Blocks for RV

[Hoopy Frood]

You are correct, few people take the pains to do what we do but after more than 150 hookup and 150 unhitching we feel comfortable doing what we do, it’s a lot of work. Have you every looked under the rv after the jacks crank up one side to accommodate a heavy lateral slope, the springs are compressed to the max on one side and completely uncompressed on the opposite side, that’s not good for the suspension or frame. We take good care of our rig, hopefully it takes good care of us, it’s the only home we have. When we get lazy, bad things happen.
Thanks for your reply.
Larry

Even when the trailer is unlevel to start with, the suspension is no more compressed than when it is sitting static, maybe a bit more on the downhill side, but that side will get raised by the autolevel. And yes I have looked under the trailer when a tire happens to be off the ground, and the suspension is perfectly normal. It's an easy job, I'm not out to make it more difficult. We'll just have to agree to disagree.

[Keebler]

I'd be interested in seeing any information, statistical or anecdotal, that speaks to suspension failures related to normal use of auto-leveling.

[Bruce M]

Yes tru enough but the foot print of the wood is ~3" larger than that of the plastic legos. The feet on my camper just barely fit onto raised surface of the blocks and if the blocks are on uneven ground such as the campsite I just left I could see something sliding off.
ya know we might be older now but sometimes our trailer is a rocken, I wouldn't want anything to give way at the most inopportune time.

Sorry this post is in response to Hoppy Frood 2 posts above.

[Hoopy Frood]

That would have to be some seriously enthusiastic "exercise" to cause a 10,000 lb. trailer to slide sideways.

[Tom Traveler]

You are correct, few people take the pains to do what we do but after more than 150 hookup and 150 unhitching we feel comfortable doing what we do, it’s a lot of work. Have you every looked under the rv after the jacks crank up one side to accommodate a heavy lateral slope, the springs are compressed to the max on one side and completely uncompressed on the opposite side, that’s not good for the suspension or frame. We take good care of our rig, hopefully it takes good care of us, it’s the only home we have. When we get lazy, bad things happen.
Thanks for your reply.
Larry

Well, the physics say that raising the low side of the RV with the leveling jacks should keep the suspension load on the high side the same because the jacks are attached to the frame in the same place, widthwise, as the suspension. Also, the rear leveling jacks on the low side, with the 6 jack setup anyway, are further apart than the spring hangers, so the stress on the frame of lifting with the jacks is less than holding it up with the tires. If you factor in the front jack on the low side, the weight is much better distributed from front to back than if you hold most of the weight with the tires on the low side. I would say if you want to reduce stress on the frame and suspension, carry more of the weight with the jacks. As far as stability is concerned, tires flex, so the jacks are probably more stable, especially if you use buckets or blocks to shorted the extension a bit.

I asked a GD customer service tech about using the jacks for long term storage or raising the tires off of the ground for maintenance. He said no problem as long as the frame was adequately braced with jack stands for safety during any maintenance. I asked why GD advised, in the manual, against using the jacks for long term storage. He replied that it was to protect the exposed jack shafts from weather. He advised using silicone spray to protect them and wiping them before retracting. We always level before storage.

I have to agree with COGrandDes and Hoopy on this one. The auto-level system is great. Pull into the site, put the buckets or blocks under the jack pads if you want a bit of an increase in stability, level away, and you're done.

[COGrandDes]

It's all good however people want to maintain their campers. I just find it intriguing that people are not using the full capability and the features of the auto-level as designed. My last 16K lb 40' Montana had wheels suspended all the time in the places that we boondocked and there were no issues. As far as the stroke for the leveling jacks...that's the reason for stacking the plastic interlocking blocks to minimize the piston stroke when the camper is off-level. It works pretty amazing and I never had my camper move ---EVER on the blocks or with one set of wheels suspended. It's not just a matter of hauling all the wood and leveling supplies as much as it is the setup work for every trip. My time is important to me and I want to use the smart features and capabilities that make life easier. My dad and mom got rid of their camper for this same reason about 10 years ago. My dad could not crawl under the camper to set boards, blocks, or deal with the old school complexities of leveling a camper when it wasn't on level ground. Thank goodness there are options so that I don't have to be forced into that same decision later in life. Watching your camper auto-level from the truck unhook point on unlevel ground is magical and cool! I love it!

[Chronobomb]

We use the Camco Legos and the Beechlane Levelers depending what kind of ground we are on or both if we are in a very unlevel area. I highly recommend the levelmatepro to make leveling very fast as you instantly know how high you need to be level.

[Flip94ta]

I’ve been using the orange stacking blocks for 4 years now and I love them. I added a couple with the built in chocks and they feel really stable when used. I used a scale when I ditch my wood, saved 22lbs.

[Alfredo]

I do have both the Camco and wood for side to side leveling . I use the Camco on paved or compressed stone sites, and wood on soggy , muddy or sandy sites when the ground is going to sink. I find wood is more stable under these circumstances.

[retired_engineer]

We use the Camco Legos and the Beechlane Levelers depending what kind of ground we are on or both if we are in a very unlevel area. I highly recommend the levelmatepro to make leveling very fast as you instantly know how high you need to be level.

We also use the Beech Lane levelers and for the first time in our new 22MLE the Level Mate Pro. I've used the Level Mate twice now and it has been right on when verified with a 4 ft level (which now gets to stay at home). I wish I had had it on our previous trailers as is cuts down the leveling time considerably.

For blocks under the stabilizers and front jack I use Stromberg Carlson jack blocks. I was able to get five for less than the cost of two Andersen buckets. They are the same 8 inches high and their shape makes them easier to pack in the pass-through storage area.