Hi folks.
I know it's a topic covered before but interested to hear current thoughts on how most of you with twin axles level side to side as I've just ordered a nice new shiny twin axle family van from the recent NEC show.
I have read of people using stirs of decking the length of the two wheels, screwing more pieces together when necessary. We have just gone to caravanning and have a twin axle too so will be interested to follow this!
I've got a twin ,on our favourite site Ihave to raise one side by 75mm ,up to now i used acouple of small blocks that I had for my single axle and it worked but I could not move it enough to fit the alko lockso I've now got some decking 1200mm long which will allow enough movement to fit the alko lock.I haven't used them yet but cant see any problems,and the weight of the decking pieces is a total of 7 kgwhich wont make a lot of difference to my weghts. Hope this is of use to you.
The decking idea was one I posted some time ago. I bought a 6m length of extra wide decking, about the width of the van tyres. This was cut into three lengths each being slightly shorter than one below it. I then chamfered the edges for easy run on. I then stacked all three and drilled six holes through all three lengths so that when stacked I could tap through round steel pegs (awning pegs with the plastic bit taken off) to hold them together if needed. Whether I used one or three sections depended on what the spirit level told me. Because the decking is pressure treated it does not rot. We took our van of its seasonal pitch today and the boars were as good as new. In seven years I have never been in the situation where my three bits of decking was not enought to level up the van from side to side.
Doug/Alistair
Thanks for this. Like the decking idea. Guy at show says I get a jack to jack van up to get diamond wheel lock on 2nd wheel but that's only after I've lined up the first one and got lock on. Trying to envisage this when wheels on decking.. Could I still jack the van to align receiver on 2nd wheel and get lock on?
If you have an awd mover fitted they will most probably remove the jacking points to fit it my other half would not hear of jacking it up to fit a second lock so we told the insurance that we would be using a milenco wheelclamp on the second oneand they were ok with it
I have never owned a twin axle so I'm not speaking from experience here but what I have seen by twin axle owners on a rally field is that they pull the caravan with the towcar up on to a wooden plank then check with their spirit level and add another plank on top if necessary until their unit is level. Jacking the caravan up may be okay if you are pitched on concrete or tarmac but if you are on grass then it's not that easy because the jack is likely to sink into the ground especially if it is wet. I'm not saying that using planks is the best solution but merely a suggestion to what I have seen in the past how twin axle owners level their unit but it may help until you can get the decking which has been advised by 'Alistair'.
We use 2 fiamma yellow levelling ramps and 2 pieces of 6x2 wood about a foot long. We pull (or reverse) up one ramp and on to the wood (stacked on top of each other) and then place the other levelling ramp behind the other wheel and reverse (or pull) onto both ramps. Because the ramps are facing each other the wheels do not try and roll down the ramps. OK it needs a bit of experience to know how close to put the ramps for height but you soon get the hang of it.
First of all I understand your concern as I was on a similar position when I bought our current caravan. Levelling has proven to be easier than expected but as we are ralliers steep slopes do present a challenge. A wedge for the forward wheel, and an assortment of blocks for the other. A wedge will not fit between the wheels. For high lifts sometimes we use only 1 axle. But i don't like doing this.
As for fitting the wheel locks I only do this on concrete at home! It is not safe to jack on fields.
Oh and I find it easier to use a trolley jack and do both wheel at once.
Thanks for this, certainly seems putting the wheel locks on both wheels is far more challenging than its worth, I do wonder how anyone would pull a van with a lock on just the one wheel anyway...
Quote: Originally posted by Just do it on 02/11/2012
Thanks for this, certainly seems putting the wheel locks on both wheels is far more challenging than its worth, I do wonder how anyone would pull a van with a lock on just the one wheel anyway...
They let the tyre down on the wheel with the clamp and drag it!
With my Elddis I used 2 pieces of 4 x 2 timber. one about 2 feet longer than the wheelbase the other about a foot shorter with chamfered ends similar to the set up described earlier.Pull it up onto the first piece then if not enough roll it up onto the second.
For security I used two SAS wheel clamps on the non awning side.
A caravan fitter told me to put the alko lock on the rear axle as the theives often have a raised towball so that they can tow a twin with the front axle raised
Quote: Originally posted by pamanddoug on 02/11/2012
A caravan fitter told me to put the alko lock on the rear axle as the theives often have a raised towball so that they can tow a twin with the front axle raised
Think you will find for insurance cover you need to fit both wheel locks and a hitch lock that is what my insurance cover states other wise no cover ??
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Topic: Twin axle levelling
