How to Properly Use RV Leveling Blocks
- RVers use leveling blocks under tires to aid in leveling.
- If used incorrectly, leveling blocks can damage tires over time.
- Leveling blocks should support the entire footprint of all tires being supported.
Many RVers will use leveling blocks under their tires to level their RVs, or to at least get it more level before they us their leveling jacks to fine tune things. While this is an effective way to get the leveling process started, there are some very important things to consider if you are going to do this. Specifically, I am talking about the health of your RVs tires and how improperly leveling can damage them.
The first point to get here is that you need to be supporting the entire footprint of the tire with whatever leveling blocks you are using. I have seen too many times someone using a small wood block to level, and the size of the block does not come close to supporting the entire footprint of the tire. Imagine all the weight of your RV now supported by just a small part of the tire. Having parts of the tire foot print overhanging on the leveling block is not the way it is supposed to be done and can damage tires.
The other mistake that I often see is specific to supporting dual tires. Many RVers using leveling blocks only support one of the dual tires with a leveling block. If you only support one of the dual tires, then that one tire is supporting all of the weight of that side of the RV, and again, for long periods of time this can be bad for the tires. When supporting dual tires, always support both of the tires with leveling blocks, and of course, support the entire footprint of each tire. Here is an example of what NOT to do:
Recently I needed to use leveling blocks on my RV and here is a picture of how I used the blocks. Notice how all tires are supported and the entire foot print is supported:
So just remember, always support the entire footprint of the tire, and if you have dual tires, support all of the tires across the axle. This will prevent damage to your tire and certainly extend the life of your tires.
Leave a comment