There’s nothing like spending time in the great outdoors, and there’s no better way to do it than with your travel trailer. Your rig gives you as much or as little comfort and luxury as you want while still letting you go on day trips without the whole camper along for the ride. But travel trailers always work best when perfectly level, and that can be hard to achieve on uneven ground with a towed camper.
Lucky for you, you’ve got us! Happy Camper RV Sales is here to give you a leg up and make your camping trips even better. Read on for some tips on leveling your travel trailer to get your experience off to a good start, or contact our stores in Boise, Garden City, and Nampa, Idaho. Our friendly and experienced staff will find you any answers you need, or help you find the perfect travel trailer to try these tips out with!
Supplies
You won’t need too much to make sure your trailer is level, but there are some materials and tools that are necessary for ensuring it stays that way:
- A level, either digital or bubble
- Boards or leveling blocks
- Materials to keep the wheels from moving
- A hitch jack
- Stabilizer jacks
Make sure you have these items or their equivalents before you leave!
Location, Location, Location
The obvious place to start this process is, of course, to find the right location for your trailer. Work smarter, not harder! Attempting to level your travel trailer on wildly uneven ground is going to be difficult, if not impossible. Finding the right spot might require a bit of driving around, and it may not be the most convenient area, but the trade-offs are well worth it. You don’t own that camper to make things harder or less comfortable, after all.
Step One
Once you’ve got your spot, it’s time to get things rolling. Try to park your trailer about a foot and a half from where you actually want it to rest. Make sure you’ve actually got a level on you, then measure how your trailer sits side-to-side. The easiest way to do this is to place the level on the tongue of the trailer. This will let you know if one side is higher than the other, which will inform which side you want to raise.
Now that you know which side is too low, put boards or leveling blocks behind the wheels you need to raise. Slowly back the trailer onto the leveling materials, then put it in park again. Double check the level to make sure everything has evened out. It may take you a few tries to get it just right, but that’s alright. A few extra minutes of setup time will be well worth it for a comfortable nights’ sleep.
Stabilizing
When you’ve got the sides as level as you can, it’s time to lock things into place. If you don’t, the trailer might roll even just a bit, which could make things uneven again. That will force you to do it all over again, which is never fun. Wheel chocks, bricks, or more boards placed in front of and behind each wheel should do the trick!
Wrap It Up
Finally, make sure your trailer is level from front to back. Again, use your level to see which side is higher, if either. Place the level perpendicular to where you last used it so it points down the length of the trailer, then use a hitch jack to adjust the front higher or lower as needed. Double check the level after your first adjustment to make sure you’re still going the right direction. You may need to do this a few times, but eventually you’ll get the hang of it and can get it all on one go.
Securing The Travel Trailer
Once your rig is level from side to side and back to front, there’s one step left: making sure it stays that way. This is where stabilizer jacks come into play. Place these at the corners of your trailer. If installed properly, they’ll minimize rocking motions that might change the levels of your trailer. Once these are set up, you’re all set! Go about your day and your vacation knowing your trailer is where it should be and will be until you leave.
We hope you found this guide handy! If you have any questions about any of these steps, need some of the tools mentioned, or are just in the market for a new travel trailer, contact us at Happy Camper RV Sales! We proudly serve the people of Nampa and Meridian, Idaho—let us serve you today!
