Tips for Leveling on Gentle Slope

[Thomcat316]

We just bought a set of four of these for the purpose of leveling our teardrop, and they work a trick. For y'all with frames, they'll work right off. We are frameless, so I have to weld up a set of reinforcing plates with pockets to bond to the bottom of the corners.

https://www.campingworld.com/aluminu...of-4-4205.html

[Yvimij]

I often pull my 13ft Casita off-road through very rough conditions. I had a reinforced axle installed that gives me almost two feet of ground clearance. At the same time, I had the rear bumper reinforced and added two leveling jacks. The jacks are the side-wind type that swing up for travel.

When I decide to stop, It does not matter at all whether the site is level. I use the two rear jacks to level side-to-side, and then the front jack to level front to back. On extreme slopes, one or both trailer tires may be completely off the ground.

While you may not be traveling extreme rough country, the same type of swivel jacks added to your rear bumper make it super simple to pull into a site and level your trailer very quickly and without fooling around with leveling blocks. They also make it easy to change a trailer tire if needed.

[Thomcat316]

Jim, that's a great way of doing it!

One of the things we had considered on the way to our screw stands was to install a tongue jack like that, but instead of swiveling, we would have used one of the "weld-on" style, with the round socket, that totally detaches from its mount.

That might be attractive to folks who don't want swivel jacks on their bumper.

[Yvimij]

Yes. The jacks are welded to the bumper and can be detached. There is a single locking pin for each jack. Removing the pin allows me to swivel vertical/horizontal or to remove the jack completely.

I leave mine attached for simplicity and ease of use. In the horizontal position, the jack skid plates extend to the spare tire. Shorter, bolt-on Jack's might work if the trailer sits lower. Because I added so much ground clearance, I needed longer jacks. I also had the bumper and frame reinforced.

What I like about my rig is that I can pull into a spot and be setup and level quickly and with no fooling around with leveling blocks, no backing and "fine tuning" my TV position. No digging around for cranks or pads. And no bending over! (The "no bending over" part becomes more and more important as I near completion of my eighth decade!)

[Justus C]

There have been some good solutions provided here for your standard A-frame trailer with a strong frame. Thank you all for the recommendations!

The Hymer Touring GT is a strange beast. The shell has a tubular steel frame "skeleton" that is bolted to a very simple T-shaped trailer. The end result is a short straight tongue (like a boat trailer) and minimal structural strength aft of the axle. All leveling must be done at the wheels or at the tongue, and the four corner stabilizers are just that--stabilizers, not leveling jacks.

We have used the trailer three times at three separate, well-maintained state parks. I have parked it several times in my driveway and on the street. I have never been able to get it level front-to-back.

I recently came across a bolt-on rack-and-gear or rack-and-pinion trailer jack with semi-removable wheel. It is 22" when extended and 6" when retracted (with wheel attached), and does not swivel. This seems like it would be perfect, since the swivel jack takes up precious space along the tongue. I would plan to modify the wheel with a toggle pin for quickly removing it while in transit, giving me plenty of clearance. The only downside I see is that it will obstruct trunk access while fully retracted, but unlike the drop-type jack it should be fine when extended. Are there any other downsides to using this style of jack on a camping trailer?