6pt leveling and wheel chalks

[farside291]

I always use chocks first then unhook and level. I disconnected my old fifthwheel at the campground only to watch it roll down the spot, thank goodness for the parking block at the bottom of the spot, otherwise it would have kept on rolling right down the slope. Very bad experience and totally helpless to do anything about it. You can always reposition the chocks after leveling. I just use the regular old yellow plastic chocks. Sometimes though, depending on how unlevel the spot is, the wheels may not touch the ground on one side. I do not put boards under the airborne wheels but I do periodically here the creaking noises coming from the jacks. Never really thought about putting boards under the airborne wheels. Might try that next time and see if the creaking stops.

 

[SeattleLion]

the first few times we leveled and the tires were off the ground, we had the occasional metallic sound I mentioned before (usually in the morning) Is it going to fail?

That sound has nothing to do with the jacks' ability to hold the weight. It is an issue many of us have with the hydraulic jacks. Getting some "fork" oil and replacing a quart of the hydraulic fluid is what Lippert suggests to reduce or eliminate it. We bought the oil, but we only had the noise once so we haven't bothered. In terms of losing level, If the trailer is on a cement or asphalt pad, then there might be a slight leak somewhere. Did you check with a ball when you first Leveled? We've had our BH in our side yard since September and it is still rock-solid level. Last spring we were parked for over a month with two of the wheels off the ground (about 3" and free spinning) with no issues. Bear in mind there is really no risk if there is a leveling jack failure since the trailer will just "fall" to the wheels. However, if the landing gear fails, that's a different story. I have not yet heard of such a failure with the hydraulic systems. We have a 2,600 lbs. tongue weight and no issues at all, of course, with the landing gear.

Sometimes I think that we all get a bit too concerned about these systems. Of all the stuff that can go wrong, the leveling jacks present no real risk. Our trailers are fine without them.

 

[porthole]

Ok, now I'm confused (I know, nothing unusual in that). I have X chocks and was under the belief that besides stopping the trailer from rolling down hill they also help a bit on movement in the trailer when the 6 point leveling system is deployed. If what I am reading is correct then I need to create a post in the items for sale and sell my X-Chocks.

With my travel trailer always stored on a slight incline, I always used my "x-chocks". One day out of curiosity I "x-chocked" then put the truck in gear. No accelerator and the chocks popped right out. Sold them and use rubber wedge chocks now, but not all the time, only if on any type of incline.

 

[caissiel]

Thank you. Glade I never bought some.