Leveling a travel trailer is something almost every RVer struggles with. On campsites or national parks, you are bound to find parking spots that aren’t quite flat enough for correct travel trailer camping.
When this happens you will have to get some help from your hydraulic or automatic leveling system should your RV have one as a feature.
This is unfortunately not a feature that every RV or everyone can afford and the sole optional available to them is to manually level the RV using leveling blocks.
While hydraulic leveling systems can be a great help, given that work by just pushing a button, they tend to have a major disadvantage of being quite expensive.
Additionally, you have to consider just how much they weigh. Think about this for a second, if you had an RV, maybe a Class C that has almost no space and insufficient capacity for carrying weight, you definitely would not want to have additional lbs in the RV.
Now, how much more a travel trailer where you are limited by how much weight your truck or towing vehicle can safely handle.
When a travel trailer is not properly leveled, it can create a decent bit of discomfort throughout the entire camping trip. It could also cause appliances such as the refrigerator to malfunction.
Apart from that, it can cause the travel trailer to misread your water tank levels. Children can also have a difficult time living in a travel trailer that is not balanced. Sleeping in a travel trailer that is not leveled is virtually impossible.
What are the reasons to level a travel trailer?
There are numerous reasons as to why you have to level your travel trailer, either by finding a flat surface or getting a leveling block for the travel trailer. Below are five major issues that a leveled travel trailer fix. Let us begin
A leveled travel trailer provides you with the chance to get a good night sleep
Leveling your travel trailer is essential as it enables you to get a great night’s rest at night. When the travel trailer is not correctly leveled it could cause quite a bit of annoyance when you are trying to sleep. Even things such as closing or opening the doors can become quite problematic.
Trying to sleep on a mattress that is slanting or uneven will continue to disturb you all through the night. It can be hard trying to sleep for an extended period on a surface that is slanted, especially if you have another person on the bed.
You could end up rolling over to their side disturbing them and not getting any sleep at all. Think about having a cup of your favorite beverage suddenly roll-off? That would be quite an annoying start to what was a great day.
The appliances in your travel trailer could break or malfunction
Not only is it frustrating dealing with a travel trailer that hasn’t been properly leveled, but it could also cause your appliances to become faulty, reducing their lifespan.
An RV fridge that is unlevel can cause the liquid ammonia to accumulate, subsequently causing the cooling factor to reduce. This is definitely something that you do not want to happen to you while you are on holiday
Your kids will have a hard time
If the main reason for having a travel trailer is to get the kids involved in RVing, having an unlevel travel trailer can cause serious issues. This is particularly true if you have young kids as you do not want them to roll or fall on the sides of the travel trailer.
Cooking becomes an arduous task
Trying to cook in a travel trailer that is not level would only result in you packing everything up sooner than you thought. It can be quite difficult to prepare meals inside a slanted travel trailer. This is because the cooking surfaces become uneven and you would have to hold things in place till you are done cooking.
Water levels could be misread
Depending on the travel trailer, it is possible that an unlevel travel trailer could cause the sensors responsible for providing water levels to become incorrect. While this might not be as drastic as the other reasons, it can prove to be dangerous as you might not know what your readings are when it is time to go out for camping or a long trip.
How can you level your travel trailer
It does not matter what type of RV you have, it is still important that it is leveled while you are camping. When it comes to national parks and campsite, you might not need to purchase leveling jacks.
For the most part, the parks are leveled, however, it is better to be safe than sorry. You should also remember that not every parking spot is the same in a campground. Ther might be times when the RV next to you seemingly has a level spot, whereas yours just next door requires quite a bit of leveling.
Just a tiny bit of slope can disturb the travel trailer’s leveling. Some people tend to use levelers, and while they can be a great tool to have, it is really up to you what you do.
Using leveling blocks
Using leveling blocks typically depends on your travel trailer and the campground conditions. you must measure just how tall your travel trailer is before you stack blocks underneath it.
If the parking spot is soft you would require more blocks as it is likely that the pads would be pushed deeper into the earth. Leveling blocks can be purchased in a pack of 10 as a minimum. It is like that you would have to use the blocks on a maximum of three axles ensuring that one is free at all times.
Depending on the position o the tire, it is possible to combine numerous blocks to create levels for a single tire. It is unlikely that you will require all 10 blocks, however, it is best to always have them for emergency sake. The leveling blocks can be interlocked and stocked to suit your needs until the travel trailer is completely leveled.
The leveling blocks have been created to be quite sturdy and they can seamlessly handle the weight of a travel trailer so long as the blocks are purchased from trusted and reputable brands. The entire pack is likely to weight just 10 lbs. One thing to remember is that your block stack should not be more than 4 inches in height.
Different Leveller types for travel trailers
You can get manual levelers such as screwdrivers, ramps, or blocks. A screwdriver can handle a maximum weight of 2000 lbs, making it the most suitable leveler for a popup camper or a travel trailer.
For those that have a heavy RV, perhaps something that weighs over 20000 lbs then the blocks are suitable. Levelers made from blocks can hold a maximum weight of 40000 lbs.
Conclusion
There are so many reasons as to why your travel trailer needs to be level. Doing so ensures that your appliances run as they were designed and you can enjoy your camping experience, rather than worrying about what appliance is likely to come off simply because the parking spot is not leveled.
