Question about leveling with boards

[Bondad]

The RV I purchased came with two leveling boards that the previous owner made. He took three 2x8's and stacked them like stairs and screwed them together. My only question is which tire do I put them under in the rear? The board is not wide enough to go under both and I don't want to damage anything!

[Wizard]

Boards should be placed under both rear tires. One tire is not rated to hold up the weight of the coach.

[Steve N Sal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wizard Boards should be placed under both rear tires. One tire is not rated to hold up the weight of the coach.

X2. You have to support both tires on the side your trying to level. Chances are you will need more then what you have to level in some situations. He could have specifically made the set you have to raise the front end for oil changes and better access for lubricating the chassis.

[Waggy]

I had the boards, then we purchased blocks that fit together like lego to build the ramps. Now I got 2 5000lb trailer jacks, welded arms on them, put a received under the bumpers' four corners. I put the jacks in the low corners and jack the RV up. No more trying to balance a 30 ft RV on a 2x8!

[wa8yxm]

I made 4 sets of boards.. I can do both front, or both rear or one side.

I need to make more.

[Mr_D]

Even with our rig having leveling jacks I have to use blocks under the tires. I took a 2"X12" and cut them, then turned two blocks 90° so the grain crossed. Glued and screwed them together. I use two, one under each tire and they are just wide enough to support the whole tread. The weight of our rig will break normal blocks and crush the Lynx Levelers.

[Bondad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wizard Boards should be placed under both rear tires. One tire is not rated to hold up the weight of the coach.

Thanks! Looks like I'm going to Home Depot twice sometime soon (cause if you go to Home Depot for a project, you always end up having to go back for something unexpected!)

[ronspradley]

I have ten 2 x 8 treated board cut 2 ft long, 45 degree angle on one end. They are not attached to each other. That way I can put them where needed. If they are going under rear duals, put equal number under each wheel to give good support. Had trouble with them slipping some times when I tried to drive up on multiples. Fixed by using some of that convoluted foam that is used in kitchen shelves to help decrease movement and noise. Just trimmed to 8 inches wide and put between boards when putting them down. Hope this helps. Happy trails.

ronspradley

[sdennislee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wizard Boards should be placed under both rear tires. One tire is not rated to hold up the weight of the coach.

X3 so important not to miss this point. It will eventually ruin the sidewalls of the tire supporting double the weight it should when only one tire is on the leveling device.

[ahicks]

When you're gathering "stuff"/collecting your thoughts for this project, consider drilling a hole 3-4 inches from the end of each board so you can run a piece of rope through it. Nothing fancy, hole not much bigger than the piece of rope (18"-24" x 3/8"-1/2"), so you can tie a knot near each end of the rope to secure it. Don't worry about driving on the board with a knot under it. It can handle it! Trying to grab on to a board the size of these with one hand while you're on your knees much harder than you might think at first. The rope makes retrieving the boards as you're leaving MUCH easier. You'll thank yourself a thousand times for taking the extra few minutes to do this.

[Cougarkid]

This subject was discussed in another thread, too.

Side to side Leveling

Pictures of my home-made leveling blocks are there. The leveling boards are wide enough to catch both tires of the duals.

[Ed-Sommers]

I put my boards under one tire only.

The weight of that static load (parked) is way less than the load achieved while traveling with the constant vertical movement!

I personally put my "run up" boards under the inside tire and that way I can easily take off the outside tire for whatever reason.

I normally stay in one spot for up to 4 months using this method, and no damage over the last 12 years of full timing.

Ed

[Muddypaws]

The problem with using regular boards in a stack is that they tend to slide when you're trying to get up on them. And it gets worse the higher you have to go. I've seen more than one situation where the driver hit the brake too hard and caused the whole stack to slide several inches and collapse. In a couple of cases it resulted in body damage.

Having most recently spent several years with a fifth wheel I prevented this brake/slide/collapse syndrome by disconnecting the trailer brakes before leveling. If I had to level our new (to us) Bounder manually I'd make boards that could be held together by some kind of pin. A large dowel cut to the right length for however many boards I had would probably work. I much prefer being able to dis-assemble the stack for travel to glueing & screwing something that's hard to carry & store.

The plastic blocks work well for smaller RVs but they won't last long supporting something over 12K pounds. Our old fifth wheel was under 12K and we broke a couple of the blocks every year. Or somebody else did 'cause I was always loaning them out.

Cheers,
Muddypaws

[TXiceman]

To keep the boards from sliding I tacked some indoor/outdoor carpet to the bottoms of the boards. Now they do not slide. The problem with the over-sized Lego blocks is unless the surface is fairly flat and hard, they will crack.

Ken