So we had a new camper. A 2010 Jayco Jay feather. Not fancy, but ours. We did a thorough walk through inspection and made sure to document all the steps with our new video camera (per suggestions from other RV owners).
Now If only we knew how to drive it home… Fortunately, we were able to arrange one of the service guys to drop it off on his way home. He backed it up onto our graveled RV lot, un-hitched it and drove away with a wave. Bill and I looked at each other clueless about leveling it.
The problem we ran into was that the lot was too high on one side and very tough to level on the gravel. So we put a stump under the tongue and several 2x4s under the leveling jacks. A neighbor came over and helped us get it steady for the night. But decided it was too unstable for the kids to climb in.
Then in the middle of the night, Bill sits straight up in bed and yells, “I got it. I know what to do! God walked me through the entire process.”
We quickly learned that the flimsy hand crank to adjust the leveling jacks couldn’t handle the abuse we put it under. So Bill got out the socket wrench and we were back in business.
Unfortunately, Bill had developed a very bad case of sinusitis and couldn’t even move without a pounding headache. So I went to Home Depot and picked up some cheap 2x12’s for the tires and found odd 2x10 ends for 50 cents each (what a steal!). Perfect for the leveling jacks.
Bill had me pull the trailer forward (first time ever!) about 5 feet, then dig a trench about six inches deep on the high side. We scraped the gravel away from the low side and put two 2x12s down and screwed them together. Through much maneuvering, we were able to get the trailer almost completely level with one side down in the trench and the other side resting on boards. Then Bill cut the 2x10s down to about a foot each and we used stacks of them under the leveling jacks after clearing away the gravel (Bill had the kids do that). After using a spiffy new level we placed on the floor, it didn’t take us long to get the whole thing level and stable.
While it may not seem like a major accomplishment to level a trailer, it was huge to us. Because we had just completed the first step in getting her ready to move in. Bill slowly let out the one slide out and then hooked an extension cord up with the 30 amp converter in place. Now we had moderate shore power. Enough to power the lights, radio and TV. Plus, with the propane heater, we could warm it.
Again, a major accomplishment for us. Complete newbie’s to the RV world. Oh, glorious day! We felt invincible…
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