Side-to-side-Leveling

There are 2 types of leveling on a trailer. We'll look at these individually, beginning with leveling from side-to-side.

First, let me stress how important it is to level your RV. Your refrigerator likes to be level. Its performance can be affected if your RV is not leveled satisfactorily. Your sewer system can also be affected, especially as regards reading the tank levels. And who wants to sleep with their heads pointed down? Then there are less important considerations, such as doors that won't stay open or water that won't drain fully out of the shower or sink. Suffice it to say, how level your RV is affects many, many factors.

Now, when I say level from side-to-side, I mean from the passenger side to the driver side of the trailer. You simply don't want one side to be higher -- or lower -- than the other side. There are different ways to level the RV this way; I prefer to use boards.

I bought 2 lengths of 1"x12" boards. I then cut the boards so that I would have different lengths, so that I could place the longest length on the bottom, place the next longest length on top if it, and place the shortest length on the very top, in pyramid fashion. These boards, of course, go under a tire in order to raise it to be level with the opposite side. In theory, for each board I place down, I raise the trailer by 1". In reality, it is actually a bit less than an inch. Also, the 12" width allows the tires to fit easily on the boards.

When we pull into a campsite, I position the trailer exactly where we want it to be. We then take a level reading. I have placed stick on levels on the front and passenger side of my trailer. This way, I can tell if the trailer is level at a glance. I use levels (click here to see an example) that show precisely how much off level your trailer is. This tells me precisely how many boards I need to put under the tires. If you look at the samples in the link below, you'll see that the levels have gradients of 1. For each reading of 1 off level, I need one board.

If you look closely, you can see one of the 2 levels I have on the trailer. Look directly below the "U" in Ultra Lite. This is the level I use to level from side-to-side. The other level is located on the side, next to the door.

Once we see how many boards are required to level the trailer, my wife pulls the trailer forward (or goes backward, depending on the situation), and I place the boards in the appropriate position. Donna then pulls -- or pushes -- the trailer onto the boards. Once the trailer is positioned properly, I take another reading. If it is still off level, we repeat the above process until we have a level reading. Donna then shuts off the engine, we place chocks under the tires, and continue with our set-up process.

Prior to securing boards to level our trailer, I used leveling blocks to level the trailer from side-to-side. I didn't care for this process at all. It is so much easier to use boards, and I think it is better for the trailer tires as well. True, the boards do take up a bit more room to store, but the ease of use is a good trade-off for me.