Note carefully how much crush...(sag) you get as you lower your camper on to your truck. In my case about 4-5 inches on the back, a little less closer to the rear cab wall. This is the maximum lift I will apply to the leveling legs with out undoing the tie downs. I carry (4) 3/4 plywood boards about 16" X 16" which I place under the leveler feet....especially for sand. I like the stability the contact with the ground gives. I don't over do it. You can also mark the individual tiedown turn buckles to see if the turn buckle has moved too far. Pretty simple really.
Speaking only for my rig, I'm willing to use the jacks for minor leveling without loosening the tiedowns. My approach is to use tire blocks to get the thing to within a bubble or so of level, then use the jacks to finish it.
Why? I have paid attention to how the truck and camper act during loading. Empty, my truck sits tail high...the weight of the camper drops the tail by at least seven inches, so I know that I can jack the back of the camper by seven inches before I'm in danger of trying to lift the truck by the tiedowns. I also see that loading the camper does not really drop the front axle at all, so I know that I can get away with only very small adjustments on the front jacks without straining the front tiedowns.
So, when I park, I use tire blocks to bring the rig reasonably level, with a slight nose-down attitude if possible. Then I can use the jacks to fine-tune, and I can lift the tail an inch or three without loading the tiedowns. Side-to-side I will use the jacks to correct up to one bubble, but no more without loosing the tiedowns.
So far, the worst area I've stayed, I had all of my blocks under the tires and was still pretty far gone. I ended up lifting the tail by about 6", and lifted one side by another 3" to make level. For this, I was nervous and I loosened all the tiedowns, but in the end I never even started to lift the camper off of the truck.
2001 Lance 1121 TC loaded / 1996 Chev K2500HD Std 5.7L
Better pass me now, I ain't gettin' any faster!
Now I have a tie down question. Why do the tie downs have to be "4 point"? Why wouldn't "2 point" tie downs angled forward work as well when fastened to the center of the main body of the TC? If the tie downs are to just hold the TC down in the truck bed, why 4 instead of just 2? Curious.
Frank
I level with the levelor blocks and try to make the rear a little high. I can tilt and drop the rear with my air bags. I drop the jacks for fine tune and stabilization and I'm done. When needed I will raise the camper with the jacks. I watch the tiedowns and make sure that there is no pressure on them. The camper is still supported by the truck bed. Maybe I have put a couple of hundred pounds of weight on the jack/jacks.
Jim
94 F-250 ex cab,460, E40D tranny,airbags w/pump,bilstein shocks, 2000 Bigfoot 9.6 2500 camper, Xantrex XADC 60 converter, 1 Universal group 30 AGM and an eu2000i honda genny.
Wife and Molly- Ausie,Queensland healer
sirdrakejr wrote: Now I have a tie down question. Why do the tie downs have to be "4 point"? Why wouldn't "2 point" tie downs angled forward work as well when fastened to the center of the main body of the TC? If the tie downs are to just hold the TC down in the truck bed, why 4 instead of just 2? Curious.
Frank
It's my opinion that if you were to perform a harsh maneuver the camper may raise up and create more trouble, otherwise it would work just fine.
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