What do you think about leveling?

[Handsome Chinese]

I've been RVing for 2 years now, and I feel leveling is a pain.

I've tried the Andersen, the camco lego blocks, but I'm not happy with either.

What do you all use for leveling. Do you feel the same way as well, I was on youtube, and found an "air" jack, do you think it would work? Anybody tried it before? I think it only sells in UK.

[Handsome Chinese]

https://youtu.be/7QqdF6xVA_c?t=437

Here's a video about it. Do you think the air bag couldn't hold 10K lbs?

[SuperTrouper]

Well, based on my extensive experience with air mattresses of many levels of quality, the bags will eventually go flat at 3AM local time leaving you sleeping at and angle and your absorption fridge annoyed.

[Action]

If designed well an air bag can hold much more than 10,000 pounds. Air bags or springs are used on tractor trailers all the time.

My concern would be rolling over the top of them. Could it be punctured with say a nail or screw that is imbedded into the trailer tire and has not punctured the tire?
Or the surface the bag is spread over. Could a sharp rock penetrate?
And what keeps the air bag from moving out from under the tire when rolling over it? Do different surfaces make a difference? Concrete, asphault or crushed rock? How about after or during a rain? Or snow or cold weather?

I would not want to beta test something like this.

Action

[Bill M.]

I use the leggo like blocks. It works for me. Close is good enough. I watch what others do. I have not seen anything better for a trailer. I have seen a lot worse.

[nryn]

I like this system in principle but as I settle into what works for me while traveling, the keep it simple approach seems to be what I value most. I think a lot of people like the gizmos and spend a lot of time getting them to work. I work enough and would rather spend my time traveling.

Not a judgement, just a personal preference. I think if I had this system I’d still be bringing along leveling blocks for the day this system fails. That for me, tells me what I need to know about this system .

[ROBERT CROSS]

Bouncing on AB's? I don't think so. 😲

One of our favorite spots is loose sand, MacGyver'd this years ago.
Plywood runner with stops for the LEGO's. KISS👍

Bob
🇺🇸

[drbrick]

We use the Beechlane Levelling system + X chocks, personally I like a "solid" feel when we are setup. I would think the "air bags" would bounce and I get sea sick easily

[Backinin]

Hi all, so I have just one final question on the concept of inflatable levelers. If it rains a lot will the levelers become pool toys and send the trailer downstream? I've seen a massive barge floated off a sand bar by inflating a similar type bag under it. What's to keep the trailer from becoming the USS Airstream in prolonged rains? Great discussion, thanks for your inputs.

Happy Trails

[greghoro]

Hmmmm. Wondering if I could adapt my inflatable Santa lawn decoration.

[Goin camping]

Been leveling trailers so long now that I do it by eyeball and confirm with a level.

Couple 4x4's and 2x4's is all that is needed. Very low tech and scrap wood is free.

[Mollysdad]

I think the air bags could work if they were sandwiched in aluminum plates to prevent punctures. But it seems to be a bazooka on a gnat when a flyswatter works fine.

[BobnGayl]

We camped for years and used wood planks flor leveling. Never a problem. When we got back into camping 2 years ago and bought our Airstream I discovered the “lego blocks” and bought a couple of sets. I liked the idea as they are light and easy to store. The first time we went camping and used them it wasn’t great. The side of the trailer that needed raising was in soft sand and the blocks distorted and didn’t function well. The next trip I brought my boards and they worked great. Staying with the old approach. Easy to carry and work everywhere.

[jnm30327]

I use plastic ramps for leveling, but what was a game changer for me was using Level Mate Pro. Using cell phone app, I can back up trailer to exact level side to side. Then unhitch and level end to end. No guesswork or relying on level bubble. Perfect every time.

[Backfortyjoe]

Looks like a lot of extra work especially in the rain or mud and cold. Just using Lego blocks can be set up in half the time or less. I always try to go easier but sometimes I do get lost along the way!

[oldenavy]

We started using these things a couple of years ago when the dealer threw them in with the trailer purchase:
https://www.etrailer.com/Wheel-Chock...SABEgIlZfD_BwE

They're really quick & easy with infinite adjustment (up to their highest point).
Prior to that, we just went with the scrap wood method.

[Hoagie]

My first experience leveling an RV came when I was about 12 years old. It was my job to eyeball the level on top of the fridge and determine how many 2x6s were needed under each tire. This was in a '69 Winnebago MH and back then the RV fridges were very sensitive to being out of level. And campgrounds with leveled pads? Pretty rare for us. (Or maybe dad was just too thrifty to spend the money to stay in one.)

Fast-forward 30 years and we bought our first trailer, an SOB. That trailer weighed in around 6,000lbs. I used wood blocks, then lego blocks, and finally built some airbags using 18inch lengths of 12inch discharge hose. We used these exclusively for leveling for about 10 years. Only issue we ever had was on the first trip when one of the bags leaked. Luckily I caught it before the trailer settled too much on the stabilizer.

Contrary to what some may think, there is NO bounce. Zero. These things are rock steady. Also, they are not hard to inflate. At first I used this cheap HF foot pump. It worked fine without a lot of effort, but with a tandem axle trailer I had to switch the pump between the two bags and try to balance the air pressure between them. Received a nice portable compressor for as a gift and built an air hose distribution tee to connect to both bags at once.

Leveling with air bags is really quite simple. decide where you want the trailer wheels to end up. Clear that area of any sharp stones, glass, nails, shards of steel, hand grenade shrapnel, etc. Lay the air bags down. Drive on top of them. Inflate bags until level side-to-side. Chock the wheels and complete set-up.

You only need about 20lbs or so to inflate and level a 6,000 pound trailer. I'm no expert, but I don't think that is enough pressure to cause a nail in the tire to penetrate one of these bags. they are very heavy duty.

I don't use these on our Classic 30. We find we are staying at more developed CGs now and often don't have to level at all. I still have the airbags so if anyone is interested maybe we can make a deal. I think they'd be great for one of the smaller model Airstreams. I never got around to testing them under our 9,000 pound (or so) Classic. I'll have to do that when I get it back from Winter storage.

[Mikebrady62]

I would pass on these because of the extra time it would take. By the time you get them out, lay them on the ground, back on (or pull on) to them, you would be level with the Camco's. Unless it's a really unlevel site. In which case I would use my lego blocks. Then not have to worry about getting a compressor out and waiting to fill them up. Just me though.

[Icy]

This might help a little. There is a app called truma, the tools section there is a leveling
tool that works very well. You just put in your length, wheelbase and width and it will tell you how much to put under each wheel. I just mark on the ground where the blocks go, back up a little install blocks on the ground and drive up. I install on my iphone and ipad.

[Silvr_Bullet]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

I use the leggo like blocks. It works for me. Close is good enough. I watch what others do. I have not seen anything better for a trailer. I have seen a lot worse.

I agree they stack nicely easy to carry a dozen, fashion them like a ramp, boom your done. An inch this way or that way you won’t feel and if your happy the fridge will be too. Also good under stabilizer jacks.