Twin Axle Leveling

[bill_5078178]

I am getting a twin axle caravan, and I would like some advice about leveling. I read somewhere that it is the front axle that should be leveled first. Can anyone help me?

 

[Lol1]

If you mean levelling side to side, it seems over complicated to me. Just go and buy/collect a couple of planks of wood,just longer than the axle centres, paint them and perhaps cut the ends to form a slope. Use your judgement on site as to how many you need and stack them accordingly. Mine are an inch and a half thick and I have never needed more than two. Reverse your van onto the planks and hey presto the van is levelled. The planks also come in useful for putting under your step on a muddy field and supporting the weight of a Ford Galaxy when it's jacked up. Levelling from back to front can be done in a similar way to a single axle but you don't have such a wide range of adjustment, better to ensure you have a reasonably level pitch to begin with.

 

[mcghee]

You're right Lol, this business about levelling tandem axles by raising the leading axle is a bit of a bum steer in my opinion. While it does work it isn't good for the running gear and shouldn't be used for more than a day or so anyway. I've had twin axles for years and have rarely needed any kind of levelling device. Also be aware that the longer your 'van is the less you can raise one end before the other end hits the ground.

 

[Steve L]

We have a very rare Link 575 twin axle van, which as the name suggests has the axles linked together simlar to those on six wheel trucks. This means that as the front axle goes up over a speed ramp for instance, the rear axlegoes down to compensate. thus no weigth transfer on the car. The down side to this is no matter how high you raise the van, with the jockey wheel, the wheels are firmly on the ground. So levelling the front axle is out of the question.

All I do is back the van about 4 feet past where I want to end up. Then place two plastic ramps, the first at the front of the front wheel of the side to go up, and the second infront of the first but with a gap wetween the top of the ramps (pitch) equal to the distance between the axles on the van (41 inches in my case. Then I drive the van up and over the first ramp and then both wheels climb up the two ramps to the height required. Chock the wheels and then level front to back as normal.

Sounds a little complicated but this only takes about two mins to do.

It's true to say with a longer van you have less height adjustment fron to back, as such I try to pitch my van on a sloping (mountain side, traslation from the brochures)pitch, so that the min adlustment is across the axles, which is the shortest distance between pivot point and elevating end.

It's not always possible and I have ended up with the door so low I didn't need a step to get in which was a bonus. But two milk crates and neumerous planks of wood under the front steadies looked quite precarious. Not to mention time consuming.

Steve Ll