By Dave Helgeson
When you’re logging long miles and pull into a campsite for the night, the last thing you want to do is take the time to unhitch, just to hitch back up to leave the next morning.
If you have a level campsite you can just stay hooked up, but what do you do when the campsite slopes to the front or rear so much that you are unable to level the RV without unhitching?
Raise the tow vehicle?
One option is to raise the tow vehicle, which in turn may raise the front of your trailer enough to obtain level.
As an avid boondocker, I encounter this problem quite often. Since you can orient your RV however you want in a boondocking site, if faced with no level options, I will choose to leave the nose low.
Raise the tongue of the trailer
I then take the leveling blocks I would normally use to level the RV side to side and place them under the rear tires of my tow vehicle. Typically this raises the tongue of the trailer high enough that I can gain the additional lift I need to level the RV with the trailer’s tongue jack, forgoing the need to unhitch.
Another advantage of staying hooked up is that the trailer has little front to rear rocking motion while hitched to the tow vehicle, eliminating the need to chock the wheels or install wheel locks, making your morning departure that much easier.
Of course, this trick only works when the amount of leveling needed is relatively minor. If the site is severely sloped or the trailer is still noticeably out of level after raising the tow vehicle, unhitching and leveling the trailer normally is the safer option. Comfort is important, but so is ensuring that appliances, slides, and plumbing systems operate as intended.
It’s also worth remembering that this approach is best suited for quick overnight stops, travel days, or brief stays where convenience is the priority. When you’re settling in for several days, taking a few extra minutes to properly level and stabilize the RV will usually result in a more comfortable camping experience. But when you’re simply looking for a good night’s sleep before getting back on the road, keeping the trailer hitched can be a handy time-saving solution.
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RVDT2924
Leaving the nose low, with some trailers, means sleeping downhill head first.
You don’t stay nose low. What the article is saying is if you can’t be level while hitched, nose low is correctable. Nose high is more difficult to correct and often means unhitching.
If you have an absorption refrigerator, you must level side to side and front to rear. Side to side is not a real problem, since a block or two may work. If the front is a little low, I use the tongue jack to raise the trailer and truck.
If the front is high, I uncouple and just move the bars out of the way then move the truck a few inches forward and lower the tongue.
Re-hitching takes less than 5 minutes.
I love my wireless electronic level! it replaced my BT & phone app version a year ago. Stop just before entering the site and turn them on, then slowly ‘scope’ the site for the most level spot from the driver’s seat. Takes only a couple minutes. On uneven sites there is often that sweet spot a couple inches either way that is almost perfect. If not, time for a curved leveler and again do the work from the driver’s seat.
While you should not use stabilizers to level, you can do minor ‘tweaks’ so long as the axle(s) and springs (and hitch) are still carrying the weight.
Thank you for the tip Dave. Have a great day and safe travels!