Air Shocks or Air Bags on TT

spoon059 wrote:

Rbertalotto wrote:
Thoughts?

Waste of money. Get yourself some Anderson levelers (or Beech, which are cheaper) and balance your tires. MUCH cheaper and will give you a smoother ride in the camper and legit leveling.

Maybe I'm just unlucky but in the first 7 months of owning my new trailer I've been on sites that exceeded the height of my Andersons 3x. I end up building platforms out of 2 stacks of 3x Lego bricks with another 2x as caps. I use the Andersons as ramps to get up onto and off these towers.

Rbertalotto wrote:


I have the the red plastic, under wheel, wedge type levelers....a great solution, but a pain when they are covered with mud and need to be deployed and undeployed and stored etc...Plus where I usually camp, I need to also bring a couple plywood boards so they don't sink into the ground. And a few trips in and out of the truck to check level if I'm alone.

They do make stick on graduated levels that readout in inches.



Found HERE for under $12 for two..

They also make graduated round bubble levels.

Inch reading will take the guessing out of your setup at a much lower cost than rigging air shocks and may be more reliable.

No sense adding extra things to break, RVs break easy enough..

Dbl post

This
https://logicbluetech.com/

With these
https://www.beech-lane.com/camper-levelers

I can sit in my truck with the app and backup until the LMP shows level.
Makes it easy for one person.

Just trumping here now; Mount a pin to the frame so it sticks out centered between tires. Eye on top of jack, (thinking of something like a bottle shaped screw jack that came with light-duty Ford trucks from at least mid '60s to mid'80s) Then make a wedged shaped heavy duty pan that fit between tires, below jack when hanging on pin. Tighten jack would lock and lift.

Interesting idea! Thanks...

Rbertalotto wrote:

But how much lift articulation are you really going to get and how much trouble is that worth, as opposed to putting out boards or an Anderson leveler?

I have the the red plastic, under wheel, wedge type levelers....a great solution, but a pain when they are covered with mud and need to be deployed and undeployed and stored etc.

For storage, a cloth bag, with trash bag for liner will control the mud spreading to the rest of stuff.

Plus where I usually camp, I need to also bring a couple plywood boards so they don't sink into the ground.

Most ramps have a larger footprint that the tire that sets on it. So if you have issues with ramp sinking, the tire will too.

And a few trips in and out of the truck to check level if I'm alone.

If you are moving the trailer up a ramp to level, mount a vial, or ball in curved tube where you can see it in mirror.
If building a ramp, then putting tire on top, mark your level so you can tell from jump how tall the ramp must be. (A 2 foot long whiskey stick on the floor, lift the end to center bubble. Measure end to floor. Each half inch will call for a 2X on the stack.) I build the stack next to tire, put chock behind tire on high-side. Pull up, slide stack sideways behind tire, then back up to chock.

They give me about 3.5" of lift. I placed a bottle jack between the frame and the spring perch on my trailer and I can get just about the sale lift with this method.

Nothing to touch, nothing to store, nothing on the ground.....

And I realized I really only need one axle to be manipulated....You don't have to do both. But stability improves if you do both.

Now, If there was a way for the lift mechanism to push against the top of the tires, rather than the axle, this would REALLY stabilize the trailer from rocking, just like those devices you install between the two wheels!

Not sure, would you need longer stroke to get same lift out of 1 axle?

Just trumping here now; Mount a pin to the frame so it sticks out centered between tires. Eye on top of jack, (thinking of something like a bottle shaped screw jack that came with light-duty Ford trucks from at least mid '60s to mid'80s) Then make a wedged shaped heavy duty pan that fit between tires, below jack when hanging on pin. Tighten jack would lock and lift.

BTW, have you checked the TW since you lifted the trailer? Or did you lift the ball as much?

I reconfigured the entire hitch dynamics once I raised the trailer. Had to raise the ball nearly 5" and readjusted the load equalizing bars so there is nearly no sag in the back of the truck. The truck is a RAM 2500 with 3300# payload capacity.

But how much lift articulation are you really going to get and how much trouble is that worth, as opposed to putting out boards or an Anderson leveler?

I have the the red plastic, under wheel, wedge type levelers....a great solution, but a pain when they are covered with mud and need to be deployed and undeployed and stored etc...Plus where I usually camp, I need to also bring a couple plywood boards so they don't sink into the ground. And a few trips in and out of the truck to check level if I'm alone.

They give me about 3.5" of lift. I placed a bottle jack between the frame and the spring perch on my trailer and I can get just about the sale lift with this method.

Nothing to touch, nothing to store, nothing on the ground.....

And I realized I really only need one axle to be manipulated....You don't have to do both. But stability improves if you do both.

Now, If there was a way for the lift mechanism to push against the top of the tires, rather than the axle, this would REALLY stabilize the trailer from rocking, just like those devices you install between the two wheels!

Rbertalotto wrote:

but I don't see them helping with side to side leveling like you initially asked.

Really, Having the ability to raise one side or the other with a device between the chassis and the axles is difficult to comprehend? It's EXACTLY the same thing as driving up on some boards to level the RV side to side.....

I understand the basic idea, its not a reading comprehension issue. But how much lift articulation are you really going to get and how much trouble is that worth, as opposed to putting out boards or an Anderson leveler?

Huntingdog....Check this out:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eSLziCasz4