Had a talk with an RV tech today about my routine of leveling my fifth wheel while parked at home on a bit of a grade. He was pretty emphatic about the detrimental effects this has on the suspension and tires by Imbalancing the load between the axles. I probably mostly agree with his argument. Here are a couple of pictures of my parking situation at home. Looking for other folk's input and opinions...

Jetstreamer wrote:Had a talk with an RV tech today about my routine of leveling my fifth wheel while parked at home on a bit of a grade. He was pretty emphatic about the detrimental effects this has on the suspension and tires by Imbalancing the load between the axles. I probably mostly agree with his argument. Here are a couple of pictures of my parking situation at home. Looking for other folk's input and opinions...Simple solution is to level your FW after unhooking and dropping the rear stabilizers to take even more load off. IMO, this is really a non-issue.Lyle

Place leveling blocks under the front axle tires. it doesn't look all that bad. place level at rear tire point of contact and hold level to see how much blocking you need at the front tire location.

rhagfo wrote:Place leveling blocks under the front axle tires. it doesn't look all that bad. place level at rear tire point of contact and hold level to see how much blocking you need at the front tire location.x2 blocks would keep the same weight on all axles.

I did this for 10 years with my 2002 Cougar. Never had an issue. It's not as if you are driving with the axles uneven. I always put my rear stabilizers down once parked level to take a bit of the pressure off.

Park it and leave just as you have. The static load on either axle is nothing compared to the loads that the axles and suspension endure at highway speeds.

Parking level on a hill bad for suspension? | Good Sam Community

laknox
Nomad
Aug 06, 2014
Jetstreamer wrote:
Had a talk with an RV tech today about my routine of leveling my fifth wheel while parked at home on a bit of a grade. He was pretty emphatic about the detrimental effects this has on the suspension and tires by Imbalancing the load between the axles. I probably mostly agree with his argument. Here are a couple of pictures of my parking situation at home.
Looking for other folk's input and opinions...

Simple solution is to level your FW after unhooking and dropping the rear stabilizers to take even more load off. IMO, this is really a non-issue.

Lyle
rhagfo
Explorer III
Aug 06, 2014
Place leveling blocks under the front axle tires. it doesn't look all that bad. place level at rear tire point of contact and hold level to see how much blocking you need at the front tire location.
24fb_freedom
Explorer
Aug 07, 2014
rhagfo wrote:
Place leveling blocks under the front axle tires. it doesn't look all that bad. place level at rear tire point of contact and hold level to see how much blocking you need at the front tire location.
x2 blocks would keep the same weight on all axles.
You_can_t_take_
Explorer
Aug 07, 2014
I did this for 10 years with my 2002 Cougar. Never had an issue. It's not as if you are driving with the axles uneven. I always put my rear stabilizers down once parked level to take a bit of the pressure off.
msjdbman
Explorer
Aug 07, 2014
Park it and leave just as you have. The static load on either axle is nothing compared to the loads that the axles and suspension endure at highway speeds.
jjj
Explorer
Aug 07, 2014
I have a 05 Challenger 34TBH. and it sits on my side yard almost the same level of yours and I have had no ill effects. Yours looks nice compared to mine I lost all my graphics 2 years ago.
time2roll
Nomad
Aug 07, 2014
Tech is wrong. As long as the leaf equalizers (center pivot) are not maxed out, the weight is virtually equal.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Aug 07, 2014
smkettner wrote:
Tech is wrong. As long as the leaf equalizers (center pivot) are not maxed out, the weight is virtually equal.

Ding,ding,ding..........winner

Hope you don't use that 'tech' for any repairs.
camperfamily
Explorer
Aug 07, 2014
Hmm. My driveway is FAR steeper - my rear bumper touches and I can back my pickup under the pin box with inches of clearance to the closed tailgate. In fact if I raise it just a tad more the front axles lifts of the ground. Been that way since '08 and no ill effects that I can tell. BTW - I use HUGE chocks in front of the rear tires on the trailer.
Trackrig
Explorer II
Aug 07, 2014
The tech could be right if there was really any slope there worth worrying about. You almost had to look a second time to see the slope.

Bill