Four Tips and Ideas for Dealing With Uneven Pitches Whilst Caravanning
Posted on: 14 March 2017
When you're travelling in a caravan, it isn't always possible to find a level pitch. This is especially true if you are staying out in the wilderness rather than at designated caravan grounds. As a result, you often need to be creative about leveling your caravan. There are lot of tools and tricks that can help. Take a look at these ideas.
1. Use a level ramp.
A level ramp is a small ramp that you place under one or more caravan wheels. The ramp lifts up that corner of your caravan to make up for uneven ground. Ideally, you should buy a ramp made especially for this purpose.
For best results, don't go for a ramp that just contains a simple slope. Instead, consider a graduated ramp. These ramps consist of two or three curves going up the ramp. Essentially, your caravan wheel can sit in one of these curves, and that helps hold the rig in place, compared to using a conventional ramp.
When using your ramp, pull the caravan onto the ramp. Don't back up onto the ramp — that makes it harder to engage your brakes. Once you've pulled the caravan forward onto the ramp, set your handbrake and consider putting a choke block (a wedge shaped block) under the back of the wheel so it doesn't slip down the ramp.
2. Consider a tyre jack.
If you don't like the idea of pulling your caravan onto a ramp, consider using a tyre jack. This is a jack made to fit onto the tyres of your caravan. You slide it around the caravan tyre. Then, you use the handle to jack the wheel up so that the caravan is level. Make sure the jack you buy is strong enough to hold all of the caravan's weight.
3. Explore conventional jacks.
You don't necessarily have to use a tyre jack. Rather, you can use conventional jacks as well. For this approach to work, you need to have jacking points under your caravan. Basically, these are smooth bits of metal that you can slip a jack under. Find the spot where your caravan needs to be raised, locate the closest jacking point, put in the jack, and raise the caravan.
4. Utilise leveling tools.
In addition to raising the caravan, you also need to ensure that it is level. Ideally, your caravan needs to be level in two directions. It needs to be level from side to side as well as from front to back. You can test the side to side level with a builder's leveler held against the back bumper area of the caravan. To ensure it's level the other direction, hold the level against a straight line of trim on the side of the caravan. You can also buy leveling readers. These attach to the underside of the caravan, and they are battery powered levelers that have lights to indicate if your rig is level in the two directions mentioned above.
For help finding these supplies, contact a caravan sales company.
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