Van levelling

[Fradders]

Hello.

I'm wondering what the views are on using corner steadies to maintain a van's level.

I know that they shouldn't be used to jack the van up to get the level, but once the level is found, can they be used to take the weight of the van rather than using blocks under the van wheels. My handbook says something along tha lines of 'the corner steadies should not be used to jack the van up', however nothing about taking the weight when the van is actually raised.

The reason that I ask is that we have a big TA and being a self confessed anal retentive, I like to get it very level when on site - even for short stays. However this is made extremely time consuming, exacerbated by using Alko wheel locks, so that the order is something like.....

1. reverse the outfit up the hill (invariably!!!)

2. jack up the van with handbrake off (to be able to spin the wheels) - while still coupled to the car

3. put on the wheel locks

4. lower the van

5. handbrake on

6. move the car forward a couple of inches to take the compression out of the coupling

7. jack the van up

8. put levelling blocks under the wheels.

9. lower the van and check the level ......but because the vans's suspension affects the height I need to adjust for, it means I need to guess on the height that I have to adjust for, and this is normally wrong, so I have to repeat 7, 8 & 9 until the van is level.

Being able to take the weight of the van on the steadies at the level height that I jack up to would make this much quicker. I would simply lower the steadies the level that I found whilst using the jack.

I hope I haven't made this too confusing - but we use CLs a lot and normally the ground is quite uneven, so it means that setting up takes longer than I think it needs to. I've tried towing up the ramps/blocks but it rarely results in a left to right level.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

Gerard

 

[caravanoracle]

corner steadies are what they say, a steady. they are not designed to take the weight of a caravan in any way because they will either damage the steady or the chassis. the weight should always be taken by the axle, either by the wheels, blocks or axle stands

 

[SimonB]

I have always wondered about using a jack to level the van and leaving it for the duration of the stay. As long as the jack is rated for the weight I dont see a problem. What do you think?

 

[swpostie]

The corner steadies aren't designed to take the weight of the caravan, just to support the corners.

What about one (or two) of the Bulldog levellers?

http://www.bulldogsecure.com/bulldog.shopfront/product/5/uSID063357-557-676
They should do what you want.

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Fradders first and foremost only use corner steadies to do what they say they do .

Once van is level wind them down just so that they take the weight .

Now to level you T/A there is a simple method learnt from a fellow forum member.

You need two Fiamma levelling blocks the longest of the yellow tapered ones. Now measure the distance from the centre of each wheel first axle and second axle.

Place the two Fiamma levellers back to back leaving a gap between the two ,that gap has to be the distance of the measurement you took earlier.

Now reverse your van slowly up the fist fiamma and then gently over the gap between and slowly onto the next fiamma this works very well for us and had no problems levelling our T/A.

Regards Sir Roger.If you need more clarification you can email me but will have to arrange my email address with mods

 

[Fradders]

Thanks for this, and I guess if you put the blocks closer together then you'd have a lower height adjustment, and further apart would give you more height (up to the maximum distance of the gap between the wheel centres). Looking at the Flamma site, the blocks are calibrated in incremnents too, so I could take a guess at the height I need and adjust then for that.... I could even calibrate my spirit level so I know how much height I need to add......!!!! Good grief, I'm concerned about how excited I'm getting about this!!

I have to say, when I first read your posting, I was a bit sceptical, but the more I think about it the better it gets! I have read reviews of the bulldog solution, (I think the CC mag) but the result wasn't great.

Thanks for this ideas. Much appreciated!

Cheers.

Fradders

 

[Fradders]

BTW, I haven;t used the steadies to maintain the level, but have seen others doing it - and I wondered if I had misunderstood!!!

thanks again.

Gerard

 

[Guest]

Like many other long time caravanners we use a spirit level only once when we get a new van so we can fix

http://www.towsure.com/product/895-2_Way_Spirit_Levelling_Devicecrew
in place.

We park the caravans (we have two large T/A's) where we want it and then jack it and pop chocks under the wheels so it is level.

No up and overs. No lengths of timber. No reversing back and forth.

In fact, NO pratting about at all, and we have minimal ammount to carry!

 

[ProfJohnL]

I have always wondered about using a jack to level the van and leaving it for the duration of the stay. As long as the jack is rated for the weight I dont see a problem. What do you think?

Hello Simon,

The ability of the steady to take a particular load is only part of the story. It's what the steady is attached to that is the limiting factor.

In a number of instances the actual steady is only bolted to the floor of the caravan. If the steady were to be used to its full capacity, the floor structure may well give, or at least distort the caravan body.

In some instances a steady is fixed to a chassis member, but even so lifting at one corner of a caravan is highly likely to distort the caravan body and do permanent damage.

 

[Barking]

Hi Fradders

I have to admit to using the afore mentioned lengths of wood, I usually carry three of varying thickness and use in the combination required.

Like Euro we have a fitted level, where it can be seen from the outside. With pracice you can tell by how much the level is off, how much lifting the van will need.