Levelling blocks

Paul,
Thanks for making me laugh, trouble is my ayattolla is sat beside me 

I remember seeing somewhere a design for some ingenious home made levelers made out of two bits of ply hinged together with a threaded steel bar at the open end that you used to effectively jack the van up. You drove onto the things, with the threaded bar end accessible, facing out just below hubcaps, and set to with spanner, socket, or battery drill. Anyone seen this?

pilchard wrote:I remember seeing somewhere a design for some ingenious home made levelers made out of two bits of ply hinged together with a threaded steel bar at the open end that you used to effectively jack the van up. You drove onto the things, with the threaded bar end accessible, facing out just below hubcaps, and set to with spanner, socket, or battery drill. Anyone seen this?

This type of leveller has been made commercially out of steel by Bulldog and Milenco. I had one when we had a caravan. It was very heavy and took a great deal of strength to actually wind it up with the weight of the van on it albeit only one wheel. Certainly wouldn't recommend one.

Paulmold wrote:

pilchard wrote:I remember seeing somewhere a design for some ingenious home made levelers made out of two bits of ply hinged together with a threaded steel bar at the open end that you used to effectively jack the van up. You drove onto the things, with the threaded bar end accessible, facing out just below hubcaps, and set to with spanner, socket, or battery drill. Anyone seen this?

This type of leveller has been made commercially out of steel by Bulldog and Milenco. I had one when we had a caravan. It was very heavy and took a great deal of strength to actually wind it up with the weight of the van on it albeit only one wheel. Certainly wouldn't recommend one.

Thanks Paul, I'll forget that one then. Isn't it often the case... something looks good on paper, but the reality has hidden downsides that outweigh the upsides. 
Having just bought a campervan... a Boxer Symbol... after at least 15 years without, I'm going to need a levelling system. But in such a small van you can easily weigh it down and fill it up with "essential" bits and bobs. Lightweight backpacking has taught me you can imorovise your way around most things, and I used to have a couple of robust short planks of wood with some small loose blocks... sometimes supplimented by the odd found rock or whatever came to hand. Heath Robinson maybe, but it worked... and the wood could be stashed virtually anywhere.

I've often thought that it'd be great to have an automatic air or hydraulic powered self levelling system. But I bet some of those super luxury jobs do actually have them. Am I right?

Yes you can get hydraulic levelling systems fitted but the cost would be close to the value of your Symbol (I exaggerate but you get my drift). We had a Symphony (virtually same as Symbol) and we had a pair of Fiamma Levelups but can't remember where we stored them but they weren't that much of an issue.

In my Symbol unless the nose end is up in the air, using the toilet is a two handed job for chaps as the lid slams shut if you let it go.

We do use ours quite regularly even though I am not 'that' fussed if not level. Usually depends on the weather as I'm not a fan of getting wet .

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]I very rarely use my blocks unless I recon on staying a few weeks and have always had this type which admittedly only has three height settings but puts no stress on the handbrake or transmission and don’t take up much room when stored.

What make are those biffobear? Like that lead in bit that will stop the   ramps escaping.

Hi Jay Tee found them on eBay years ago and at a show once. Try “Maypole 4605 levelling blocks “ on eBay. They are expensive but worth it.

Thanks Biffobear and Peter #1

Jaytee wrote:I Like that lead in bit, that will stop the ramps escaping.

That's given me an idea - perhaps a mod (attaching a flexible plastic strip of some sort) to my current ramps will overcome the issue of them trying to escape every time I use them on gravel!! I will be down the workshop tomorrow!
Happy Christmas to all.
Liam

Jaytee wrote:What make are those biffobear? Like that lead in bit that will stop the   ramps escaping.

I think we have recently discovered how to stop the ramps escaping on gravel hard standing. Rather than placing the ramps immediately to the tyres, leave a distance of say, half a metre and gently drive the van forward so as not to rev the engine. We have the Fiamma Magnum levellers and wheel chocs of a different make so are positioned at the back wheels. This then allows the handbrake to be released so as to rotate the cab seats without the van rolling back. When leaving site, it is a bit of a job to excavate the chocs from the gravel due to the weight of the van pressing on them. Assume with integrated chocs you have to drive forward and drop off the (higher) end?

We tried to use one on a slopey pub car park and it ricocheted across the car park at about the speed of light . Fortunately no one was in the firing line .

When I bought my Fiammas I also bought a couple of small extensions very similar to biffobear's but I have never usec them. As far as I remember they clip onto the underneath of the nkse of the ramp.

I've had my Fiamma ramps slide on a few occasions, so I always use the extensions now.
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Those extentions are the best way to stop your levelling blocks go walkabout, even on gravel.

I've used rubber mats under ramps to stop them shooting away.

I’ve never use that lead in thing as these blocks don’t tend to shoot out from under your wheels. Proberbly because the gradient is not as steep as other blocks and the wheel rests on a level parallel to the ground they are stood on. ( They are pricey as the price you see is not for a pair but one block set)