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UtahEngineer · 08-02-2018, 05:45 PM

Figured this one out the hard way. The assigned slot in the RV Park was not level ... and quite a bit lower on the passenger side of the trailer than the driver’s side. I didn’t think much about it and used the stabilizing jacks on the passenger side of the trailer to level it. I then went to open the trailer door and I had to pull much harder than usual. Then the door would not close. Took me a few minutes to figure out the door was put in a bind by the flexing of the trailer frame between the two stabilizing jacks. Then I noticed my front passenger stabilizing jack was twisted (bent) from the weight. Moral of the story ... do not to lift the side of your trailer to high with the stabilizing jacks attempting to level it. Jacks can’t take it and the aluminum frames on these long trailers can’t support that much weight between the front and back jack. Going forward I will be taking the time to put down the leveling blocks on the ground, then pulling the trailer tires up on the blocks.

Cumminsfan · 08-02-2018, 06:03 PM

Those stab jacks are NOT for lifting. You use blocking under the tires for side to side leveling. Once level side to side, use the tongue jack for front to back level. Only then do you put the stab jacks down. Tighten them up real snug.
They're called stabilizer jacks not leveling jacks.
Doubt you did any harm.

aether_one · 08-02-2018, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cumminsfan

Those stab jacks are NOT for lifting. You use blocking under the tires for side to side leveling. Once level side to side, use the tongue jack for front to back level. Only then do you put the stab jacks down. Tighten them up real snug.
They're called stabilizer jacks not leveling jacks.
Doubt you did any harm.

Exactly! Should have been covered in your PDI/Walkthrough.

Dmrad · 08-02-2018, 08:57 PM

Oh my, by now you've figured out what leveling blocks are for. Stabilizing jacks are not leveling jacks. Big difference. Is this your first travel trailer? Didn't the RV dealership you bought it from go through everything with you? Our travel trailer dealer knew we were first time RV buyers when we bought our TT last year and they did a very thorough walk through with us explaining everything to us.

UtahEngineer · 08-03-2018, 08:55 PM

To be honest ... the owner orientation offered by the dealership where I purchased the trailer was very short ... and never covered anything about the stabilizer jacks. Luckily no damage was done to the trailer frame, so no consequence other than a good learning lesson. No, this is not my first travel trailer ... but it has been quite a few years since my last RV. The previous travel trailer was about 20 years ago, had a steel frame, was not as long, and definitely had more sturdy built jacks. I always knew you were not supposed to lift the trailer off the ground with the jacks but tweaking the suspension slightly (key word) is common practice because you cannot get the trailer perfectly level with only the blocking under the tires due to the set thickness of the blocks and the unleveled ground surfaces ... unless of course you want to spend time with a shovel and a level. It was definitely my fault that I tweaked the suspension too far and did not take the time to put down the blocks to get it closer to level with the wheels ... not the jacks. There is a saying ... “the humble man that admits his mistakes and learns from them develops true wisdom”. The flip side of that coin is another saying ... “the man who attempts to humiliate those who make honest mistakes through unkind words only reveals his weaknesses”.

Cumminsfan · 08-04-2018, 08:34 AM

I've been able to get my trailer pretty much perfectly level most of the time. I use the orange linx blocks. Don't need the same under each tire, i.e put one under one tire and none or two or ? under the other. Or any combination that gets it level.
It'll never be perfectly level. I doubt any trailer is ever perfectly level. But close to perfect is as good as needed.
It also helps to have a good level and a good place to use it. My kitchen counter is different than the floor as is the outside wall. I use one of these on the front of my trailer. https://www.rvupgradestore.com/LEVEL...A1651E9CBC40D4

It shows me which side needs to go up and how much. It also has a front to back level on it.

allenb12 · 08-04-2018, 03:49 PM

I have the same level as cumminsfan. Mine is very slow to respond side to side. Is your or is mine just wore out?

shane_the_ee · 08-04-2018, 04:35 PM

My owners manual said not to try and level with the stabilizers. As for a level, I just use the one in the compass app on my iPhone. It's not an awesome level (I wouldn't build a house or even hang a television with it), but it's good enough for getting the trailer level enough for the refrigerator to work.

Cumminsfan · 08-05-2018, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allenb12

I have the same level as cumminsfan. Mine is very slow to respond side to side. Is your or is mine just wore out?

Mines slow but not too slow. In other words the ball moves slower than say a 2' level bubble does. If I look at the bubble when backing up I can see it move.

Rodbolt · 08-05-2018, 08:27 AM

Check out the Anderson Levelers. They make life way easier when leveling and well worth the money. More accurate than blocks too.

weigh2go · 08-08-2018, 02:56 PM

We just bought our TT 2 weeks ago after a few years of having a little 8ft popup. With the popup we learned level lift stabilize in that order. The TT walkthrough when I asked about side to side leveling they said use the stabilizer jacks. I was shocked. When I got home I checked the owners manual and what did I see...level side to side then front to back then stabilize. Just like we had always done! Jerks they were for saying all new TT's didn't need leveling. I pity the fool that listens to them.

Bigbird65 · 08-08-2018, 03:07 PM

This is the best level that I have found. I can see it from my drivers seat and it makes leveling with Anderson levelers very easy.

Superslif · 08-08-2018, 03:08 PM

I don't believe the Cougar's have aluminum frames. They may have aluminum wall studs, but the frames should be "I" beam steel construction as far as I know.

I would be more worried how the slide operated after your learning experience. As long as you caught yourself this time, and know you did a booboo....You should be fine....

Even us "professional" RV's have done that one thing we did once and learned from it, without any consequences....Like...Me leaving my 25' 30 amp power cord plugged into my garage and dragging it 2 miles thru our downtown until my wife happened to pull up in back of me and called on my cell. "Hey Dumb XXX look behind ya, see anything?". I thought for sure it would have been shredded. Nop, not as much as a few marks. No wonder people were honking at me and waving, I just thought they were friendly. lesson learned.

tuffr2 · 08-08-2018, 04:32 PM

I needed one more board but did not have one. I used the stabilizer jacks to try to bring the trailer a bit more level. Once I did that the dead bolt no longer lined up and I could not lock the door. So for this trip the trailer was not exactly level as I let the side back down so I could lock the door.

Next time I will bring one more board.