Is It Me or the Frame?

When I park on a spot I get out my handy four foot level and place it on the floor inside the door (side to side of course) in front of the refrigerator and steps in our 32RL. I then either raise up one side or the other (pulling onto wood blocks) to get the unit level side to side. After checking the level and determining I am at or as close to level as I can get, I unhitch and finish set up. When we have the slides open and feel we are all set, lo and behold the trailer is not level - on the landing in front of the bath no is the bathroom floor. No mater what I do that area is going down hill toward the curb side. Is it me, after 35 years of RVing I still can't level a unit or is the frame warping or twisted?

This may take several answers and I'm sure others with more experience will chime in. Frames will flex. We had a MH for 10 years and I blew out a front window just traveling over a bumpy campground road. That happened twice. We are fairly new to TT camping. Here's what I've come up with which seems to work. The frame is a rectangle. When parked it is supported on the four corners by the electric stabilizing jacks but there is no support towards the middle except the axles which is connected to the frame by the leaf springs and shocks (if you have shocks). On our first extended stay the TT moved around a lot so I got two scissor jacks (Harbor Freight) and placed them on the frame between the axles to stabilize the middle area. When we park I level front to back using the screw jack. Then I place a scissors jack on each side between the axles and jack them up about an inch above making contact with the frame. Then I jack up on the lower side to level the frame. Then I lower the stabilizing jacks on the four corners. Sometimes I lower the front screw jack 4 turns then lower the stabilizers then screw the jack up 4 turns. This puts a little more pressure on the rear stabilizers and reduces some of the bounce. When we first got the camper, having come from motor homes I didn't realize that stabilizer jacks don't lift your unit they just stabilize. Also by putting the scissor jacks under the axles you eliminate the effect of the frame moving on the suspension shocks and leaf springs. To really do this correctly one should put 4 or even 6 scissor jacks under the frame but two seems to work. I may try getting two more. That's my experience with leveling. Hope it helps.
TeJay

5th wheel leveling is a little different than TT's because of the front landing gear. Once you have the rig leveled side to side by using boards or whatever under the tires, when lowering the landing gear, both legs need to contact at the same time. If not, this will cause a slight frame flex in the frontal area. There is a device available called a "leg leveler" CLICK HERE that can be used one one landing leg to insure both legs make contact at the same time. Until we added the front hydraulics, I used one and felt in was almost a necessity.

We've also found that we need to have the slide-side a little high before we unhook, since the weight of the slide will pull that side down a little when it goes out. Both of our slides are on the same side, which exacerbates the issue.

-T

You will find that if you have 2 slides on one side. It will drop that side when you put out the slides. I always set the ODS a little high. With practice you will know how to set up. Get it level with the slides in, put the slides out then check your level with them out. See where the bubble is. You can adjust from there. You might have to add another block or board to that side....but always block both tires on the low side.

Reico-Titan Ground Control system. Don't need no stinkin' boards.

2.5K a bit steep for this retiree on a fixed income.

JJnLilly said:

2.5K a bit steep for this retiree on a fixed income.

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That's fer sure! That's why I bought that $34 leg leveler. Then I saved up and got the front hydraulics a few years later.
You have to remember, John worked for GM.

Ray LeTourneau said:

That's fer sure! That's why I bought that $34 leg leveler. Then I saved up and got the front hydraulics a few years later.
You have to remember, John worked for GM.

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I (and the wife) certainly resemble that remark! But we're still living on fixed incomes, too. Just a bit more taxable than others, maybe.

Just don't assume that everyone that works or retired from GM has to hide their head in shame to collect their due.

JohnDar said:

Just don't assume that everyone that works or retired from GM has to hide their head in shame to collect their due.

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There is certainly no shame whatsoever in being a retired GM employee.