Leveling Front to Back

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dmiller226

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Joined
Aug 30, 2017
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34
Location
Coastal North Carolina
The new TT we just bought has a power tongue jack that has a leveling bubble on top of it. One problem I've found while messing around out in my driveway is that if I raise the jack high enough to level that bubble, it's not level when I place a leveler inside the door. Seems to be too high towards the front. Should I be placing my level inside the door (or inside the storage space) to get my front to back level or should I be trying to use the one on the tongue jack?
 
I would put the level on the stove, however I don't ever bother to level my RV. It is just not necessary if you learn how to park your RV so it is level when it is parked. That means finding a site that is reasonably level to begin with and parking so the nose of the RV is pointed uphill. No RV site is perfectly level since then the water would not drain so their is always a slope. All RVs have the front end lower than the rear for less wind resistance so when you park the front end uphill it will come out close enough to level. Modern refers do not need to be exactly level.
 
I would level inside the door then note where the bubble is on the tongue jack, maybe even make a mark on it, so I can use it in the future for the convenience of it.
 
Ours has a bubble level on the jack as well, but it's not even close to accurate. Our solution was to order a couple of bubble levels with adhesive backs from Amazon. Then with the trailer parked on level ground, I used a 4 foot level on the floor of the trailer and adjusted the trailer for both fore and aft, as well as side to side for level. Then I attached the levels I ordered to the trailer with the bubbles centered up. I put one on the side, at the front, to determine fore and aft level, and one on the front to check side to side.  Now it's a pretty straight forward procedure to level it out since I can check side to side as soon as we're stopped.  If we need to, we just pull the low side up on a 2x6. Then we unhitch and raise or lower the tongue jack as needed to get us level fore and aft.
 
On my older unit I have stuck a level inside the fridge just to be sure it operates correctly.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I'm hearing what my gut told me....that the level on the jack is probably not accurate and that I should level from inside somewhere and ignore or possibly mark that level on the jack.

Thanks again.
 
I level by using a level inside the door but in the center of the floor but you don't even need a level. You can use the door.
Open it out 90 degrees to the trailer. If it swings toward the front of the trailer, you need to raise the tongue jack.
if it swings toward the back you need to lower it.
Once the door stays perfectly 90 degrees open you should be perfectly level as long as you already have it level side to side.
I found that out years ago. Now I do that before I even ask my wife to check it with the level inside.

If the wind is blowing; forget it and use the level

Jack L
 
I leveled it up by checking the floor or refrigerator the put an rv level on the back and on the front side. The sticky tape that they supply wont always stay exactly where you want it so some people will use small stainless screws. I taped mine in place and used a little sealer at the edges and let it dry before removing the tape.
 
I use the LevelMate Pro!  Once calibrated at level, both front to back and side to side, it's pretty simple.  Fire up the LevelMate app on your smartphone and watch it as you are close to putting the trailer where you want it.  If you need leveling blocks for side to side leveling, you can see exactly how much either side needs to come up....all while in the driver's seat.  Once it's level side to side, unhitch the trailer and watch the app on your phone while either raising of lowering the power jack.
 
Any level only measures the surface it is on, so may not be representative of an adjacent surface. If that level is mounted on the jack itself, it is affected by the mounting of the jack to the tongue. If you level the trailer using a carpenter's level inside on the floor or a countertop, you can probably adjust the jack mounting to that the bubble level on it corresponds to the interior level. Of course, you would have to block up the tongue so you can loosen and adjust the jack mounting angle.  It's usually a whole lot easier to simply mount another level outside, in an easily viewable location. Make sure the trailer is level (inside) when you install the new level indicator, so that it is calibrated to match the true level of the interior.
 
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