New 2011 NT 26LRSS TT

[JRBEN]

Good Morning,

The wife and I just traded in our pop-up camper for a new 2011 NT 26LRSS TT. Or as they would say on the pop-up forums, we have gone to the dark side. LOL We will be taking delivery of the new TT this coming Saturday, then taking it to a local KOA for a shakedown outing the following weekend. Although we have done quite a bit of camping in the pop-up, this is our first TT. So, I have a silly question...... How do you level a TT from side to side? With the pop-up we used a BAL leveler on the lowside wheel to level. Since the TT has two axles, I don't know if this will work. Are the power jacks used to level the trailer? Or, are they like the ones we had on the pop-up and just used to provide stability once leveled?

Thanks,
Randy

 

[danemayer]

Hi Randy,

Congratulations on your NT purchase and welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. You'll find a lot of useful information here along with a great bunch of people willing to share what they've learned.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if someone's typing the answer to your question right now.

 

[cookie]

JRBEN, welcome to the forum and Heartland family. You have now come over from the dark side.
As far as leveling, most people have an assortment of wooden boards. 2x8's or 10's and 1/2 in plywood.
When you determine how much lift you need on one side, lay the boards down in front of each axle and pull the trailer up on them.
And yes, the power jacks are stabilizers once level.
Have fun with your new rig.

Peace
Dave

 

[mjatwalker]

Randy, Welcome to the Heartland family. My wife and I are MD chapter leaders for the owners club. Please contact us if you need info. mjatw@verizon.net

 

[ZNK]

They sell kits of "LEGO" type blocks at camping world. I bought 2 sets. This is what I use to level side to side. The electric jacks ARE NOT used to level. You never want to use these to lift the trailer. They are for support only. Raise the trailer with the jack then lower them onto the power jacks. They can withstand the weight but not lift it. You run into the risk of damaging the very small motors.

PLEASE make sure you do an extensive PDI to get any issues that might be present fixed before you leave the lot. Scour the rig with a fine tooth comb. This will save you lots of hassle in the long run. Check out some of the threads on PDI's. It will tell you exactly what to check for.

 

[pegmikef]

In addition to making sure everything works, ask a lot of questions. . . . Where's the pump . . . Where's the converter . . . Where's the access to manually open/close the slide . . . Where's the crank . . . How does this work . . . What is this for . . . etc. You get the idea

As to leveling, I personally carry enough two bys to raise one side a little over three inches. I figure if it has to be raised more than that, then it is time to move the trailer. So far I haven't had to move the trailer and most often I only need to use one (I think a lot of sites are purposely slightly sloped to facilitate water drainage). If you use two bys then I recommend that you put 45 degree bevels on each end to make them easier to drive up on.

Enjoy your new TT. We have the same model and love it with 13,000 plus miles on it.

 

[JRBEN]

Thanks for the tips. Just what i thought, that I would have to use boards or leveling blocks. I was hoping that there was an option similar to the BAL leveler, that I used on the pop-up, that I could just crank up until level. Seems much simpler to me than having to use trial and error with blocks. But, I guess once I get some experience doing it, it won't be a big deal.

Mike, I'll have to check out the owners club. Are there regular events, rallys, etc.? We are most likely going to do the shakedown weekend to check everything out, then winterize and place the camper in storage at Ft. Meade until the spring. That will give me time to make any minor modifications I want to make to drawers and cabinets, and to stock the TT with everything we want to keep inside.

As far as the PDI, I learned my lesson when we purchased the pop-up. Trust me, I won't be taking it off the lot until every system has been tested, and I know how to use everything. I have also already emailed the dealer and told them to check and see if this TT was part of the as line recall and to fix it before Saturday if it was. I Also, told them to check the antennas to ensure they were properly tightened as I have seen several posts where people have lost them because they were never tightened down. And, last but not least I have my own checklist to make sure everythin is covered to my satisfaction on the PDI.

 

[pegmikef]

Ft. Meade, huh. I did my time at Ft. Meade in the sixties and that is where we got our first popup, and then again in the eighties as a contractor.

Look around at the North Trail threads because a lot of folks have made some really useful modifications (drawers, shelves, gas shocks for under bed storage, and lots of others). If nothing else, it will give you a lot of ideas.

 

[ZNK]

Most off all, ENJOY your new North Trail and welcome to our family! I highly recommend joining the owners club!

Thanks for the tips. Just what i thought, that I would have to use boards or leveling blocks. I was hoping that there was an option similar to the BAL leveler, that I used on the pop-up, that I could just crank up until level. Seems much simpler to me than having to use trial and error with blocks. But, I guess once I get some experience doing it, it won't be a big deal.

Mike, I'll have to check out the owners club. Are there regular events, rallys, etc.? We are most likely going to do the shakedown weekend to check everything out, then winterize and place the camper in storage at Ft. Meade until the spring. That will give me time to make any minor modifications I want to make to drawers and cabinets, and to stock the TT with everything we want to keep inside.

As far as the PDI, I learned my lesson when we purchased the pop-up. Trust me, I won't be taking it off the lot until every system has been tested, and I know how to use everything. I have also already emailed the dealer and told them to check and see if this TT was part of the as line recall and to fix it before Saturday if it was. I Also, told them to check the antennas to ensure they were properly tightened as I have seen several posts where people have lost them because they were never tightened down. And, last but not least I have my own checklist to make sure everythin is covered to my satisfaction on the PDI.

 

[Marge]

Good Morning,

The wife and I just traded in our pop-up camper for a new 2011 NT 26LRSS TT. Or as they would say on the pop-up forums, we have gone to the dark side. LOL We will be taking delivery of the new TT this coming Saturday, then taking it to a local KOA for a shakedown outing the following weekend. Although we have done quite a bit of camping in the pop-up, this is our first TT. So, I have a silly question...... How do you level a TT from side to side? With the pop-up we used a BAL leveler on the lowside wheel to level. Since the TT has two axles, I don't know if this will work. Are the power jacks used to level the trailer? Or, are they like the ones we had on the pop-up and just used to provide stability once leveled?

Thanks,
Randy

side to side, we just put the same size boards under both of the tires on the low side, we carry various sizes. We have also found that we leave the side with the slide-out a bit on the high side, after we run the slide out, the trailer will be level then.

 

[ZNK]

We have found the same thing to be true... Always have the slide side up a bit to level it out!