LEVELING AN RV, IS IT OK TO LIFT THE FRONT TIRES OFF THE GROUND? 

Don't do it, don't lift your wheels off the ground especially when you are on uneven ground recently I took a trip to South Carolina where the campsites were very unlevel, I tried to level the motorhome however when the jacks lifted the tires off the ground the whole motorhome shifted and bent the Jack brackets which were welded to the frame. I am currently in the process of a very tedious repair job which I have no doubt would be at least $1,000 or more if I had the repair done by a dealership.

We see this all the time as well. We don’t ever lift our tires off the ground because I don’t want to put unnecessary strain on our levelers. If the tires do come off the ground, we try to at least put pressure treated wood underneath the tires to spread out the weight of the rig over 8 points of contact to the ground.

I will only use them to service the RV Like I'm trying to do Now

Good morning Kenny, I agree with you. I believe it is better for the stability with more of a footprint on the ground. 👍

It’s NOT ok, come on only idiots raise their wheels off the ground. We have moved over 200 times in the last 5 years and never have wheels off the ground, if the levelers lift the wheel and create space we always put something under the wheel so it helps support the chassis. This is why some people have problems with frame breakage and slide issues, it twists the frame and screws up lots of stuff. It’s not hard to make sure the wheels are supported. At the very least, jack it up a little more, put a block stack under it, then lower onto the block stack. Larry

We have one side of our trailer with the tandem wheels off the ground with the auto level system. I tried to put something under the wheels but either too loose or too tight to get under them? I could jack up that one jack manual then redo the auto level and see how it works?

I think of the effects on the cylinder seals over a period of time. That would be my number one concern. Are they designed to take that pressure over a long period of time?

Tough question. I agree not for an extended period of time. My reason , If a hydraulic valve fail ,it could or may create problems with the operation of the other jack because of side way stress to its mounting points . And or twisting of the frame . My thought as why it’s ok for short periods of time is this, the components are designed to handle the greater load when all tires are on the ground so by tires being off the ground negligent to none in term of it being bad 😊

I had a mechanic tell me years ago that the tie rods, ball joints and such are not designed to hang. He said it could lead to premature failure.

I prefer not to do with that way. Having said that I've been in a couple of parks over a weekend where I've had to be an inch or 2 off the ground. Usually the back or one side. Don't like doing it if nothing more that it makes me uncomfortable. Not sure I know what I think is going to happen but I don't want to find out.

Leveling jacks are not strong enough to support the weight of the RV for a long time you might damage a seal or the pump. Leveling jacks are designed to take the weight off the springs and or shocks to bring the RV level this way the tires still stays on the ground. Never ever lift your rear wheels off the ground even if it's in park and the parking brake is set. The rear wheels are what holds the RV in the Park position when you're Drive lever is put into pee Park mode emergency brakes just stops the wheels from turning. If the wheels are off the ground emergency brake will only hold the wheel from rotating likewise does the drive shaft hold the rear wheels from turning because you've locked out the transmission for Park back wheels go up the wheels aren't moving the drive shaft doesn't move the parking brake won't work and your motorhome rolls downhill kabang that's a hit to your wallet and the head to the RV

Do you lift the RV higher to stack the blocks then, lower it down to have extra support from your front suspension? Or, are you stacking blocks to meet up to the “hanging height” of the tires? Thanks!

I am looking for advice on how an RV should get lifted when replacing tires. I took my Holiday Rambler Class A to a Les Schwab store to get new tires and I thought hat they’d out it in a lift. Apparently, they’re going to jack it up to change the tires. I’m going to guess that’s it’s ok, but is it? Is it designed to be lifted in the corners or at center of back and /or front for an even lift. I thought the whole vehicle would get lifted. Is this how semi trucks are worked on? This RV my wife calls a bus is 31’. The mechanic had ask about the chassis. Anyway, I’m going with that they know what they’re doing. As for your video, it makes perfect sense. Thanks.

If you think of the jacks as stabilizers and not levelers, it would be good to have the wheels doing that job instead of having all the weight of your rig on 4 stilts. When you look closely at how small the rods are on the jacks compared to the enormous rig they are pretty damn tiny. That's my take on it.

I have heard it both ways for 5th wheels. I am with you, Kenny. I would rather have more contact with the ground. I think adding blocks in this situation or even trying to manually level and keep the tires on the ground is a good idea.

We do it like you guys for the very same reasons! Also since we did the CHF mode on the front 5 years ago we notice the front end wheels come off the ground quicker now as we lower the jacks! Also , The 8 points of contact help with the rocking of the motorhome to be less!😎😎 Thanks for the vid guys!!

Having all that weight on Jacks is not a good thing and puts a lot of pressure on the Jacks. I move Motorhome to get close to level then put jacks down to level. But planks could be used too. I just spent $4,000.00 on my jacks because they were over used.

Finally someone who gets to the point thank you

We agree with you....the more points of contact the better: safer, more stable too.

Honestly I didn't know people did it that way 😂 Seems kind of dangerous to the vehicle and possibly to the person if they don't set it up right! That's at least my take on it 😁

Thank you ! Finally someone who has common sense like me 😃 I've been doing this with this exact philosophy for years and still do in 2023 , I am beside myself when someone lets their rv float in the front for days or I've even seen for weeks at a time , it even states in my class a manual "Do Not suspend wheels off the ground with the leveling jacks it can cause unstable or dangerous conditions " in addition it says "Jacks are only meant to level the vehicle and not meant to support the vehicle, please use blocks to compensate uneven ground to support under tires as necessary " I'm reading my manual right now and it says exactly word for word ! I always have people at camp grounds who always leave their front floating and say , ah it's ok you dont need blocks ....SMFH !!!?

I saw a guy that had his front tires at least one foot off the ground and to me that just is not safe at all I don’t care what anyone says.

Great tip. Thank you for the information.

That's a cool shirt.

Don't have to worry about that.... Our jacks won't lift our RV off the ground.

I'm with you on this. I would also worry about if the RV shifted due to wind and the jacks shift and bend or buckle. Not only would you have to deal with that repair, but the RV slamming to the ground could hurt someone and maybe even do major damage to the suspension. All around a bad idea. IMO

I like your captain chair covers where did you get them and do they add comfort to the seats. Thank you very much

I agree wit you buddy - i always use blocks - if it gets that bad I ask for another site

Biggest issue with hydraulic jacks and raising the coach, stability and braking force. How well adjusted are your brakes? Do you use wheel chocks? If there is little to no down force on your wheels here’s hoping you use chocks and adjust your brakes regularly or there is a very good chance your coach might not be where you left it. Plus the hydraulic rams are NOT designed for lateral strength. They are design to Push down. Use them as they are designed To raise the coach (with airbags DEFLATED) just enough to level the coach while ALL tires remain in contact with the ground and at least 50%load on the tires.

do it every time the ground is very unlevel. No problem even in high winds. I have a Bigfoot system since 2017.

no, it's purely the fact that the tires are not holding the camper from "sliding/tipping" sideways AND/OR the jack seals failing and now things like dogs or other items under RV getting crushed. Having the tires in contact with something removes the sideways tip potential, lets say this is Y direction.. These hydraulic Jacks are made to lift only in the Z direction (up) only, not hold X and Y position (front/back and left/right). With that said, most RV's could be lifted off the ground but if the ground is slanted sideways (left/right - lets call this Y) there is nothing to hold RV/Jacks from bending/breaking things (like brackets holding them to the frame). So, they will always say NO.. dont lift tires off the ground becuase that contact is what is keeping it from going sideways. The front/back direction is actually stronger the way the bracket is designed, but most of the time the rear axle is locked in park, holding it from that direction (X). With that said, I would lift the front off the ground as long as the rear is planted ok and there is no left/right slant to the ground. :) This hydraulic seal failure is the same with any hydraulic piece of equipment like excavators, backhoes, bulldozers, they are always shut off with everything in the down/ground rest position. I've actually had a hydraulic jack fail from doing this same thing - not using jack stands.. it held find for about 2hrs then all the sudden down it came!

Absolutely not okay to lift your wheels off the ground you’ll get lateral movement you could snap those jacks, high wind, or small earthquake, or chasing your wife around. Ha ha ha

Thanks for the video.

Doing a rad flush, lifting the front to gain more access, blocked,chocked etc., short deration, should'nt be an issue.

Better to be rage safe than sorry. Our travel trailer has automatic leveling. The 2nd thing it does when leveling is retracts the tongue jack completely off the ground and stays that way. I've had strangers tell me I'm supposed to leave that jack on the ground. LCI says this is how it's supposed to work. Most people just aren't used to seeing a travel trailer with automatic leveling I guess. If it's going to be stormy weather I go ahead and lower it. :Nic

Read your owners manual and it says not to do it. I agree with you though. I will never have my wheels off of the ground

As for the Ford F-53 chassis, the front is a leaf spring with a straight axle. No issues it could hang like that indefinitely without damage. The rear tire should never come off the ground due to the park brake and transmission park paw engagement. Would I recommend doing this at anytime? "No" as you commented, always more stable with 8 points of ground contact. Now if the rig has air suspension, mainly DP's no tires should leave the ground due to the height sensors and the air bags. I am just a nerd of a Ford engineer :)

Some RV's have very poorly placed jacks. I have one. If they are too far from the axles you can cause serious stress on the frame and everything attached to it by lifting all the weight of the RV. Even worse is lifting one corner much higher than the others. You twist the frame which can lead to doors that do not close, cracked windshields and other issues.

Yup. I am with you.

I agree with you and the higher you bring the jacks the more wobbly it gets with the wheels of the ground, you will feel it inside and the more of the ground it is the more beating on the jacks it gets ... also the potential leaks may occur. Thanks for the video. Michael and Pam

Maybe this can be a solution, mostly we put the stabilizers in automatic and sometimes this happens, changed it to manual and lower them until the tires touch the ground and put something on the rear wheels to secure it.

When leveling, what ever you do to your jacks as far as blocks, you should do to your wheels.

Thanks Kenny for the valuable info.

I agree with you 100% as better to be safe be sorry

We so think alike sir!

So you don't believe the experts?

No, it isn't good to have your tires off the ground! I think it puts stress on the jacks that could cause issues and if they get stuck, you have a problem of getting the jack down so you can leave. That's a AAA call & expense and if they can't fix it, then you have to take it in for work. We had one to get stuck and wouldn't release. AAA had to take the jack off, put it in our kitchen floor. We took it to our repair shop. They took it out the RV put it on the shop floor, it released and shot hydraulic fluid all over the shop! I'm so glad that didn't happen inside our RV! It took 2 weeks for then to get warranty approval and another 2 weeks to repair it. We don't trust our jacks now and only use them if we are really out of level. A month is a long to be to be without your RV or living in a parking lot waiting your turn! LOL HUGS~Donna