Levelers ?????

[jjrbus]

I have had air levelers and an assortment of wood over the years for leveling and never found leveling an issue until this 02C200P. I am not fussy about level just want the water in the shower pan to stay by the drain.

Saw these roll on levelers and though I would give them a try and ordered a set. Opened the box and my first thought was I am not using these they are too narrow! The leveler is 6 inch wide give or take a bit and my tire footprint is at least 7 1/2 inch, which leaves 1 1/2 inch of tire hanging off the side of the leveler. Also they are short so obviously designed to fit between the wheels or a trailer.

I could not bring myself to park on these with the tires hanging off the edge, I am hoping Capriracer will give an opinion on this!

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[N147JK]

Your tires are a lot tougher than that. I've been up on stones overnight that are 4 inches wide - no damage to the tires whatsoever. BTY I'm looking for some of those Anderson levelers.. if you don't want yours I'll take them.

[Davydd]

Those levelers look bulky for storage inside a Class B van. I carry the lego like blocks of 10 in a compact 12" cube however I haven't used them in 25,000 miles and 2-1/2 years of travel. That's probably about 100 nights. If I leave them at home I probably would need them the next time I stop.

BTW, I'm finding a short wheel base van can find a level sweet spot better than a long wheel base van and the differential is not as much between the wheels.

[CapriRacer]

Short version: I don't see a problem.

Long version: As a thought experiment, I envisioned a tire gradually rolling off a sharp edged curb, and at what point would I think there would be a problem. I considered that the rubber is very flexible and can withstand an extreme amount of bending. So the only issue would be with the carcass - the belt and the plies.

The plies are also fairly flexible to the point where the only issue is when the sidewall collapses and there is internal contact. That's when the cords break - but that is not the situation here.

The belt tends to act like a cantilever in this situation and the only problem would be if the belt were to get kinked. At no point can I imagine that happening as the tire falls off the curb edge.

While relatively rare, this situation does occur and you only hear about some superficial damage to the outside rubber.

My conclusion is this is not an issue.

[Sensfan]

FWIW, Lego style levellers can be used while parking to ensure that van wheels do not sink and get stuck in soft wet unstable ground. They can also be used after the fact of getting stuck to provide sufficient escape traction. This summer we loaned ours to the owner of a stuck 42 foot class A after a 3/4 ton 4x4 was unable to pull it clear. The bus came out easily on the first try (by itself-no truck) using five levellers per wheel.

[jjrbus]

Originally Posted by CapriRacer

Short version: I don't see a problem.

Long version: As a thought experiment, I envisioned a tire gradually rolling off a sharp edged curb, and at what point would I think there would be a problem. I considered that the rubber is very flexible and can withstand an extreme amount of bending. So the only issue would be with the carcass - the belt and the plies.



While relatively rare, this situation does occur and you only hear about some superficial damage to the outside rubber.

My conclusion is this is not an issue.

Thanks for the response appreciated. Seems we have 2 different opinions from engineers on this. Roger has impressive credentials.

https://www.rvtiresafety.net/search/...eling%20blocks

[Doneworking]

Like many I have used the leggo style levellers for a lot of years. I made a complete set of 1x10x1 and 1/2 blocks for a small Class C years ago. I use them now when I want to elevate my RT 210 to crawl under it and they work great for that purpose.

For camping and travel we just carry the leggo blocks and we carry three sets of them at times. Excessive? No, not when you are boondocking and find a wonderful spot but it is unlevel to a big degree. We never have any problems with our 5 foot frig running efficiently and I suspect a big part of that is good leveling. Plus, it is much more pleasant to sleep and spend several days in a level unit.

When we are not boondocking, we carry two sets and have occasionally found use for them as well. I have often put two or three of the blocks in various places of storage in the RT instead of taking up a big cubic foot block of having them in one place.

It works well for us. It worked well in a C and it is snap in a B.

[jjrbus]

I have used a variety of things over the years including having pneumatic levelers. I like the idea of the roll on levelers, but they are too short, not enough lift with a max of 4 inch and no way no how am I letting my tires hang off them.

So I made my own set, they are longer, have the potential to lift a tire 6 1/2 inch and are wider than the tires. Only an experiment and made from yellow pine, if I ever redo would be with white oak. Will see how they work out.

[jjrbus]

I have found the RT a pain to level. This is after 20+ years and 4 RV from a 33 ft class A to a 35 DP and a Toyota. I am also experimenting with a Leveler app, as I get the hang of this it seems very promising, way better than just a level.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...hl=en_US&gl=US

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by jjrbus

I have found the RT a pain to level. This is after 20+ years and 4 RV from a 33 ft class A to a 35 DP and a Toyota. I am also experimenting with a Leveler app, as I get the hang of this it seems very promising, way better than just a level.

What makes a RT any more of a pain than any other Class B or a 33 ft class A for that matter?

I've found the shorter the wheel base the easier it is to level. It's simple. On a slope the longer a wheel base the greater differential.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by Davydd

the shorter the wheel base the easier it is to level. It's simple. On a slope the longer a wheel base the greater differential.

That is true as far as it goes.

But, it cuts both ways:
--On a uniform slope, a longer wheelbase will need more correction to achieve a level van.
--However, on a non-sloping irregular surface, a given amount of unevenness will make a bigger difference on a shorter wheelbase. So, you are more likely to require correction with a short wheelbase.

In real life, unless you are parking on asphalt, you tend to see combinations of both situations.

Pick your poison.

[jjrbus]

Originally Posted by Davydd

What makes a RT any more of a pain than any other Class B or a 33 ft class A for that matter?

I've found the shorter the wheel base the easier it is to level. It's simple. On a slope the longer a wheel base the greater differential.

On the surface it seems to be ridiculous. It is like nailing jello to the wall and I am not that fussy about level... All I want is the shower water to stay around the drain. I have noticed most of the responders that say it is not an issue have the 170 or the 190, I have the 200.

[Sensfan]

Originally Posted by avanti

That is true as far as it goes.
But, it cuts both ways:
--On a uniform slope, a longer wheelbase will need more correction to achieve a level van.
--However, on a non-sloping irregular surface, a given amount of unevenness will make a bigger difference on a shorter wheelbase. So, you are more likely to require correction with a short wheelbase.
In real life, unless you are parking on asphalt, you tend to see combinations of both situations Pick your poison.

Another example of astute moderator diplomacy

[booster]

I think most people make it harder than it has to be. For those that use two levels, put them diagonally on a line between the tires RF to LR and LF to RR. Put marks on the levels for what 1,2,3 blocks gives you each way for each level. They will tell you what you need to use.


You can do similar with a bullseye level but it is not quite as easy.



Of course, you are sitting on springs and have swaybars so that can mess up any system a bit as they can fight the changes.

[jrobe]

Originally Posted by jjrbus

All I want is the shower water to stay around the drain.

Our shower drain is on one corner of our shower drain and it is a minor nuisance if the level doesn’t allow for good drainage. I usually just use a sponge to drain any standing water but one nice thing about a shorter Class B is that I sometimes just pull into a campsite instead of backing in to reverse the level and not even use my leveling blocks. I could never do that with a trailer.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by jrobe

Our shower drain is on one corner of our shower drain and it is a minor nuisance if the level doesn’t allow for good drainage.

A lot of European campers have shower trays with drains in either opposing corners or all four. This is truly great. I should have figured out a way to have this done in our Transit build, but at some point you just run out of attention units and this didn't make the cut.

[jjrbus]

My 02 Roadtrek 200 has a shower pan that could only be conceived by a high end coach builder with decades of experience, Where is the sarcasam icon.

The shower pan is a 6X2 1/2 flat pan, not quite flat there is a slight bump where the drain is. The first opening you see in the picture is for the table leg, the drain is at the rear of the pan. Of course the table leg opening fills up with water if the nose is not up.

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[Davydd]

I installed teak a slat floor in two of my vans so you didn't have to step in standing water. Driving will drain the floor underneath if there is standing water. I replaced one teak floor with raised plastic tiles with the same purpose.

[jjrbus]

Originally Posted by Davydd

I installed teak a slat floor in two of my vans so you didn't have to step in standing water. Driving will drain the floor underneath if there is standing water. I replaced one teak floor with raised plastic tiles with the same purpose.

Interesting solution, something to kick around.

[JonMN]

I bought a set of Gotreads and a set of lego types. After playing around a little I like the blocks better. With dual rear wheels it can take a lot of blocks!

By the way, if you have an iPhone the "Level my RV" app works great. Just place it on the floor and it tells you how many inches are needed under each wheel. Sounds odd but it really works. I checked with a level too.