How to level a 5th Wheel without a Tow Vehicle

[Gary325]

I am a 5th Wheel owner without a Tow Vehicle. Last year we bought our slightly used 2018 Grand Design Reflection 367BHS. The previous owner moved it, with his TV, less than 10 miles from his property to a seasonal campground.
We enjoyed it all last season. Had it leveled (with the auto-leveling Lippert Ground Control 3.0) which resulted in the tires on the door side to be off the ground! Without a TV, I cannot move the trailer, lay down some boards, back it up, check level, repeat if needed...
So now at the site, we winterized it. This included pulling all the slides in and retracting all the leveling struts so that it is only on the tires and the front landing struts.
One of my camp neighbors wants to help me get it so that the tires are in contact with the ground, without using a TV.

So I have had all winter to think about it. The steps in my mind are:
1-Get a supply of boards long enough to fit under the tires. Same for the struts so they will never be extended more than a few inches.
2-Charge up the battery, connect to shore power. Use shore power to activate the Lippert.
3-Leave the slides IN
4-Power-up Lippert
5-Document the current trailer level readings. Record this (trailer level, and strut extension for front)
6-Auto-level the trailer to get amount of strut extension. Record this (trailer level, and extension for front, mid and rear)
7-Retract front, mid and rear, now it is as it was all winter (check extension of front, adjust if needed to that as recorded in 5 above)
8-Add blocks under mid and rear struts to allow 1- 2 inches of travel until the struts would contact the blocks.
9-Using only the door side front, mid and rear, raise the door side to get the tires off the ground and close to, if not more, than level as recorded in 6 above.
10-Insert enough boards under the door side tires to remove the gap.
12-Retract mid and rear completely and front to that as recorded in 5 above. Record this (trailer level, and strut extension for front)
13-If needed, add blocks under ALL mid and rear struts to allow 1- 2 inches of travel until the struts would contact the blocks.
14-Auto-level the trailer. Record this (trailer level, and extension for front, mid and rear)
15-Assess door side tire position (in the air or on the boards). Repeat 9-14 if needed.

Now I'll stop here and let the experts chime in.

[FT4NOW]

Seems like a bit of overkill to me and I'm not sure I understand the purpose of recording all that info. I would get an 2x12 or 2x10 longer than your wheel footprint, raise the side of the trailer with the wheels off the ground until you can slide the board under and then use the auto level. I've been in your situation before except I had a TV and that is what I did, I didnt want to hook back up. I would retract all the slides prior to doing anything.

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[Bungy]

I am a 5th Wheel owner without a Tow Vehicle. Last year we bought our slightly used 2018 Grand Design Reflection 367BHS. The previous owner moved it, with his TV, less than 10 miles from his property to a seasonal campground.
We enjoyed it all last season. Had it leveled (with the auto-leveling Lippert Ground Control 3.0) which resulted in the tires on the door side to be off the ground! Without a TV, I cannot move the trailer, lay down some boards, back it up, check level, repeat if needed...
So now at the site, we winterized it. This included pulling all the slides in and retracting all the leveling struts so that it is only on the tires and the front landing struts.
One of my camp neighbors wants to help me get it so that the tires are in contact with the ground, without using a TV.

Why are you worried about the tires being off the ground? It doesn’t hurt anything, my unit is actually more stable when they are.

[Capt Jim]

Why are you worried about the tires being off the ground? It doesn’t hurt anything, my unit is actually more stable when they are.

Let's see...can of worms, check. Can opener, check.

Safe Travels.

Jim

[JKellerJr]

Let's see...can of worms, check. Can opener, check.

Safe Travels.

Jim

I have left mine up plenty but If I was permanent I would go ahead and add blocks. I'm not quite sure how eliminating points of contact can make it more stable.

[Gary325]

Thanks for your comments and tips. This board is not unlike the other boards I participate: many opinions! A recent injury will force me to proceed with keeping the door side wheels in the air when the coach is leveled. I'll tend to this when I'm more nimble!

Follow-up question: Both front landing struts are extended more than I would like. Only a single 2x12 on the ground! How can I safely raise one strut and add more blocks (2x12's) to reduce how much the strut is extended.
Please remember that I DO NOT have a TV to support the king pin. That would make life so much easier!!

[FT4NOW]

Thanks for your comments and tips. This board is not unlike the other boards I participate: many opinions! A recent injury will force me to proceed with keeping the door side wheels in the air when the coach is leveled. I'll tend to this when I'm more nimble!

Follow-up question: Both front landing struts are extended more than I would like. Only a single 2x12 on the ground! How can I safely raise one strut and add more blocks (2x12's) to reduce how much the strut is extended.
Please remember that I DO NOT have a TV to support the king pin. That would make life so much easier!!

Any chance that the seasonal campground has a tractor or fork lift with a king pin adapter that they would be able to lift up the front of the camper for you? I dont know if there is really a SAFE way to do it besides that or having someone else hook their truck up to your camper. The only other thought would be place jack stands under the front frame rails near the leveling jacks and then you could raise the front landing gear and place more support. You would need heavy duty jack stands though, something like pictured below. I used the below jack stands to support the front of my Momentum when I replaced all my leaf springs (I have a much taller version for the rear frame rails).


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[Gary325]

Those are some pretty heavy duty jack stands: 22-ton (44,000 lbs.). The pin weight is about 2500 lbs. (per GD spec's), would a 2-ton jack stand be sufficient for a single side?

[FT4NOW]

Those are some pretty heavy duty jack stands: 22-ton (44,000 lbs.). The pin weight is about 2500 lbs. (per GD spec's), would a 2-ton jack stand be sufficient for a single side?

They are pretty beefy, but I wanted to be on the safe side. I dont know exactly how much weight is on the front landing gear (is it exactly the same as the pin, I dont know for sure). When it comes to safety equipment, i feel heavier duty is better than just enough. You cant put a price on safety, especially when it comes to supporting the weight of something that can squish you.

Also, keep in mind GD published pin weights are usually low estimates, prob off by about 300lbs once loaded.

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[gbkims]

I've used 6-ton to hold up the rig. I've got the 22-ton OTC version like FT4NOW for the truck. It has ~12" as lowest usable height, hefty all right 37# each.
The Omega 32066 6-ton with ~15" lowest usable height, weigh 16.5# each