5th wheel 337 RLS / staying hooked up ??

[Hoopy Frood]

Just one caveat: the RV fridge works the same on propane or electric, so the amount of out of level does matter whether on propane or electric.

[IBEW Sparky]

This is what was escaping me and I had a mental block over and could not think of a solution. Blocking / shimming under the rear wheels of the truck to raise the front of the trailer. My forehead is probably red from the head slap. I have thought and thought over how in the hell will I raise the front of the truck and there it is. Many times the simplest solutions escape me.
As for propane I always run the fridge on propane while we travel and so far we havent had a problem. The 337 is plugged in right now and the fridge is pre cooling.

Keep in mind that when you hook your trailer up to the truck the weight will push the rear of the truck down several inches to whatever your normal towing height is. When parked for an overnighter you can do the reverse. I use the manual mode and raise the lowest side of the front of the RV a little bit untill it's level side to side, then put the opposite front leg down until it's snug on the ground. I then use a 2' level sitting right on the floor of the control compartment to check level from front to rear and continue to slowly raise the front until I'm close to level. I keep an eye on my hitch plate and can see when I'm at the point where the plate is basically floating so I know I'm not lifting the truck. It won't hurt to lift up just slightly higher if needed just don't overdo it. Then lower the rear legs and snug them up. The rear of my truck sits fairly high and I've never not been able to get my RV almost completely level while hooked up.

[IBEW Sparky]

As for propane I always run the fridge on propane while we travel and so far we havent had a problem. The 337 is plugged in right now and the fridge is pre cooling.

Just an FYI on starting your refrigerator to get ready for a trip. Turn it on to start it at around 2PM if possible. The reason is that these refrigerators go into their first defrost cycle 36 hrs after being initially started up and then every 48 hrs thereafter. This puts the defrost cycle at 2AM when the refrigerator is most unlikely to be opened.

[USA in a Chevrolet]

The main reason to level is so the RV fridge will operate properly. If you don't have an RV fridge, you're good to go with whatever out-of-level you end up with.
If you have an RV fridge, you need to be level. If you are out of level front to back, you'll need to unhitch and level. Sometimes the sites will cooperate and sometimes
not. The RV fridge won't explode of course, but the effects are cumulative. So if you do it a lot...

I no longer have a RV refrigerator but had one on my last fifth wheel for 10 years & we used it at least 4 months a year. Your trailer does not have to be level for proper operation of the RV refrigerator or to prevent damage. My refrigerator manual says not to be more than 3 percent off level. If you’re off 3 percent you will not feel comfortable walking around. One additional thing you can do to protect your refrigerator is to add an ARP control. It will shut off your refrigerator if the boiler temperature goes to high. This happens if you are on a severe slope for too long such as parking on a 7% slope such as a mountain highway. The ARP control is available with a fan control which will turn your refrigerator fans behind the refrigerator off & on based on temperature of the refrigeration coil. ARP also sells quiet squirrel cage fans that do a much better job than the noisy box fans that are supplied with your refrigerator.

[IBEW Sparky]

Just an FYI on starting your refrigerator to get ready for a trip. Turn it on to start it at around 2PM if possible. The reason is that these refrigerators go into their first defrost cycle 36 hrs after being initially started up and then every 48 hrs thereafter. This puts the defrost cycle at 2AM when the refrigerator is most unlikely to be opened.

Just an EDIT to my post above... It should have read it goes into the first defrost cycle 60 hours after startup.... NOT 36 HRS.... sorry it was a senior moment, lol.

[USA in a Chevrolet]

Just an EDIT to my post above... It should have read it goes into the first defrost cycle 60 hours after startup.... NOT 36 HRS.... sorry it was a senior moment, lol.

The comments about the time to start your refrigerator are excellent. There is a huge difference in going into defrost at 2 am when it’s cool & 2 pm when is 100 degrees.

[Redapple63]

I no longer have a RV refrigerator but had one on my last fifth wheel for 10 years & we used it at least 4 months a year. Your trailer does not have to be level for proper operation of the RV refrigerator or to prevent damage. My refrigerator manual says not to be more than 3 percent off level. If you’re off 3 percent you will not feel comfortable walking around. One additional thing you can do to protect your refrigerator is to add an ARP control. It will shut off your refrigerator if the boiler temperature goes to high. This happens if you are on a severe slope for too long such as parking on a 7% slope such as a mountain highway. The ARP control is available with a fan control which will turn your refrigerator fans behind the refrigerator off & on based on temperature of the refrigeration coil. ARP also sells quiet squirrel cage fans that do a much better job than the noisy box fans that are supplied with your refrigerator.

This is an excellent point. The out of level condition of 3% described would be totally unacceptable to live in. For an average of 25 foot length, 3% translates to 7.5 inches. An average if 8 feet translates to 2.4 inches, so side to side is the more critical balance and the one to watch.