How To Level Your Travel Trailer
Once you get your travel trailer to your campsite, you’re likely to want to drop everything and start relaxing as soon as possible. However, if you don’t take the time to level your travel trailer, you could find yourself with a whole host of problems that ruin your camping experience. From water pooling in the shower to your bed being awkwardly at an angle, an unleveled travel trailer can be a real pain.
Fortunately, learning to level your travel trailer isn’t too difficult, and Broadmoor RV is here to help. Check out our guide to leveling your travel trailer, then come visit us at our Pasco dealership to talk to our experienced staff if you have any more questions about the process!
Choose The Best Location
Before you can level your trailer, try to park it in as advantageous spot as you can. You’ll have a much more difficult time leveling your trailer if you’re on rocky ground, gravel or mud. While you can’t always choose where you park in a campsite, try to find the flattest and driest spot you can, without obstacles or debris in your way. Look for ground that’s firm rather than muddy or sandy. Ideally you will have a concrete pad, but solid-packed dirt will do.
Level From Side-to-Side
Once you’ve found the best location, you can start the leveling process. You will need to park your trailer about 2 feet in front of where you plan to level it. Then, place a level across the trailer hitch. The level will indicate which side you need to elevate in order to balance the trailer from side-to-side.
Place boards or RV leveling blocks around the wheels that aren’t evenly balanced to wheels will help you figure out how much to raise or lower each side. Chances are you might not get it right on the first try, so make sure to keep the trailer hooked up to your towing vehicle. After placing the leveling blocks behind the wheels, back the trailer onto the blocks and check the level again. You will need to repeat the process of adding and removing blocks until you reach the desired level.
Chock The Wheels
After successfully leveling the trailer from side to side, it’s time to chock the wheels. You won’t want all your hard work to go to waste, so make sure the wheels don’t move. Use wheel chocks, bricks or boards placed in front of and behind each wheel to prevent them from rolling and unbalancing your trailer again.
Unhook The Trailer
The next step is to unhitch the trailer. As you unhitch the trailer, be sure to remove the tow chains, the wiring harness, and any other connection. Then, you will need to park your tow vehicle out of the way.
Level Front To Back
Once you have unhooked the trailer, you will need to level your trailer from front to back. This process is easy if you have a hitch jack. You will still need to use the level, but turn it 90 degrees so it’s vertical. Simply raise or lower the jack to guide the bubble to the center. You can also use a square for this process. Once you’re done here, you may have to check the side-to-side levels once more and adjust as needed.
Uphold The Balance
The last step is to make sure your trailer remains stationary for the duration of your stay. Travel trailers are equipped with stabilizing jacks on all four corners. These jacks extend down to the ground to keep the trailer from shifting. Many trailer owners choose to mount the jack tool on the front of a power drill to make extending them faster and easier.
When deploying the jacks, make sure they are lightly putting pressure on the ground and don't crank them too hard. This will throw your level off. You may even be tempted to level your trailer with these jacks, but they aren’t designed for this purpose so you’ll likely damage them if you attempt it. The method outlined above is the best way to level your travel trailer.
We hope our guide has helped to demystify the process of leveling your travel trailer. If you need equipment, tools, service or parts for your travel trailer, stop by Broadmoor RV located in Pasco, near Seattle. We also serve the cities of Kennewick, Richland, Spokane, and Walla Walla, Washington.