Leveling

[MikeB_374236518]

We where on our forth site last week and each site posed a different problem. Leveling for and aft is no problem. The site was wide enough but I couldn't get the motor mover to clime two plastic ramps, there wasn't enough room to attach the car. I have seen devices which raise the wheel but these are expensive. How do other people manage?

Also on what surface do you put your spirit level? No surfaces seem the same.

PS We have only just started caravaning and are trying to get most things sorted before we go to France in september. Lurking here has helped a lot.

 

[Catcher]

We use pieces of ply to raise one wheel. By having several pieces, each being a different length by approx 2 inches, you can make a ramp to the required height. We don't have a mover (usually use tha car) but I would think it would cope with it. As for where to put the spirit level, we put it on the worktop just inside the door - if that's level the 'van must be (or near enough!)

Regards

Catcher

 

[Rita1]

We use a home made wedge and ALWAYS make sure caravan is level side to side before unhitching

We use a 3way spitit level on the floor by the door works for us

Check here for the price of a leveller

http://www.saundersonsecurity.co.uk/acatalog/Caravan_Leveller.html
Rita

 

[Rioja]

I used to have an expensive jack type leveler. It was expensive and worked quite well but it was hard work jacking the wheel up. it was also quite heavy. I gave it away FOC ! I now use a piece of plank.Not very long, I drive the hitched van up onto it. Very simple, if it's not high enough, I have another shorter one so I drive up another level. Cheap and sorted. I have looked at the yellow plastic ones but never tried them although I wondered if they work. Probably weigh less than my planks !

We use a tiny spirit level on the worktop by the door too.The most important thing is to make sure the water runs towards the shower plug hole !

 

[MikeB_374236518]

I used to have an expensive jack type leveler. It was expensive and worked quite well but it was hard work jacking the wheel up. it was also quite heavy. I gave it away FOC ! I now use a piece of plank.Not very long, I drive the hitched van up onto it. Very simple, if it's not high enough, I have another shorter one so I drive up another level. Cheap and sorted. I have looked at the yellow plastic ones but never tried them although I wondered if they work. Probably weigh less than my planks !

We use a tiny spirit level on the worktop by the door too.The most important thing is to make sure the water runs towards the shower plug hole !

Thanks for all your replies. I'll get a bit of ply to go under my plastic ramp as on reflection it might have sunk into the soft earth, bit difficult to tell as the grass was long.

 

[Colinn]

Mike, I have tried many ways - and the simplest is the cheapest and best. Buy a floorboard/plank about an inch thick, and cut it into six lengths, the first about 20 ins long and the rest about 10 ins each.

Behind the wheel, place the one long piece on the ground and one short length on top of it at the rear - that will enable you to push back and raise the level up to 2 ins in two easy steps.

If this is not high enough, place TWO FURTHER BITS ON TOP OF EACH OTHER in front of your already raised wheel and come forward again. This will raise you another inch without any effort and keeps your van roughly where you intended it without pushing up a dauntingly steep ramp.

If you need to go even higher, place the final two pieces (on top of each other) BEHIND the wheel and push back again, raising a further inch.

With this method, you're never pushing the wheel up more than an inch or so. Transporting the wood is simple too, as it is flat and can be spread around your car and van almost imperceptibly...

 

[Rioja]

Mike, I have tried many ways - and the simplest is the cheapest and best. Buy a floorboard/plank about an inch thick, and cut it into six lengths, the first about 20 ins long and the rest about 10 ins each.

Behind the wheel, place the one long piece on the ground and one short length on top of it at the rear - that will enable you to push back and raise the level up to 2 ins in two easy steps.

If this is not high enough, place TWO FURTHER BITS ON TOP OF EACH OTHER in front of your already raised wheel and come forward again. This will raise you another inch without any effort and keeps your van roughly where you intended it without pushing up a dauntingly steep ramp.

If you need to go even higher, place the final two pieces (on top of each other) BEHIND the wheel and push back again, raising a further inch.

With this method, you're never pushing the wheel up more than an inch or so. Transporting the wood is simple too, as it is flat and can be spread around your car and van almost imperceptibly...

I have a patent pending on this !

 

[Colinn]

Mike, I have tried many ways - and the simplest is the cheapest and best. Buy a floorboard/plank about an inch thick, and cut it into six lengths, the first about 20 ins long and the rest about 10 ins each.

Behind the wheel, place the one long piece on the ground and one short length on top of it at the rear - that will enable you to push back and raise the level up to 2 ins in two easy steps.

If this is not high enough, place TWO FURTHER BITS ON TOP OF EACH OTHER in front of your already raised wheel and come forward again. This will raise you another inch without any effort and keeps your van roughly where you intended it without pushing up a dauntingly steep ramp.

If you need to go even higher, place the final two pieces (on top of each other) BEHIND the wheel and push back again, raising a further inch.

With this method, you're never pushing the wheel up more than an inch or so. Transporting the wood is simple too, as it is flat and can be spread around your car and van almost imperceptibly...

yeah, but mine's the Mark 2 model...

 

[allan873]

Why has no one mentioned the van leveler which you inflate with an electric air pump I,ve used one for a number of years and wouldnt be without it. Allan

 

[Rioja]

yeah, but mine's the Mark 2 model...

Sustainable forest version eh, very good marketing ploy

 

[Rioja]

Why has no one mentioned the van leveler which you inflate with an electric air pump I,ve used one for a number of years and wouldnt be without it. Allan

Never heard of one, unless it's a tyre you are talking about !

 

[drdick&vick]

As I have a a twin axle I use the planks method, one is about a foot longer than the wheels and then the others are shorter by 3 inches with all the ends bevelled. I find the best spirit level location for bsidee to side is in top of a front window frame. I then check on the cooker top and have never been more far out

 

[woodsieboy]

Hi Mike

We do the same as most of the replies and use combination of ramps and planks, for checking the level we have spirit level inside door, and then check again on the outside of the van, checking the vertical,you need a spirit level that has bubbles going both ways,I was shown this by a warden on a site a few years ago.His theory was that if the walls are upright, the floor is level.

 

[KiwiPete]

Hi Mike

We do the same as most of the replies and use combination of ramps and planks, for checking the level we have spirit level inside door, and then check again on the outside of the van, checking the vertical,you need a spirit level that has bubbles going both ways,I was shown this by a warden on a site a few years ago.His theory was that if the walls are upright, the floor is level.

I picked up a good tip on this forum some time ago. It takes some setting up the first time but then "it's a piece of cake"!

Having got your van set up level in both directions, put a screw in the wall above, and in the centre, of the door. From this hang a small plumbob on a string so that it just clears the door sill. If the van is level side to side the plumbob should hang just above the door frams base. If the van is level front to back scratch a mark under the plumbob on the door frame.

Next time you go out just hang the plumbob string on the screw over the door and adjust the levels of the van until the plumbob is hanging over the mark.

Hey presto - a good weight saving over spirit levels!

 

[ColinA]

I put one of these http://www.transleisure.co.uk/product_list.asp?cat1=23&cat2=32

on the A frame under the handbrake lever

Colin

 

[Rioja]

The easiest way doesn't involve too much work. Basically, take a pre measured pint glass and carefully fill to the line. If the beer and line align perfectly, sit back and relax, enjoy the beer. If they don't, sit back and relax and enjoy the beer. You'll soon find that it doesn't matter that much anyway !

 

[Clive-Cardiff]

I used the different length plank idea for about 15 years till they fell apart.

I drilled a hole through the end of each one inch plank and bolted them loosely together.

If I wanted to raise by 2 inches say, I could turn the top plank out of the way and drive up on the other two planks.

Worked well and the bolt kept the planks together and tidy. I used the diferent length plank idea

 

[Barking]

The easiest way doesn't involve too much work. Basically, take a pre measured pint glass and carefully fill to the line. If the beer and line align perfectly, sit back and relax, enjoy the beer. If they don't, sit back and relax and enjoy the beer. You'll soon find that it doesn't matter that much anyway !

Does this need to be repeated at both ends and the middle of the van, just to make sure.

 

[janian]

I cannot understand why anyone would want to carry several lumps of wood around with them, when the yellow plastic ramps are so cheap and work a treat.

The set I have are suplied with chocks which lock into the ramps behind the wheel, removing any worry that the van may role back. They cost less than

 

[Jimbob1]

Ian,

As Mike has said he's tried your yellow levellers and had a prolem with them,why spend out 20quid when a few pieces of wood do as good a job cheaper? jim

 

[Stevel]

Put a two way level on the front window sill, so that you can see it whilst you adjust the height by the jockey wheel. Saves walking backwards and forwards to the doorway!

 

[janian]

Jim,

Mike said that his motormover would not allow the van to climb the ramps. So why should useing wood instead of plastic make any difference.

After spending several thousand pounds on a caravan, hundreds of pounds on the awning, hundreds on all the other bits and pieces why bother trying to save a few quid on purpose made ramps and fill your lockers with scrap bits of wood. Just seems so very pointless to me.

When I pull onto the pitch the first thing I do is check side to side level. If it's out, I get out the ramps, place them beside the wheels on whichever side needs raising. I then reverse back a couple of feet, my wife puts the ramps where the wheels had just been and i pull forward again. My wife watches the spirit level and give me the thumbs up when all is well and places the chock behind the rear wheel. Job done in 2 minutes.

But each to thier own.

 

[BrianStAlbans]

If anything we DON'T level our caravan. I pour a small amount of water in the shower tray and adjust the van until it runs down the waste. Van sits slightly high at the front and slightly high on the off side. Niether of which can be noticed when in the van.

 

[ColinA]

Brian, what do you level it with?

 

[Steve L]

First of all Mike, I'd scratch the site you visited off your list of ones to go back too. Any sitethat has insuficient room for you to leave the car attatched while levelling must be over crowding their pitches.

We have a 20ft twin axle van and at home use a motor mover et to move it on the drive. However on site I use two of those cheapie orange re-cycled plastic ramps. I back the van about 3foot past where we want to end up. Then place the ramps infront of the wheels on the low side of the van. I set the distance of the ramps to the same as the distance the axles are apart (about 40 inches). Then we drive up and over the first ramp which now puts both wheels at the bottom of their ramps, then we go further forward until the van is level.

I use a small 6 inch spirit level placed on the trim strip above the windows as my "set point" for levelling. The reason for this is that most manufacturers would ensure all trims and widows were set level and upright to ensure a quality look to their products.

I would not recomend using a jack under thechassis to level the van as you are then faced with ensuring you don't have any slippage.

I must say that on 90% of the sites we visit we don't need to use ramps, as the pitches have been carefully laid out to get the van level across the axles anyway. I should also say that we don't visit high spec sites and more often than not, we are quite happy with a small farm type site.

I don't know where you hail from but if you want to try a spacious site have a look at FForestfields.co.uk. It's basic but very clean and well laid out, with a good pub for food only a mile down the road. There's also plenty of things to do within an hours drive.

All the best Steve L.