Levelling Up?

millar84 · Jul 6, 2012

Hello,

My caravan is on my drive, which has a slight slope.

I was under the impression that if I placed blocks under the two corner steadies, that would help level the van out. No matter how much or little I put under the feet it doesn't make any difference.
What am I doing wrong?
It's not that noticeable when you're in the caravan, but I think I've read somewhere that it's not good for the caravans frame as it puts it under stress. Is this correct?

Cheers

Dave

Parksy · Jul 6, 2012

Hi Dave
Fore and aft levelling is done by using the jockey wheel. If you want to raise the nose of the caravan you should wind the jockey wheel down and vice versa. On a steeper gradient you can place blocks under the jockey before unhitching the caravan from your vehicle so that in spite of the steep slope the jockey will wind down enought to level the caravan. Chock the wheels before unhitching.
When the caravan is level wind down the corner steadies, never try to level the caravan by using the steadies as jacks.
If the corner steadies don't reach ground level then you make up the difference by using blocks.
Side to side levelling is done by using levelling ramps under the caravan wheel(s).

Damian · Jul 6, 2012

Never use the corner steadies to level the caravan, they are exactly what they are called "STEADIES"
Levelling should be done with ramps or planks of wood under the wheels for side to side level, and jockey wheel for front to back .
Only when level should the steadies be lowered.

colin-yorkshire1 · Jul 7, 2012

hi Dave,
the information given by Parksy and Damian is absolutely correct and you should take note of it,
it may well serve you. to remember this is how you level the van on a site that is not level, so carry a few different thickness's of chocks with you as well as one of the leveling ramps for side to side leveling.

By the way I have noticed that you never seem to reply after asking a question ?? apart form this being common courtesy, it makes it difficult to know if any of the answers that have been given were usefull.

colin

Parksy · Jul 7, 2012

colin-yorkshire said:
........By the way I have noticed that you never seem to reply after asking a question ?? apart form this being common courtesy, it makes it difficult to know if any of the answers that have been given were usefull.
colin

He hasn't replied yet to the answers he was given when he posted exactly the same thing word for word here either Colin

millar84 · Jul 9, 2012

I'm sorry if i've caused offence to you Colin.
I really do appreciate everyones help, especially from Parksy, who has replied to every question I've had.
I do copy & paste on the other forum to gather up as much information as possable.

I am slowly learning more & more about my caravan & I am very greatful for all your help

Cheers

Parksy · Jul 9, 2012

You're welcome Millar

The consensus from our friends on Caravan Talk and on this forum is that it's vitally important never to use the corner steadies to lift up or level your caravan, they are only lowered when you have achieved a level floor and the blocks are used to allow the steadies to rest on a solid surface.
I often use blocks under the corner steadies even on level ground where thereis room for them because the load is spread and there is less likelihood of damage to a damp grass surface.

Dustydog · Jul 9, 2012

Parksy said:
You're welcome Millar

The consensus from our friends on Caravan Talk and on this forum is that it's vitally important never to use the corner steadies to lift up or level your caravan, they are only lowered when you have achieved a level floor and the blocks are used to allow the steadies to rest on a solid surface.
I often use blocks under the corner steadies even on level ground where thereis room for them because the load is spread and there is less likelihood of damage to a damp grass surface.

Hi Parksy

I have been amazed at the number of seasonals on site in Snowdonia who have no jockey wheel at all!!

In it's place is a pice of scaffold tube , not touching the ground but holding a sat dish! all the weight is taken on the steadies. Lemmings comes to mind.

millar84 · Jul 10, 2012

I have now removed the blocks of wood under the steadies, & lowered the jockey wheel. The van is still on a bit of a slope, but I can live with that!! Thanks again.

WatsonJohnG · Jul 10, 2012

Dustydog said:
"I have been amazed at the number of seasonals on site in Snowdonia who have no jockey wheel at all!!

In it's place is a pice of scaffold tube , not touching the ground but holding a sat dish! all the weight is taken on the steadies. Lemmings comes to mind."

This is an old chestnut that comes up often

The Alko reply was that the steadies will more than take the load and most of the weight is on the wheels so you don't need to have the JW down

You can of course leave it down or up to suite your preference

This is a reply from Swift courtesy of CaravanTalk

We contacted Swift Group Technical and asked the very same question to get a difinitive answer.

The wheels take the whole of the weight of the caravan, the steadies remove the fulcrum action around the centre mounted wheeels, each steadie is rated at 500Kg and is more than capable of supporting the additional weight imposed on the outer parts of the floor by the occupier.

The Alko chassis hitch has a maximum static load of 100Kg, which is the maximum load that can be applied to thejockey wheel.

As to whether it should be left up or down, the recommendation is once you have your caravan level and steadies down, you should unwind the jockey wheel half a turn to remove the load, however ther is nothing wrong in removing it completely if you so wish.

GPS

In addition as the caravan settles on soft ground the chassis and steadies will flex to accommodate this, the force appled to the jockey wheel is a vertical load and will put additional stress on the extremeties of the chassis.

Moderators Edit:
Please do not try to pre-edit text using Microsoft Word or similar before submitting forum posts.
Notepad is ok to use because it does not contain hidden coding or if you want a spell check you should select Preview before submitting the post.

colin-yorkshire1 · Jul 10, 2012

millar84 said:
I'm sorry if i've caused offence to you Colin.

hi, no offence taken my friend , it was just a comment from a old hand

sometimes questions are asked, and in an attempt to answer them, a reply can involve a certain ammout of guesswork and some research has to be undertaken.
a reply would be useful as this then puts the answer into the right context. and of course knowing that the answer was benificial to the questioner.
feedback is Also useful for anyone reading the posts that may have a similar problem knowing wether an answer solved the problem or helped may give a starting point without them having to ask the same question later on.
without a reply to the answers the topic is dead in the water as no conclusions can be drawn as to what the original problem was if you know what I mean.
as you get better at understanding about our hobby and gain more experience over time it is nice to be able to help others, it is one of the best things about forums and makes the time spent at the keyboard wothwhile

WatsonJohnG · Jul 10, 2012

WatsonJohnG said:
Dustydog said:

"I have been amazed at the number of seasonals on site in Snowdonia who have no jockey wheel at all!!

In it's place is a pice of scaffold tube , not touching the ground but holding a sat dish! all the weight is taken on the steadies. Lemmings comes to mind."

Click to expand...

This is an old chestnut that comes up often

The Alko reply was that the steadies will more than take the load and most of the weight is on the wheels so you don't need to have the JW down

You can of course leave it down or up to suite your preference

This is a reply from Swift courtesy of CaravanTalk

We contacted Swift Group Technical and asked the very same question to get a difinitive answer.

The wheels take the whole of the weight of the caravan, the steadies remove the fulcrum action around the centre mounted wheeels, each steadie is rated at 500Kg and is more than capable of supporting the additional weight imposed on the outer parts of the floor by the occupier.

The Alko chassis hitch has a maximum static load of 100Kg, which is the maximum load that can be applied to thejockey wheel.

As to whether it should be left up or down, the recommendation is once you have your caravan level and steadies down, you should unwind the jockey wheel half a turn to remove the load, however ther is nothing wrong in removing it completely if you so wish.

GPS

In addition as the caravan settles on soft ground the chassis and steadies will flex to accommodate this, the force appled to the jockey wheel is a vertical load and will put additional stress on the extremeties of the chassis.

Moderators Edit:
Please do not try to pre-edit text using Microsoft Word or similar before submitting forum posts.
Notepad is ok to use because it does not contain hidden coding or if you want a spell check you should select Preview before submitting the post.

I didn't use Word
I just copied the quoted Swift information and pasted it
I used "quote" from Dustydogs piece but it left out what you have kindly inserted at the beginning so I added it after copying and pasting to make sense of my "old chestnut comment"

Its happened a few times that quoted pieces have not been quoted
I have now used quote again here so we will see if its done it this time ----or not

Seems OK this time

Sorry if I unwittingly caused aproblem
Here is a pic
Discover the jockey wheels !!!

chenzhen · May 19, 2016

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Levelling Up?

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