Van levelling calculator

[Old Techo]

I was in the shed fiddling around with a spirit level on a job and I had a caravan idea.

Whenever I set up our van on a site I endeavour to get the van quite level to ensure the shower will drain properly. It is easy to adjust longitudinally with the jockey wheel but laterally often needs blocks under the wheels. I normally place the van on the site in its final position and then stand at the back and make a visual judgment (guess) about lateral level. Then decide what blocks are needed to lift the low side. Next move the van half a metre, insert the blocks and move back onto them. If the guess is wrong, repeat process.

Today’s idea is to use a small spirit level combined with a wedge. With the van in the final position use the spirit level to check lateral fall. If any, slide in the wedge until it shows level. Note the marks on the wedge and it will tell you exactly how much the wheels need raising.

The calibration marks can be worked out easily enough knowing the length of the level. My pic is just for explanation as I have not done the simple calcs. Here it is intended to mean 1.5 inches lift required on the low side.

[glanyard]

OT,
I use two level inserts screwed to the A frame/draw bar; one longitudinally and one laterally.
I bought them on eBay 10 for $5.00 (I think) and when they fade I replace them. Because we don’t have the luxury of a shower or toilet on board, close enough is good enough. The hard part is getting the Minister for War used to knowing which one is which so that I don’t have to get out of the tug; still have to though.
glanyard

[Old Techo]

Thanks Glannie, but I have a bullseye level attached to my A-frame for checking level but like yours it does not tell me accurately how much I have to raise one side of the van when it is not level.

Examples…. https://www.google.com.au/webhp?sourcei … ye%20level

[TramcarTrev]

OT thats a really clever and simple way of doing it.

I had similar problems with the water forming a puddle in the shower, more about the solution in a second…

What I do with athwartship leveling is to drive (or back) onto site check to see if the transverse level is within cooee with the T level set up on the drawbar; http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Spirit-T-Lev … SwiCRUfEmT Yes? ok get on with the rest of it. No? then proceed as follows; sit my magnetic base inclinometer onto the drawbar, reverse the van 2 metres, lay down the 2 plastic leveling ramps in front of the wheels, Get back into the car and switch the rear camera on and look at the inclinometer dial as I drive slowly forward and the van moves up the ramps when I get to “0” stop and scream out to the conductress “Chocks in” she locks the chocks in, I pull on the handbrake and job is done, get on with the rest of it…

My problem was that the van needed to be tipped so far down in the shower corner it was impractical…

I had a look at what was going on and did a major rebuild of the shower base.

The drain is in the corner of the van yet the base had some how formed a shallow dish in the centre so I removed the base with what was little difficulty, 4 screws and undo the outlet, slice through the silicone with a new stanley knife blade. It has a semi rotating shower door that is merely guided by a groove in the base….

It had been stuck to the vynl flooring with liquid nails (or similar) but whoever installed the shower had not removed the protective layer off the vynl so the lot just peeled out… I got stuck into the underside of the base with a sharpened scraper and the glue seemed to cut away easily. Then I discovered that the drain had a 10mm bulge which because the hole for the drain was not large enough made the outlet sit 10mm higher creating the dish effect…

Clamp a bit of scrap wood underneath and drill a new 100mm hole thru the floor.

Next step was to make up 6 wedges about 600mm long tapering from 0mm to 10mm, put the shower base back in; connect up the drain then lay an old towel or 4 on the shower base and put some house bricks into the base to hold it down, slide the wedges in radially so that the thin end was at the outlet and the thick end was at the outslde it was still a bit “SPRINGY” so I just let it sit for a couple of days hoping the summer heat would allow it to relax and assume the shape I wanted. Then I got a couple of cans of high density expanding foam and some tube to make up an extension nozzel and slid that in between the wedges as far as it would go and gave the spaces a generous spurt. This stuff sticks like the proverbial to a blanket…

About that time I realised the foam was going to expand out all over the floor so I quickly masked off around the shower base just in the nick of time too.

Let that all cure for a day or so then examined my handywork and I was indeed lucky I had masked off the floor…. Stanley was again used to trim up the excess foam and then the masking was lifted and I had a 10mm gap all around the base of the shower BUT THE WATER RAN DOWN THE DRAIN!!!!
To conceal the gap I bought some white shiny melamine edging and applied it to cover the gap and no one notices it there…

What an excercise to get the water to run down the drain but the culminating pleasure we all treasure beyond measure is the gratifying feeling that our duty has been done…

[Old Techo]

TT, using ramps makes the levelling job progressive and easier but I’ve never liked ramps and said so here on more than one occasion.

I use oregon blocks. Some 2” thick and some 4” thick. With a tandem this gives me 1” increments in height adjustment.

Your shower base sounds like a big job but the effort was worthwhile. My shower is a single piece cubicle containing shower and dunny. The shower base is all part of the single piece moulding. It is flat on the bottom as it sits flat on the floor. The van needs to be slightly down on one side and slightly down at the front for best drainage.

[glanyard]

I tried the bulls eye level but didn’t feel it was in any way accurate.
At least with the two little levels I get a fairly good picture; it is really only to ensure the gas flame for the fridge is heating the element spot on and that I don’t fall out of bed.
glanyard

[TramcarTrev]

and that I don’t fall out of bed.
glanyard

Have you tried Viagra?
They give that to elderly gents in aged care facilites to stop them falling out of bed/

[glanyard]

and that I don’t fall out of bed.
glanyard

Have you tried Viagra?
They give that to elderly gents in aged care facilites to stop them falling out of bed/

The minister of war is exactly that and keeps hiding the Viagra from me.
glanyard

[Stuartandjan]

I use these https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4JQV15VzBc they do a great job.

[TramcarTrev]

I use these https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4JQV15VzBc they do a great job.

Recently in Ballarat I saw a chap with those, took him less than 1 minute to get level…
Might replace my ramps I think….