74-year-old newbie

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Amy Steele

Amy Steele

Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2021
Posts
7
Location
Columbus, OH
I’m a single woman, 74 years old and healthy and I’ve purchased a travel light rove 14 FL To pull behind my Toyota RAV4 Adventure series.
I am at my campsite for the first time and it was challenging to set up, to say the least. But my question is how can a solo person level a travel trailer without someone else at the trailer checking the level?
I am definitely not level side to side and I hope it will not permanently damage the refrigerator. I’m only here for three days.
Thanks in advance for any recommendation for how to look at a level while you’re in the towing vehicle! 🤣
 
It is best to learn to look for really flat sites, but that too late for you. How far out of level are you? Unless you are feeling like you are in a carnival fun house, then I would not worry, modern refers handle out of level pretty well. You can find an app for your phone for a level program.
 
Hi Amy, welcome to The RV Forum!

There are several ways a single person (I'm one too) can level a travel trailer. You can get a pair of stick on levels and put them on the front driver's side corner where you can see the side to side one in your mirror. These have a scale that's graduated in inches in case you need to use leveling blocks under the wheels on one side or the other.


Get the trailer close to level left to right, then unhitch and use the hitch jack to level the trailer front to back. Then extend the 4 corner stabilizers to stop the bouncing.

Like Tom said, you don't have to be absolutely level. Just close.
 
Lou Schneider said:
Hi Amy, welcome to The RV Forum!

There are several ways a single person (I'm one too) can level a travel trailer. You can get a 3 ft. level and put it on the front of the trailer where you can see it in the rear view mirror. Or a pair of levels on the front driver's side corner that you can see in your mirror. These are are graduated in inches to tell you how far you need to raise a side.


Get the trailer close to level left to right, then unhitch and use the hitch jack to level the trailer front to back. Then extend the 4 corner stabilizers to stop the bouncing.

Like Tom said, you don't have to be absolutely level. Just close.
Click to expand...
darsben said:
Some people place these on their trailer to help level it
make sure the trailer is level when you start
Click to expand...
Wow! Thank you for the recommendations! So much help and so quick!
 
I actually have a 3 foot level but I couldn’t find any place big enough inside the tiny trailer to use it so I left it at home! 😟
But I will indeed try that again. And my rearview camera has been very helpful for connecting.
 
Level it side to side first, then disconnect from your tow vehicle. Then level it front to back using the hitch jack then extend your stabilizer jacks if you have them
 
Lou Schneider said:
A 1 ft. level is usually enough. I carry one I got from the Dollar Store after checking it for accuracy (turn it end to end and see if it reads the same in both directions).

Or you can go hog wild and try one of these. Put it on the floor inside the trailer and watch the results on your cell phone.

Click to expand...
Thank you for that recommendation. I’ll bet I end up with that expensive model. But first I’m ordering the $11 ones from Amazon that stick on. If that doesn’t work I’m all in for the expensive one.
 
I put one stick-on level on the rear side corner of my motorhome and the other next to it, but on the rear back corner. This way, I can see them both at once and know which way I need to level. You might want to put yours on the front, driver's side of your trailer so you can quickly see them when you get out of your truck or car.

Also, you do not need to be absolutely level. The more modern refrigerators will not be damaged unless you are so unlevel that you feel like you might fall out of bed. Really! I have been full-timing for 9 years, and my refrigerator still works fine, even though my rig is not always 100% level.

I am 78, by the way, and do just fine on my own. I do keep a wrench or two handy in case I cannot tighten the water hose adequately, and I often use a small stool so I do not have to kneel or sit on the ground. (My hands are not bad now, but I had horrible carpal tunnel syndrome and had to have surgery, but before that, I did have trouble doing things that required hand strength.)

I have also gotten very good at backing my motorhome up without help, although there are often lots of people around who will be more than willing to help you. When you are solo, you end up getting out to look a LOT! Better than running into something you did not notice was there.
 
Hi Amy and welcome to the forum. I think the rest of the group has already given you some great advice. I’ll just pipe in by recommending short travel days and keeping it in the right lane at a slower speed than you would travel without a trailer. Hope you have a great RV experience. We are looking at an 18 footer to pull behind an SUV so we will be crossing some of those same small trailer paths as you. :).

Safe and healthy trails Amy.
 
Amy Steele said:
I’m a single woman, 74 years old and healthy and I’ve purchased a travel light rove 14 FL To pull behind my Toyota RAV4 Adventure series.
I am at my campsite for the first time and it was challenging to set up, to say the least. But my question is how can a solo person level a travel trailer without someone else at the trailer checking the level?
I am definitely not level side to side and I hope it will not permanently damage the refrigerator. I’m only here for three days.
Thanks in advance for any recommendation for how to look at a level while you’re in the towing vehicle! 🤣
Click to expand...
If you are traveling single and get to most any campgrounds, you may find that there are plenty of "experts" hanging around and willing to assist you if you get out of your vehicle and kind or stand and look a bit hesitant or possibly a walk around. Thats the nature of this sport. Good luck and glad you are able and willing to take on the task with such confidence while choosing a managable set up for starting out. Smart move...
 
Jayflight said:
If you are traveling single and get to most any campgrounds, you may find that there are plenty of "experts" hanging around and willing to assist you if you get out of your vehicle and kind or stand and look a bit hesitant or possibly a walk around. Thats the nature of this sport. Good luck and glad you are able and willing to take on the task with such confidence while choosing a managable set up for starting out. Smart move...
Click to expand...
Good point. I get a lot of people thinking I need help backing up or setting up. Very occasionally I do need help in a tight campsite, so I try to be polite. However, remember that if you do need help at the beginning, there will be lots of help available. ON my first trip, I was unwrapping hoses and such, and had a woman in the next site offer her husband's help if I needed it. (It was pretty obvious I had all this new stuff.) And later I did need help when I could not figure out why water was coming out of my hot water tank and pouring down the side of my rig. Turned out there was a plug that needed to be put in, and three kind gentleman came over and fixed it for me.
 
JudyJB said:
Good point. I get a lot of people thinking I need help backing up or setting up. Very occasionally I do need help in a tight campsite, so I try to be polite. However, remember that if you do need help at the beginning, there will be lots of help available. ON my first trip, I was unwrapping hoses and such, and had a woman in the next site offer her husband's help if I needed it. (It was pretty obvious I had all this new stuff.) And later I did need help when I could not figure out why water was coming out of my hot water tank and pouring down the side of my rig. Turned out there was a plug that needed to be put in, and three kind gentleman came over and fixed it for me.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your encouragement and kind words.
 
I used a ping pong ball. I set it on the galley counter and see which way it rolls. I recently upgraded to a small hard rubber "super ball."

I like my RV to be slightly nose low and left low. This encourages rain water to shed on the drivers front quarter. Also if not pretty level my Coleman Mach II air conditioner will leak water inside.
 
Ex-Calif said:
I used a ping pong ball. I set it on the galley counter and see which way it rolls. I recently upgraded to a small hard rubber "super ball."

I like my RV to be slightly nose low and left low. This encourages rain water to shed on the drivers front quarter. Also if not pretty level my Coleman Mach II air conditioner will leak water inside.
Click to expand...
LOL Your “upgrade” is hilarious!
 
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