I have parked my RV to reside in on a slope on my property, and over time, it needs to be raised 1/2 inch in the front

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Customer: Hello, I have parked my RV to reside in on a slope on my property, and over time, it needs to be raised 1/2 inch in the front which is causing the door not to close properly without slaming it shut. The problem is I have installed railings with tin sheet metal attached around the rear of the camper to serve as skirting, and all will need to be removed to raise the camper up to connect to the 5th wheel. I have 2 questions, 1) Will the frame work supporting the front of the camper by the retractable stands support a bottle jack to raise the camper? 2) What long term structural problems could occur with the camper not being properly level if I am unwilling to dismantle all the skirting attached to the rear part of the camper? Thanks, XXXXX XXXXX
Answered by Robert in 5 mins 10 years ago
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Robert
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37,706 satisfied customers

Specialities include: Auto Body Technician, Heavy Equipment Repairs, Heavy Duty Engine Repairs, Brake and Transmission Repairs

Hi There....

What is the Year, Make and Model of the RV? This will give me an idea of the weight involved......

Thanks, Robert

Customer


It is a 2002 Fleetwood Wilderness GL33 5F. According to the specs in the brochure, the weight is around 5000 pounds empty.

OK

This should not be an issue jacking up on it. A few things I would consider, first I would try and use jacks stands on each side of the frame. Also a bottle jack might leak down, doesn't happen often but could. I would also make sure you are doing this on pavement or the jacks might sink into the ground.

As far as leaving the unit off level it should not affect the structure at all, but one appliance that may fail is the fridge. A LP fridge has to be level or you can get a blockage. Once you have a blockage the cooling unit or fridge needs to be replaced....

Hope this helps some, IF you have more questions or concerns please feel free to contact me.... Robert

Customer

So, what I understand is that I should buy free standing jacks stands to substitute for the existing front jacks. The frame work would be able to support them? Also my camper is not on pavement and I understand that over time, the ground will shift. The free standing jacks could then be adjusted without supporting the front of the camper by the 5th wheel on a truck? And, thank you for the info on the fridge. (I have since removed the doors and use it for storage)

OK

Just so we are on the same page... You want to put something under the current jacks to raise or level the unit? I was thinking you were going to support the unit with bottle jacks next to the jacks that are on the frame?

Customer


Originally, the plan was to use bottle jacks temporary only to raise the camper without connectingthe 5th wheel to the truck. (the height needed to back the truck under the 5th wheel is nearly 12 inches) Then, we were going to cut blocks to adjust the difference in the 1/2 inch difference in height on the driver side. Raising the camper to that height brought on the problem of the attached skirting on the back. From your response, using RV jacks on the front,(like those used on the rear) placed on cement blocks for stability, could be used side by side with the retractable front jacks. I would only need to raise the front enough to put the jacks in place, then lower the camper. I would plan to use a wide 2 x 7 x say, 6 feet to distribute the weight across the front between the 2 jacks.

OK

IF you are going to lower the camper on the jacks this should not be an issue, using that board across the front will also help.

In the shop what we do when we do brakes or have to lift these we will use bottle jacks on the frame to raise the unit and then will put jack stands on the frame and lower the bottle jacks onto the stands, the stands are adjustable to some extent. Both the bottle jack and jacks stands will support the weight of the frame. The bottle jack will allow you to adjust if it sinks at all. Using the board in the front will also help with the weight. You should be able to level this out and then support it.

Hope this helps.... Robert
Customer


Thank you for helping with a solution to this situation. I rate your assistance as excellent. Cheryl

Thanks....

Should be something on your end you can click to rate my service, it is the only way I get credit. I am glad I could help out on this....

Thank You, Robert

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