Leveling confusion

Thanks guys for all your suggestions. For those of you who use the Bal Leveler, do any of you have 15” tires? The adds for them say it fits “some” 15 inch tires, and as I wanted to replace all the tires, I thought I might as well go to the 15” tires.

Another thought. As I only have the wheel to put on the tongue when it is unhitched, can I but just a regular stand with a flat bottom instead? Does this have to come from TrailManor or is it an item that can be purchased at say Camping World?

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by modhatter

Thanks guys for all your suggestions. For those of you who use the Bal Leveler, do any of you have 15” tires? The adds for them say it fits “some” 15 inch tires, and as I wanted to replace all the tires, I thought I might as well go to the 15” tires.

Another thought. As I only have the wheel to put on the tongue when it is unhitched, can I but just a regular stand with a flat bottom instead? Does this have to come from TrailManor or is it an item that can be purchased at say Camping World?

You don't have to use the wheel. You can purchase the flat end or make one (as some here have). You just need the diameter of the post.

[ThePair]

Someone suggested a 3/4" flange to me, which I have purchased but not yet used.

Here's the post: http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...2&postcount=17

I use the BAL leveler and that thing is awsome! When I get to my spot I just stick that sucker under the low side tire and crank it to eyeball level. Then I eyeball the front to back level. We then raise the TM and fine tune from inside with a carpenter's level. Then we put down the jacks to stabilize. The whole process takes about 10-15 min depending on the terrain. I use the Lynx pads under the jacks. The BAL leveler may not quite fit under some 15" tires. You can "adjust" the leveler by placing a hydraulic jack between the pads and bending them out slightly. ( I had to do this with mine.)

[mcgyver210]

Originally Posted by Bigbit

I've made the levelling job just about as easy as it can be without going to an expensive auto-levelling system. I use 3 tools to accomplish this:

1) a BAL leveller, which just happens to have a 3/4" male hex head
2) an 18V cordless impact driver with a 3/4" socket attached
3) the bubble level available at this link: http://www.amazon.com/Hopkins-05515-...45682&sr=1-145 - it mounts on the trailer side and swivels 90 degrees horizontally so that you can check level both front-to-back and side-to-side.

Steps:

1) Chock trailer wheels
2) Remove WDH and sway bars, then remove trailer from hitch
3) Remove hitch bar from receiver
4) Check front-back level with level gauge, use electric tongue jack to achieve front-back level
5) Swivel level gauge and check side-side level - decide which side BAL leveler needs to go on
6) Install BAL leveler on tire that must be raised - use impact wrench to adjust to level
7) Chock the tire without BAL (optional)
8) Using impact wrench, lower scissors levelling jacks and engage to a few turns past touching ground/asphalt/blocks - they just happen to be 3/4" hex head, too!

The whole process takes less than 10 minutes and results in a level, stable trailer without much effort.

One suggestion about the swivel level gauge above if you buy it - install it on the hook-up side of the trailer and not the entry side. Otherwise the wind will blow it to the open position while driving (school of hard knocks lesson!)

Exactly how I do it accept I use my IPhone App for the level which tells me where to adjust.

Here is better pics of your level device Hopkins Level+Plus Trailer Level with Memory

That is an interesting level where did you mount it? Do you have any pics?

[Wavery]

Just for some balance here...........the trailer does not have to be perfectly level. In fact, it's sometimes helpful to leave the drivers side of the trailer a little low for A/C water run-off.

We find that ~within half a bubble of level is quite acceptable.

[mcgyver210]

Originally Posted by modhatter

Thanks guys for all your suggestions. For those of you who use the Bal Leveler, do any of you have 15” tires? The adds for them say it fits “some” 15 inch tires, and as I wanted to replace all the tires, I thought I might as well go to the 15” tires.

Another thought. As I only have the wheel to put on the tongue when it is unhitched, can I but just a regular stand with a flat bottom instead? Does this have to come from TrailManor or is it an item that can be purchased at say Camping World?

I have a 2008 3023 which came from factory with 15" tires & I use it with no issues most of the time. I did spread it apart a little when I first used it so it would more easily go around the tire same as mhatcher did in the below Quote.

The times I have had issues I just wiggle it a little & it will fit around tire.

Originally Posted by [email protected]

I use the BAL leveler and that thing is awsome! When I get to my spot I just stick that sucker under the low side tire and crank it to eyeball level. Then I eyeball the front to back level. We then raise the TM and fine tune from inside with a carpenter's level. Then we put down the jacks to stabilize. The whole process takes about 10-15 min depending on the terrain. I use the Lynx pads under the jacks. The BAL leveler may not quite fit under some 15" tires. You can "adjust" the leveler by placing a hydraulic jack between the pads and bending them out slightly. ( I had to do this with mine.)

Originally Posted by harveyrv

Just for some balance here...........the trailer does not have to be perfectly level. In fact, it's sometimes helpful to leave the drivers side of the trailer a little low for A/C water run-off.

We find that ~within half a bubble of level is quite acceptable.

That is true. Most of the time I can eyeball the leveling and be close enough.

I have written a long story on my process. I ain't gonna repeat it again. But I will summarize the final goal and a bit on how I get there:

Level side to side as best you can with planks or blocks under the TM tires. Level front to back with the tongue jack. Using this three point process works better than any process with more than 3 points.

When washing dishes, any water that gets on the counter over the fridge should run towards the rear splash guard and towards the sink. Keeps it off the dinette seat, or the person sitting there.

I want to be able to fry a single egg in the middle of a frying pan. This means the stove top has to be level enough for this to be possible. I have never fried an egg in the TM, but I could if I wanted to.

The wheels should be chocked so tightly that it is not possible to pull the chocks out without using the TV to move the TM a bit. This substantially reduces front to back motion when walking around.

The corner jacks are used to keep side to side motion to a minimum. I already took care of front to back motion with the chocks. The corner jacks are also used to fine tune the levelness of the stove top.

When my stove is level, the fridge is level enough to be within specification, water on the counter top runs where it ought to, the beds are level enough and walking around in the middle of the night does not result in waking others up from the rock-and-roll.

I don't think I missed anything.

If anyone has a definition of the final goal that is different than mine I would like to hear why yours is better than mine.

[Brittany Dogs]

Originally Posted by mcgyver210

I have a 2008 3023 which came from factory with 15" tires & I use it with no issues most of the time. I did spread it apart a little when I first used it so it would more easily go around the tire same as mhatcher did in the below Quote.

The times I have had issues I just wiggle it a little & it will fit around tire.

I have not received my 2720SD yet but I know it has 15" tires. I use the BAL Leveler on my Coleman pop-up and have the same problem removing the leveler when breaking camp (especially on grass or softer ground). My thinking is, I'll always use a level pad under the low tire in addition to the BAL Leveler so that when the leveler is lowered, it'll always have room to pull it out from the tire because the tire will be off the ground a bit.