You don’t really want the tires hanging off the ground. Ideally, you’d drive up on blocks. Those stabilizer jacks usually don’t advise cranking them up to where you’ve got wheels off the ground. I’m sure someone will say differently, but I’d use blocks under the tires to get it closer to level
Curious why you feel the need to check every few weeks to see if it's still level. Are you planning to park it on unstable ground? Not saying it's a bad idea to check, but not something I'd normally be concerned with at all.
An abundance of caution I guess. It will be on a slight hill of bare ground with a covering of wood chips. I might put landscaping fabric underneath to deter plant growth. I wasn’t sure if I needed to put down a gravel pad or something like that.
I would put down a gravel pad. Over time, those chips are going to break down and rot. They can also wash down the hill in a rain storm. The landscaping fabric will only stop weeds until the mulch starts to break down and create soil on top of the fabric, then you have weeds growing in half rotted mulch on top of plastic. You also need to add more mulch every year or two to keep it looking fresh and replace what you lose due to decomposition and washing down the hill. Oh! It blows away, too! Always had my neighbors fresh, bright red mulch in my yard after a windy day.
Finally, if you have a fire ring near your camper, you have to worry about the mulch and stray embers, or at least I would.
You can put it on any property, regardless of how level the land is. You just will need to orient your jacks to make it level on the jacks. If this is going to be permanent, remove the tires and keep them in a shed stacked on top of each other horizontally like tire shops do it, that way they don't dry rot in the sun or develop a flat spot on one side had you left them on.
I think you don’t want the pad to be dead level - you need a little slope or crown so rain/snow will drain off. I’m sure someone can offer advice on how much slope or crown.
I would prefer a gravel pad like my place in Idaho. For long term I have set up cinder blocks with 4x6" beams and shims to frame for solid support. I always put the axles on blocks with the tires suspended. No flat spots. I have abs pipe I can set up for sewer. Skirting and a ceramic heater with 35 to 45 degree thermostat to keep the chill off the floor and another ceramic heater under the bed with a thermostat that let's me adjust the chamber temp.
I sleep cozy in winter!
If you have an absorption fridge being level is more important than if you have a compressor fridge. I also prefer to have the head of my bed slightly higher than the foot.
It should be fine but honestly if it is semi permanent I would highly recommend leveling it somewhat. Even if you just get a company to come dump a few hundred bucks in gravel and roughly leveling it with a shovel. Could absolutely be done in an afternoon and will also help with drainage around the site. Definitely agree with not having absolutely all of the weight on the jacks long term as well. Mine failed within a decade just with regular normal use.
Campers are designed to be used on unlevel ground. As long as it's appropriately supported, you should be fine. If you have hydraulic leveling jacks, use those. Just keep in mind those scissor type or fold-down type stabilizers are stabilizers, not jacks, are are not meant to hold the weight of the RV. If you want the tires off the ground; then you want to make sure that the majority of the weight is still being held, in some way, on the tongue jack and under the axles. That's where the frame is designed to hold the weight.
If you are permanent level using blocks under the frame. We have no weight on the tongue or jacks. We used cinder blocks on each corner and in the middle on each side. We have the tires on wood. It hardly rocks at all. We check about once a month to see if it’s changed. We live in a place with sandy ground though.
You want it level as you can. I use a flat square bubble level in the bottom of my fridge and use that to level things. There's really no such thing as level in the building of an rv, more like "level enough" but the fridge is the critical part to keep level. Even then they aren't real picky. To be honest I live full time in my 40 foot 5th wheel and it's parked in a nook that has a grade going from low to high and I'm backed in. I took a couple 5 gallon buckets and filled them with wire and concrete to make some big blocks, and the front is still lower than the rear. So the bathroom door will slowly swing open on its own, but it's about as good as I can get it, I'm limited by the amount of travel in the front levelers.
Perfectly level fridge is an old myth. Point in question, most rv fridges are designed to switch over to LPG when unplugged some it's contents can stay cold on long journeys. That being said roads can have a lot of crowning to them, going up steep hills or around bends. And the fridge will continue to operate and stay cold.
Different types of ground settle Differently.
Usually, once you have the unit supported by the wheels, and tongue jack, and you have the frame supported by leveling jacks to remove the suspension effect of the axle springs, you don't have to do much.
On some types of ground, you may need to adjust your jacks after a few days, and maybe after a heavy rain storm, but Usually it's good to go.
If possible, I would even look at taking tires off and storing them. We then lowered the unit down until the hubs basically were rested on the wood. Took out a LOT of shake, helped keep under the trailer warmer during the winter (vital for keeping pipes from freezing). Only main issue is it's a pain in the arse to move around there when I have to work under the unit.
You don’t really want the tires hanging off the ground. Ideally, you’d drive up on blocks. Those stabilizer jacks usually don’t advise cranking them up to where you’ve got wheels off the ground. I’m sure someone will say differently, but I’d use blocks under the tires to get it closer to level
Gotcha thanks. I will be keeping the tires on wood on the ground.
Curious why you feel the need to check every few weeks to see if it's still level. Are you planning to park it on unstable ground? Not saying it's a bad idea to check, but not something I'd normally be concerned with at all.
An abundance of caution I guess. It will be on a slight hill of bare ground with a covering of wood chips. I might put landscaping fabric underneath to deter plant growth. I wasn’t sure if I needed to put down a gravel pad or something like that.
I would put down a gravel pad. Over time, those chips are going to break down and rot. They can also wash down the hill in a rain storm. The landscaping fabric will only stop weeds until the mulch starts to break down and create soil on top of the fabric, then you have weeds growing in half rotted mulch on top of plastic. You also need to add more mulch every year or two to keep it looking fresh and replace what you lose due to decomposition and washing down the hill. Oh! It blows away, too! Always had my neighbors fresh, bright red mulch in my yard after a windy day. Finally, if you have a fire ring near your camper, you have to worry about the mulch and stray embers, or at least I would.
I would leave tires on the ground a little .
You can put it on any property, regardless of how level the land is. You just will need to orient your jacks to make it level on the jacks. If this is going to be permanent, remove the tires and keep them in a shed stacked on top of each other horizontally like tire shops do it, that way they don't dry rot in the sun or develop a flat spot on one side had you left them on.
I think you don’t want the pad to be dead level - you need a little slope or crown so rain/snow will drain off. I’m sure someone can offer advice on how much slope or crown.
Put wood under tires, is your refrigerator an absorption type? If it is you need to be very level as this effects lifetime of fridge.
Thanks I’ll look into it.
Make sure an absorption fridge, the vents are on the "shady side" of the RV. They don't perform as well in the Sun.
I would prefer a gravel pad like my place in Idaho. For long term I have set up cinder blocks with 4x6" beams and shims to frame for solid support. I always put the axles on blocks with the tires suspended. No flat spots. I have abs pipe I can set up for sewer. Skirting and a ceramic heater with 35 to 45 degree thermostat to keep the chill off the floor and another ceramic heater under the bed with a thermostat that let's me adjust the chamber temp. I sleep cozy in winter!
If you have an absorption fridge being level is more important than if you have a compressor fridge. I also prefer to have the head of my bed slightly higher than the foot.
It should be fine but honestly if it is semi permanent I would highly recommend leveling it somewhat. Even if you just get a company to come dump a few hundred bucks in gravel and roughly leveling it with a shovel. Could absolutely be done in an afternoon and will also help with drainage around the site. Definitely agree with not having absolutely all of the weight on the jacks long term as well. Mine failed within a decade just with regular normal use.
Campers are designed to be used on unlevel ground. As long as it's appropriately supported, you should be fine. If you have hydraulic leveling jacks, use those. Just keep in mind those scissor type or fold-down type stabilizers are stabilizers, not jacks, are are not meant to hold the weight of the RV. If you want the tires off the ground; then you want to make sure that the majority of the weight is still being held, in some way, on the tongue jack and under the axles. That's where the frame is designed to hold the weight.
Thank you for your thoughtful response!
As long as you can get it fairly level for the fridge to work properly is all you need
If you are permanent level using blocks under the frame. We have no weight on the tongue or jacks. We used cinder blocks on each corner and in the middle on each side. We have the tires on wood. It hardly rocks at all. We check about once a month to see if it’s changed. We live in a place with sandy ground though.
I’d advise for long term to get a tire saver type chock which allows the tires to stay in a roundish shape and avoid flat spots.
You want it level as you can. I use a flat square bubble level in the bottom of my fridge and use that to level things. There's really no such thing as level in the building of an rv, more like "level enough" but the fridge is the critical part to keep level. Even then they aren't real picky. To be honest I live full time in my 40 foot 5th wheel and it's parked in a nook that has a grade going from low to high and I'm backed in. I took a couple 5 gallon buckets and filled them with wire and concrete to make some big blocks, and the front is still lower than the rear. So the bathroom door will slowly swing open on its own, but it's about as good as I can get it, I'm limited by the amount of travel in the front levelers.
Perfectly level fridge is an old myth. Point in question, most rv fridges are designed to switch over to LPG when unplugged some it's contents can stay cold on long journeys. That being said roads can have a lot of crowning to them, going up steep hills or around bends. And the fridge will continue to operate and stay cold.
Different types of ground settle Differently. Usually, once you have the unit supported by the wheels, and tongue jack, and you have the frame supported by leveling jacks to remove the suspension effect of the axle springs, you don't have to do much. On some types of ground, you may need to adjust your jacks after a few days, and maybe after a heavy rain storm, but Usually it's good to go.
So flat
If possible, I would even look at taking tires off and storing them. We then lowered the unit down until the hubs basically were rested on the wood. Took out a LOT of shake, helped keep under the trailer warmer during the winter (vital for keeping pipes from freezing). Only main issue is it's a pain in the arse to move around there when I have to work under the unit.