Easy way to crib the front wheels when leveling

[VoiceNinja]

We just arrived at a campground with a sloped site that puts our 40' motorhome's front wheels about 3-1/2" off the ground when the coach is level.

I'd normally mess around with ramping my crib blocks, driving the coach up onto them, yada yada yada. This time, however, I'd already put on the wheel covers and hooked up the shore power so I really didn't want to move it again. While I was ruminating (complaining?), my 10 year old son said, "Dad, are you going to use the jacks to lift the wheel higher and put the boards under them?"

Gasp! Why, yes. Yes, I am!!!

MIND BLOWN!

Maybe it's common knowledge among the more experienced folks here, but in my 14 months of RV life, that approach had never occurred to me.

Sure enough, it was so easy, it was almost absurd. With our leveling system, we:

1. Leveled the coach and found out the front wheels were off the ground. We already had sufficient blocking under the jacks to allow that much travel.

2. Raised the front of the coach as high as it would go (no longer level and now nose-high).

3. Put our cribbing boards under the front wheels with about 1/4" of space remaining.

4. Retracted all jacks, settling the front wheels on the cribbing.

5. Auto-leveled a second time.

The result was a level coach with the front wheels firmly supported on cribbing boards without having to do all the usual ramp building and driving back and forth. To depart, I'll just raise the front jacks until the wheels are off the cribbing, take out the cribbing boards, and then retract all of the jacks.

Sure, the front axle is in the air for a minute or two, but I don't think that's an issue.

For this newbie, it was a quick, easy, and fast way to get the coach level while supporting the front wheels. Just watch that last step when you leave the coach. It's a big one! :-D

[iamblum]

I like it. Never thought of that

[ThePowells]

I have done that also, but the E450 has such a long drop, I am going to create a tether to limit the front shock extension when leveling. I may or may not crib the front, just depending on how it is sitting.

[FIRE UP]

Well,
As the old saying goes, "There's more than one way to skin a cat".
Scott

[vsheetz]

Nice job.

Did similar today. Site drops off several inches. Raised the front tires off the ground and slipped the blocks under, then lowered the tires on the blocks.

Wanted view of the grounds and pool instead of the parking lot so nosed the coach into the space.

I carry several DIY blocks - 12x12 (jacks) , 16x16 (jacks soft ground), and 12x18 (front wheels).

[barmcd]

I've had one of my wheels off the ground a couple of times and just left it that way.

[SarahW]

Yep. We've always done it that way in our driveway.

[A Traveler]

I will never understand why people are so worried about having wheels off the ground! It’s not a big deal. The jacks are designed to support the entire weight of the coach.

Even if you use blocks under the wheels, when you finally level the coach, which lifts weight off the wheels, you may have only 20 or 30 pounds of weight on the wheels when leveled! Why bother...just level with the jacks and be done with it.

I have spent DAYS in the coach with the front wheels like this:

[VoiceNinja]

Originally Posted by A Traveler

I will never understand why people are so worried about having wheels off the ground! It’s not a big deal. The jacks are designed to support the entire weight of the coach.

I can't speak for others, but, in my case, Freightliner says, "Go for it!" That's a good thing - I frequently lift the front wheels off the ground when doing maintenance.

PowerGear (my jack manufacturer), however, says never to lift the wheels clear of the ground due to a reduction in lateral stability of the jacks. It might have been a lawyer who added the guidance to their manual, but it might have been one of their structural engineers. Not knowing which it was, I'll gladly take the few extra minutes to crib the front wheels when needed.

And, of course, lifting the rear wheel free of the ground means that your parking brake is no longer functional, so I only lift the rears for maintenance and always chock both fronts when I do.

Edit to add: The jacks are definitely supporting the entire chassis weight the moment they lift it a millimeter higher than the rubber bumper in the air spring, but the cribbing is supporting the full weight of the axle, brake drums, hubs, wheels, and tires. I'd think that's at least 1,000 pounds.

[DryCreek]

Originally Posted by VoiceNinja

Edit to add: The jacks are definitely supporting the entire chassis weight the moment they lift it a millimeter higher than the rubber bumper in the air spring, but the cribbing is supporting the full weight of the axle, brake drums, hubs, wheels, and tires. I'd think that's at least 1,000 pounds.

You'd be surprised at how quickly unsprung weight adds up!

[Dan McMartin]

We use the jacks to lift the front tires off the ground to slide blocks under there all the time. We've been doing it since we got the coach and we do it just like the OP said. They can and will lift the entire thing off the ground, wheels and all, so why not? Beats building ramps.

As far as having the wheels off the ground:

A) The suspension isn't designed to hang. It's designed to rest on the springs and then the chassis. Bushings, bolts, brackets, etc. are loaded in ways they weren't meant to be. Plus, taking some of the weight off the jacks and having more points of contact with the ground means nothing is working at maximum capacity for days or weeks on end, and

B) It looks sketchy!

Now, a gas coach suspension is a little different than a DP. Maybe that's OK. Don't know.

[n-e-d]

I carry 4 camco ramps that I use to keep all wheels in contact with the ground. front wheels always want to be in space so I ramp them then do the auto level

[SuperGewl]

You cannot do it that way.
You must first determine how much lift you need and then build a ramp to drive on. Once on the ramp place the same height blocks under the jacks and then and only then, you may start the Auto Level. Once that is complete then finish your hooks ups just like the rest of us.

OK nice job, actually smart kid.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by SuperGewl

You cannot do it that way.
You must first determine how much lift you need and then build a ramp to drive on. Once on the ramp place the same height blocks under the jacks and then and only then, you may start the Auto Level. Once that is complete then finish your hooks ups just like the rest of us.[emoji23][emoji23]

OK nice job, actually smart kid.

If you have to level the ground under the levelers, you don't have levelers, you have jacks.

As long as the levelers have enough extension to level the MH, they don't need to be evenly blocked, or blocked at all. Each leveler can be at a different point of extension.