BAL tire leveler

[Frederick L. Simson]

3. The steel in the frame will not take a set unless it is bent beyond its yield point. I don't think your earlier contention the the long-term weight of the holding tanks being the cause of the bent frame is true -- I believe it is much more likely that the yield point was exceeded by a combination of weight and vertical acceleration -- in other words, a weighty tail and a very sharp jolt that probably bottomed out the springs.

I had the trailer jacked up to straighten the frame, then I had a welder sister in a solid bar beside the bent member. When the trailer was returned to it's wheels, the new bar bent to match the frame's memory bend. I decided to live with it.

[Morgan]

Well, gee. I have one, but I don't like it as much as the rest of you seem to.

Compared to leveling blocks, it's heavy and dirty and sometimes gets stuck in place. I have had to wrestle with it more than once.

Although I use my cordless drill to level my fiver's front jacks, my drill pooped out on the BAL.

I just can't seem to fall in love with it and have left it at home the last several trips.

I agree completely with Lyle. I bought one when I had my first Casita. It's way too much work to handle and use and sometimes I couldn't even get it under the tire.

I threw it away. So you can't have it Roy.

[Booker B.]

I use mine on every trip - never had a problem getting it around the tire but that may be 'cause our Trillium only has 13' tires. Our fridge is pretty finicky and being able to dial in level is important.

Saying that, they are dirty as it needs to be well greased and I still haven't found a good way to store it while travelling.

[Bobbie Mayer]

I find it very easy to use (I also have smaller tires) but I often don't need it and then it does feel like a lot to carry and store when all I do is take it out and put it under the trailer when I stop. It is WAY easier for me to level it that way, though.

[Alexandra B]

I want one too but would rather buy used too. So if any of you who do not like theirs please PM me and i'll buy yours.

thanks

Alexandra

[Dana T]

I had the trailer jacked up to straighten the frame, then I had a welder sister in a solid bar beside the bent member. When the trailer was returned to it's wheels, the new bar bent to match the frame's memory bend. I decided to live with it.

I think what happened with the welder is that in jacking up the frame he flexed it enough to make it straight, but did not go beyond the yield point, the result being frame would return to its bent shape when the jacks were taken away. The sister bar wasn't strong enough to resist the frame's memory of the bend, so it bent to conform to the frame.

It's real hard to take out a bend like that because it's nearly impossible to subject the frame to a sufficient force against gravity and the stiffening effect of the trailer's body to go past the yield point in a calibrated manner. You want to only go far enough to take out the kink, not so much as to put in a reverse kink, and not so little as to have no significant effect.

If it makes you feel any better, Steve Lang's Fiber Stream also had a bend in the same place. Perhaps it wasn't quite as bad but it certainly was noticeable.

[shane n]

BAL leveler storage in pizza bag

BAL in pizza bag

[Booker B.]

That's an awesome idea Shane!

BAL leveler storage in pizza bag

BAL in pizza bag

[Lyle Brunson]

Roy, I would sell it to you, or even give it to you, except that I might have one more use for it.

Its one good feature is that it permits very preciseleveling. I am thinking of adding a solar panel at some point, and would need to have the trailer very level when I do that.

[shane n]

You can get pizza bag here. Get the 18 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 5 1/2 size. $25.77 delivered.
The pop-up forum no longer sells them.

Pizza bag source.

[paulw]

Thanks Shane!
Plus...you can use it to bring pizza to potlucks

[Raya]

Lyle,

Just curious why you feel you would have to have the trailer "very level" for the solar panel? On boats, we tilt them purposely to catch the sun, and of course they don't stay level unless the water is flat calm, and the boat is loaded perfectly evenly (once in a century).

Oh wait, maybe you mean while installing it? But then you'd probably measure an even distance from the roof (or whatever) anyway, so probably not.

I'm sure I'm missing something though

Raya

[GeorgeR]

An alternative to BAL….

I want to share a simple method of leveling my 21RB trailer. More proactive approach eliminates some of the leveling attempts speeding up this camping routine. Using digital level, I_use_this_one, on the trailer floor I measure a side to side slope in degrees with trailer parked at the desired destination. The attached cheat-sheet tells me how much of lift I need. Using 1" thick Lynx blocks gives me ½" fine adjustment on two axle trailer. Final, small adjustments are done using four stabilizing C-Jacks.

The attached cheat-sheet is based on 95" dimension measured between outer tires threads on an axle. Send me a PM if you would like to get this simple MS spreadsheet.

George.

PS; I am planning to attach permanently side to side digital gauge somewhere but not sure where yet and when.

[Pete Dumbleton]

There's no need for current fridge designs to get the fridge as level as they needed to be in the past.

[Raya]

There's no need for current fridge designs to get the fridge as level as they needed to be in the past.

Pete,

Do you know when they switched over to the newer designs, and how one tells the difference (say, if one does not know how old the fridge is)?

Thanks,

Raya

[GeorgeR]

There's no need for current fridge designs to get the fridge as level as they needed to be in the past.

Yes, I believe it is a common belief that newer refrigerators don’t require as precise level as the older ones. Unfortunately without a number of what is "a less precise" level being on the cautious side can save me hassle and money (fairly, less precisely, close to are not numbers). Friend of mine just paid $1200 for replacing his fridge on 2004 Bigfoot Camper.

George.


extract_from_Camping_World

“There are several things we can do to help the refrigerator do its job more efficiently. First and foremost the RV must be fairly level for the refrigerator to operate properly. Older RV refrigerators required more precise leveling, but even the newer models need to be close to level for optimum performance”

[Donna D.]

I think it's nice the refer is level... stuff doesn't roll around or list to one side.. like cans laying on their sides in the bottom. But, I prefer the trailer to be level.. FOR ME. Maybe it's Murphy's Law, but whenever I get a bit lazy and don't care if it's a half-bubble off... my head ALWAYS seems to be on the down side when I sleep... and that drives me crazy. I've actually gotten up in the middle of the night and turned everything around just so I didn't feel like the blood was rushing to my head.

[Tony Nowak]

We think the BAL is the best $70.00 we ever spent. I called BAL to get the weight limit and was told 1800 lbs., we want to try it with the Bigfoot this year. The BF weighs about 2900lbs. without food or clothes. For storage we use a air conditioner cover that we found windblow on the street with a bungee.
Tony and Darlene

[Bobbie Mayer]

You can get pizza bag here. Get the 18 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 5 1/2 size. $25.77 delivered.
The pop-up forum no longer sells them.

Pizza bag source.

I have only one question. What the heck is "imitation nylon?"

[Booker B.]

Donna, I have the exact same problem. I am not sure what is off in our trailer but when the fridge is level the bed sure isn't!