How do I level my PU

[Jamiek]

Hi,

Just wanted to know how to level our PU.  The owners manual says not to level the pu with the stabalizer jacks.  If i cant use them then what else could i do to level the camper.

Thanks for your help,
Jamie

[wavery]

Hi,

Just wanted to know how to level our PU.  The owners manual says not to level the pu with the stabalizer jacks.  If i cant use them then what else could i do to level the camper.

Thanks for your help,
Jamie

When you pull into your campsite, try to find a fairly level spot. Place your camper in that spot (still hooked up to the TV). Place your level on the floor of your PU (this will require opening the door). Determine about how out-of-level that you are and compensate by putting spacers in front of the tire and pull the trailer onto the spacers with your TV. There is also a device available called a "Bal Leveler" http://www.amazon.com/BAL-PRODUCTS-DIV-NCO-TRAILER/dp/B000GAQ0Y4/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-3881483-6258529?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1178228316&sr=8-1 . This device slides around the tire and you lift the tire with the device's screw jack until the camper is level. Either way, you must level side-to-side first.

After leveling side-to-side, unhook from the TV (making sure that the tires are blocked) and level the camper front-to-rear using your tongue jack. Use the level on the floor inside the camper to find level again.

Pop up your top at this point.

Then (and only then) put your stabilizers down and put a small amount of tension on them. They are NOT meant to level or jack-up the trailer.

[mmeier71]

Hi,

Just wanted to know how to level our PU.  The owners manual says not to level the pu with the stabalizer jacks.  If i cant use them then what else could i do to level the camper.

Thanks for your help,
Jamie

Jamie,

There are many ways to level a pop-up camper.  Some use Lynx levels (large orange blocks w/ chocks availble.  Other people use Bal Levels.  Another thing you might want to invest in some kind of a adhesive bubble level so you know you're pretty darn close.  I would not recommend trying to get perfect level you would want some rain water to run off in one spot!

Here's a great website that will answer more of your leveling question and WELCOME TO PUP TIMES!

-Mike

[mmeier71]

Duh!!!

I forgot to post the website...  here it is...

http://www.title-3.com/Level.htm

-Mike

[flyfisherman]

Hi,

Just wanted to know how to level our PU.  The owners manual says not to level the pu with the stabalizer jacks.  If i cant use them then what else could i do to level the camper.

Thanks for your help,

Jamie

Obviously, leveling front to rear is done with the tounge jack. It's the side to side business that gets a little tricky; and that all begins when you back into the site. Some people have leveling bubble devices attached to their camper where they can see just what side needs attention.  In my case I use a simple carpenter's level that's maybe 10" long. Then I still keep it simple and cheap by choosing between three different thickness of wooden blocks to go under a tire on the low side. Again, I back in to about where I want the camper ... read the level as to exactly where I'm at (I do pretty fair by just estimating, too), pull forward just a tad, place whatever wooden block under a tire, back up again just the tad ... and there she be.

I'm far too cheap to invest into sopisticated gadgetry; my false pride will not let me ... I can't, I won't!




Fly

[wavery]

Obviously, leveling front to rear is done with the tounge jack. It's the side to side business that gets a little tricky; and that all begins when you back into the site. Some people have leveling bubble devices attached to their camper where they can see just what side needs attention.  In my case I use a simple carpenter's level that's maybe 10" long. Then I still keep it simple and cheap by choosing between three different thickness of wooden blocks to go under a tire on the low side. Again, I back in to about where I want the camper ... read the level as to exactly where I'm at (I do pretty fair by just estimating, too), pull forward just a tad, place whatever wooden block under a tire, back up again just the tad ... and there she be.

I'm far too cheap to invest into sopisticated gadgetry; my false pride will not let me ... I can't, I won't!




Fly

Fly,

You might want to consider pulling forward on your blocks. Backing against an obstacle is very hard on an automatic transmission. You could actually break a hard part pretty easily by doing that. Chances are, you could get away with it for years but it only takes one time for it to happen to make you a very unhappy camper.

[flyfisherman]

Fly,

You might want to consider pulling forward on your blocks. Backing against an obstacle is very hard on an automatic transmission. You could actually break a hard part pretty easily by doing that. Chances are, you could get away with it for years but it only takes one time for it to happen to make you a very unhappy camper.

Have you been smoking some of that Calllliiforniaa funny stuff .... AGAIN?

You'll have to 'splain to me the difference between the power set-up in an auto-tranny of first & reverse.

Does that mean all these years where I attached a hitch onto the front of my 2-wheel drive pick-em-ups to launch the boat and then pull same out of the water, was all wrong?  That I could have done harm to countless, innocent trucks by my carelessness ...?  (Oh, why have I been spared?) :yikes:



Fly

[wavery]

Have you been smoking some of that Calllliiforniaa funny stuff .... AGAIN?

You'll have to 'splain to me the difference between the power set-up in an auto-tranny of first & reverse.

Does that mean all these years where I attached a hitch onto the front of my 2-wheel drive pick-em-ups to launch the boat and then pull same out of the water, was all wrong?  That I could have done harm to countless, innocent trucks by my carelessness ...?  (Oh, why have I been spared?) :yikes:



Fly

The reverse-high clutch and the second carrier brake band are locked when in reverse. This reverses the torque direction, and reduces the ratio (twice) for use in backing up the TV. This puts nearly twice the torque on all of the driving parts of the trans. In most circumstances, like backing a trailer out of the water or just backing up a hill, this isn't bad. However, when you come up against a stationary object like a block of wood or curb that extra torque could be enough to break something.

You will notice that most of the time that a transmission fails, it is reverse that is the 1st thing to go.

[McCampers]

Wavery the engineering doctor.  I personally use the soda bottle method.  I drink my soda (coke) down 1/4 inch below the label in the middle so I can see the soda below the label.  I then put the soda on my battery on the tongue.  I can tell how level the entire PU is by the distance of the soda below the label.  It works for both the side to side and the front to back.  I use the orange block kit for the side to side and of course the tongue jack for the other.  I DO pull forward onto the blocks.

[wavery]

Wavery the engineering doctor.  I personally use the soda bottle method.  I drink my soda (coke) down 1/4 inch below the label in the middle so I can see the soda below the label.  I then put the soda on my battery on the tongue.  I can tell how level the entire PU is by the distance of the soda below the label.  It works for both the side to side and the front to back.  I use the orange block kit for the side to side and of course the tongue jack for the other.  I DO pull forward onto the blocks.

Hey....if that works for ya....go for it.. However, when someone asks how to do it properly so they don't damage their PU, I like to do the best I can.  I'm not always right but I try as hard as I can.

BTW....I use 7-Up :-()

[flyfisherman]

The reverse-high clutch and the second carrier brake band are locked when in reverse. This reverses the torque direction, and reduces the ratio (twice) for use in backing up the TV. This puts nearly twice the torque on all of the driving parts of the trans. In most circumstances, like backing a trailer out of the water or just backing up a hill, this isn't bad. However, when you come up against a stationary object like a block of wood or curb that extra torque could be enough to break something.

You will notice that most of the time that a transmission fails, it is reverse that is the 1st thing to go.

O.K., I'm going to let this slide for right now ... but be forwarned ... when I take the truck in for service at MrGoodWrench's, I'm going to run all this past all them country-boy mechanics and see what they have to say. Remember, we're talking G.M. products here ... not those wimpie Chrysler "things" you had become so accustomed to baby setting.

And I can just see how the boys up in the mountains of western North Carolina will re-act when I tell them I'm no longer backing up over onto a piece of wood just because some guy out in Callliieeeforniaa said it was the thing to do!  Yesirre ... I can see it all right now!

By the way, the ONLY auto transmission failure I've ever had happen was when I was pulling out onto a main highway and kicking it in the ..... (well, you know). But in all fairness that transmission was not right from the get-go and I had taken it back to the dealer complaining about strange noises and little slips and jerks ~ and they said it was all A-O.K.!  Warranty did replace that tranny and there was never a problem from then on.

[AustinBoston]

Wavery the engineering doctor.  I personally use the soda bottle method.  I drink my soda (coke) down 1/4 inch below the label in the middle so I can see the soda below the label.  I then put the soda on my battery on the tongue.  I can tell how level the entire PU is by the distance of the soda below the label.  It works for both the side to side and the front to back.  I use the orange block kit for the side to side and of course the tongue jack for the other.  I DO pull forward onto the blocks.

All of you guys are amatures.  

I can get it within 1/2" (one half of a Lynx block) by eye.  I've been doing this for years.  I use a bubble level on the middle of the bumper after I decide just to make sure, but I have never changed my mind after seeing the level.  

I do use the little level on the tongue when leveling front-to-back because it's easier than stepping away from the jack to check.

Austin

[mjdfarm]

Tounge jack front to back.  Lynx levelers side to side (if necessary).  Keep it simple......