How To Level A 5th Wheel Without A Truck [The Right Way!]

Towing a 5th wheel trailer can make camping easy and fun. However, not everyone has a truck to level them to. How do you level a 5th wheel trailer without a truck?

How To Level A 5th Wheel Without A Truck

To level a 5th wheel without a truck, retract the front jacks halfway and allow the scissor jacks to come out. Support the hitch on a cinderblock. Jack up the axels with a floor jack until the trailer is at the proper height. Then, tighten the jacks and enjoy the trailer until the trip is over.

To learn more about how to level a 5th wheel rv without a truck, keep reading.

How Do You Level a 5th Wheel Camper Without a Truck?

If you find yourself in a situation where you are not able to level your 5th wheel motorhome without the help of a truck, it is always helpful to have the knowledge and skills to be able to do it.

To begin, make sure the front jacks are retracted halfway. This will then allow the scissor jacks to become loose. Once those jacks are all correctly in place, you will need to find something to act as wheel blocks. Cinder blocks are a good option, as wood blocks are often too soft.

You will also need some sort of support for the trailer hitch. You can use a cinder block as support. While allowing the hitch to rest on that cinderblock, retract the scissor jacks entirely to clear them from the ground blocks.

The third step is jacking up the axles, one by one just enough to however high you want the base of the trailer to be off the ground. To do this, it is recommended you use a floor jack and make sure each jack is placed under the bolt of each axle on the frame.

To take pressure off the cinderblock that is supporting the hitch, you can now extend the front jacks forward to take on some of that weight from the rear.

The final step is the last security check to make sure everything is properly supported and in place in your truck bed so you don’t have a shakey foundation during your time in the 5th wheel. This is the time to tighten either the scissor jacks or the front jacks if you need to.

How Do You Manually Level a 5th Wheel?

To manually level a 5th wheel, you will need a few additional tools that you wouldn’t normally need when leveling automatically or with a truck. The tools you will need are a bubble level and wheel blocks.

The first thing you are going to want to do is to go inside your fifth wheel and see which way needs to be leveled, whether that’s front to back or left to right. You can do this by placing your bubble level on a flat surface, such as a countertop.

If you measure and you find that one way is just the slightest off-balance, see if you can balance that out with a wheel block or 2×4 piece of wood to help save you some work. When you level, you should be able to see which end needs the most help, which can then tell you where to start.

If you only need to adjust the front or back, you will then need to raise both tires on either side with wheel blocks with the help of a jack.

If both ends need to be adjusted, you would raise all four tires. If you only need to raise the right side, you would only raise the front and back tire on the right side, and the same thing for the left side.

Can You Level a 5th Wheel with the Slides Out?

This question can be answered within the owner’s manual of your specific make and model of 5th wheel, but the general suggestion is that you should wait to put your slides out until you have finished leveling your 5th wheel.

There are some rare cases where you will want to put out the slides and then level, but that should be mentioned specifically in the owner’s manual. If it isn’t, it is a safe bet to level first and pull the slides out second.

Some 5th wheel owners may suggest that keeping the slides in while leveling is the only correct way to do it. There are benefits to doing this, as the weight from the slides will be centered and if your slides are out while leveling, it could put unnecessary pressure on one slide, which can cause damage to the 5th wheel.

Other 5th wheel owners may suggest that you put the slides out while leveling is the best way to get an accurate level.

A benefit of doing this is that because the slides are different widths and depths than the rest of the 5th wheel, you need the weight distributed more accurately to how it will be while occupied.

The downside to leveling with the slides out is that oftentimes, it takes extra leveling to make sure it is properly secured.

How Do You Level a 5th Wheel On Uneven Ground?

There is always the chance that you get the campground with uneven ground, while all the more ideal, flat options are occupied. In that case, it is important to know how to level a 5th wheel while on uneven ground.

The first thing you are going to want to do is to find the flattest portion of ground on the campsite and make sure that spot has plenty of room for you and your family to do all the activities you want to do.

Complete all steps listed in the first section, but make sure you level from inside the vehicle and adjust according to which side needs the most leveling out.

If once you are finished leveling you still feel unsure if it is sufficiently level, you can stick 2×4 pieces of wood underneath the legs of the 5th wheel, which can raise it up a bit more. This will help you feel comfortable coming and going from your 5th wheel, despite being on uneven ground.