/4 bubble.

[RedHorse1]

I have found that our current 5th is harder to level than our first HTT. 24’ bumper pull vs 39’ 5th. The longer frame shows up the frame flex more. I’m really happy with things if the bath and bedroom doors stay where we leave them and the bath door doesn’t get difficult to open. I attribute these problems mostly to twisting the frame a bit.

[RAurand]

I make the bubble look like it's in the center then, I say..... "THAT'S ABOUT RIGHT"!

[gypsmjim]

I'm using Camco bubble levels. Not easy to tell what 1/4 bubble is, unlike a regular carpenter's level. How many hash marks = 1/4 bubble?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-pack-oval...5d4a703e4deaec

[gypsmjim]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

Rule of thumb for the fridge is 2 degrees left to right (front to rear of trailer) and 5 degrees front to back ( side to side of trailer). 2 degrees is about a 1/4 bubble.

Ok, so looking at it another way....

Revived some of my geometry. The 2 degrees for and aft is no problem. The jack can fix that. But side-to-side, for a 5 degree tilt on my 7' wide trailer, that would mean that one side could be as much as 7.35 inches lower than the other. That seems like a lot...in fact it would be quite visible and would make you dizzy if walking around.

If that's the case, it would seem that having a level fridge is not that important.

Comments?

[DonaandDon]

One of my 10 rules in life is "Happy wife, happy life".

If her eggs stay in the center of her skillet then she's happy.

[jbrnigan]

I have a bubble level in my fridge. The level has a "bulls-eye" circle on it. As long as the bubble is as least "half" in the circle, I call it good.

[Rustic Eagle]

Originally Posted by gypsmjim

snip..... But how level?......snip...... But what about side to side?......snip

I open the TT door and set a short carpenter level on the floor....., if one (or more) 1 1/2" thick piece of lumber under the tires will bring the 'bubble' closer to home I call it a day. I've never had a warm beer slide out of a TT frig in 35 years

Bob

[NorCal Eagle]

Originally Posted by Rustic Eagle

I open the TT door and set a short carpenter level on the floor....., if one (or more) 1 1/2" thick piece of lumber under the tires will bring the 'bubble' closer to home I call it a day. I've never had a warm beer slide out of a TT frig in 35 years

Bob

x2 That’s exactly how I do it too.

[jimp]

If you really really want to know, use your Iphone, it has a built in level that shows "out of level" in degrees.

I use a 4" magnetic level I picked up at HD, sticks to the tongue, and then wife uses it inside the entry door. When she calls it good, I quit.

[North of 49°]

My "quest for perfection" wouldn't allow me to have my trailer out of level, so one of the first things I did when I got it home after buying it was to park it in the driveway, and using the tongue jack for front to back, and a hydraulic jack under the frame for side to side, and got it perfectly level with a carpenter's level on the floor. I cross-referenced it on the frame and inside the fridge, and they were all within a quarter bubble of each other. I then attached the stick-on RV levels to the front and side of the trailer, and one on the side of the jack for good measure. I screwed them in place so now they're permanent. The one on the front is big enough to see in the rear-view mirror, and using Andersen levellers, it's incredibly easy to get the trailer level. It's even a one-person job now!

[Gogrampa]

If you don’t mind spending a few bucks and want a simple easy leveling calculator
App. Check out http://https://www.amazon.com/LevelMatePRO-Bluetooth®-Vehicle-Leveling-System/dp/B01FGGSWPWLevel Mate Pro for IPhone and Android. Once you set it up it’s very easy .it takes all the guesswork out of how much to add to level side to side and fore and aft and it has a hitch recall function which for me and my Hensley Arrow is indispensable imo ymmv

[Duke4857]

Originally Posted by DonaandDon

One of my 10 rules in life is "Happy wife, happy life".

If her eggs stay in the center of her skillet then she's happy.

I have added this new rule: Happy spouse, happy house!!

[Duke4857]

I have both a 24" carpenter level and a torpedo level. I check the bottom of the frig with the torpedo level to see how close I am. I have a Wheel Masters 6700 Level Master that I can see from the mirror in the pickup for side to side level. I do not trust the short front to back level. I have never gotten it adjusted close enough to my liking.


https://www.amazon.com/Wheel-Masters...%2C312&sr=8-10

[HJ Rosch]

My auto leveling jacks do a pretty good job but screw up once in a while. I have a couple of small bubble levels I double check with and put them on the main counter. If they are off I will retract and re-level and that usually does the trick. My I-Phone level works pretty good too. I have found that the floor gives me different readings in different locations so to be consistent the main counter seems to be the best. The egg in the frying pan and water draining in the shower seem to be good indicators also.

[01tundra]

I level to within 1/4" with my LevelMate and then use the stabilizers to unload the suspension a little to get it to dead level....and no, I do not "lift" the trailer with the stabilizers.

[gypsmjim]

Originally Posted by North of 49°

My "quest for perfection" wouldn't allow me to have my trailer out of level, so one of the first things I did when I got it home after buying it was to park it in the driveway, and using the tongue jack for front to back, and a hydraulic jack under the frame for side to side, and got it perfectly level with a carpenter's level on the floor. I cross-referenced it on the frame and inside the fridge, and they were all within a quarter bubble of each other. I then attached the stick-on RV levels to the front and side of the trailer, and one on the side of the jack for good measure. I screwed them in place so now they're permanent. The one on the front is big enough to see in the rear-view mirror, and using Andersen levellers, it's incredibly easy to get the trailer level. It's even a one-person job now!

I did exactly that right at the get-go. But now, after 5 years of settling, its not perfect any more. This is the first year it shifted at all.

I surely know HOW to level the trailer, I just didn't want to have to go thru all the fuss if I didn't need to.

Anywhoot, she's now deadnuts fore to aft. Side to side I'm at 1/4 bubble, or in other terms one side of the trailer is about 1/2" higher than the other. So, based on previous comments, I should be good. The only indication of out-of-level is that now the microwave door closes by itself.

Thanks to all for the helpful comments.

[Jagiven]

Originally Posted by gypsmjim

Ok, so looking at it another way....

Revived some of my geometry. The 2 degrees for and aft is no problem. The jack can fix that. But side-to-side, for a 5 degree tilt on my 7' wide trailer, that would mean that one side could be as much as 7.35 inches lower than the other. That seems like a lot...in fact it would be quite visible and would make you dizzy if walking around.

If that's the case, it would seem that having a level fridge is not that important.

Comments?

Correction;
Been some time since I did any geometry, and I can tell, I mixed my units in my original post. But here it is now corrected.

2 degrees; 7' sin2 = 0.24' = 1/4' = 3"
5 degrees; 7' sin5 = 0.61' = 2/3' = 7.32".

This looks better now that I fixed things.

I too carefully leveled my TT and placed a single bubble level on the tongue, mounted in a pool of marine silicone.

Not the best image, but here it is.

[gypsmjim]

Originally Posted by Jagiven

Been some time since I did any geometry, but I think your calculation is a little off.

Attachment 49478
2 degrees; 7' sin2 = 0.24" = 1/4"
5 degrees; 7' sin5 = 0.61" = 2/3"

I too carefully leveled my TT and placed a single bubble level on the tongue, mounted in a pool of marine silicone.

Not the best image, but here it is.

I am a bit rusty, but I think the tangent is the appropriate calc. The adjacent side would be 84 (to get it in inches) and the opposite side would be the distance that one side of the trailer is lower than the other.