Tool
How much lift the low side actually needs
A degree on a phone level is not a block count until you multiply it by the distance between the tires, or between the axle and the tongue. This does that, then stops you before the stack gets silly.
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Low-side tires
2.79 in3 blocks at 1 in make a 3 in stack, 0.21 in past the measured low.
On a curved leveler marked in 1/2-inch steps, the next mark at or above this lift is 3 inches. One leveler is one tire.
The assumptions, in the open
- Span for side-to-side is the track: tire center to tire center, not the overall width of the RV.
- Span for a trailer, front to back, is tongue jack to axle (the midpoint of a tandem), not the length of the trailer.
- Span for a motorhome is the wheelbase, front axle to rear axle.
- Presets are round numbers so you can start. Replace them with a tape measure.
- Andersen output uses the 3604 listing's half-inch steps and 4-inch maximum. One leveler is one tire.
- Frames twist. Level, lift, then put the level back on the floor and read it again.
- Chock the tires before anyone climbs in. A stack is a ramp if you forget.
Absorption refrigerators are often quoted at about 3 degrees side to side and 6 degrees front to back while they are running. That is a common manual figure, not a law, and compressor fridges are more forgiving. Check the fridge you have. The leveling roundup separates the gauge from the lift.
Questions worth answering first
What does the calculator assume?
The rig is a rigid beam between two supports. Lift in inches equals the span in inches times the tangent of the tilt angle. If you already measured the inch gap at those supports, we use that number and ignore the angle. One Camco-style interlocking block adds 1 inch, which is what Camco's 44505 and 44501 listings say a nested block adds. We warn above a 4-inch stack because Camco's FasTen listing caps stacks at 4.5 inches and a tire has to sit fully on the blocks.
Side to side, or front to back, first?
Side to side, at the tires. Then the tongue jack or landing gear for front to back. Doing the nose first on a twisted frame makes the bubble lie.
Where do the blocks go?
Under the low-side tires for a side tilt. Both tires on a tandem. For front to back on a trailer, the tongue jack usually does the work and blocks go under the jack foot, not under the coupler. On a motorhome, blocks or jacks go at the low axle.