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How to Level Your Tiny House Trailer
- By Sang Kim
- Updated:
Leveling a trailer is simple and easy when equipped with proper tools. On this page, we will go over the best jacks to use when propping up your tiny home. Then, I will show you how to level a trailer properly.
Table of Contents
Materials and Tools You Need
Find a good place to park your trailer
Leveling a trailer is important because construction must take place on a leveled surface. Your entire tiny house will be tilted if you start building on an unleveled foundation. You will have lots of headaches fixing this issue later on. So get it right the first time and never have to worry!
Find a location in your building lot where the ground is already roughly leveled. Leveling a trailer on a firm, already leveled surface will reduce the amount of time you will spend leveling the trailer.
Preparation needed before leveling
Depending on the estimated final weight of your entire tiny home, you will need to size your jack stands properly
For instance, my 24ft trailer tiny home trailer can handle a weight of up to 14,000 lbs. So I purchased 2 pairs of 6 ton Torin jack stands on Amazon. Since I bought two pairs, my jack stands could withstand up to 12 tons or 24,000 lbs!
Torin Big Steel Jack Stands 6 Ton (12,000 lbs)
I've used these for the entire duration of the build and currently using them to support my finished trailer. These things won't even move an inch.
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Where should I place my jack stands?
You should place jacks in the halfway point between the ends of the trailer and the ends of the fender as shown below.
You can place them on every four corners but I find that the trailer will start to bend towards the middle making it difficult to level the trailer.
Using your hands or a shovel, even out the surface where the jack stands will stand. Place a torpedo level on the surface to make sure it is even.
Leveling The Tiny House Trailer
Of the four locations identified in the image above, identify the location that is at the highest point from the ground relative to the other three locations. Place your first jack at this location.
Using a hydraulic jack, slowly bring up the other 3 locations to level with the first jack.
Torin Big Steel Jack Stands 6 Ton (12,000 lbs)
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Important – Make sure to raise the trailer high enough so that the tongue jack is off the ground. If the tounge jack is touching the ground, the trailer will not properly level.
Place a 4ft level on different parts of the trailer deck to check for level. Make adjustments until the trailer is fully leveled on all four sides.
Once leveled, lower the tongue jack all the way down to the ground to ensure additional stability. Done!
Frequently Asked Questions
Scissor jacks are meant to stabilize the swaying motion whereas jack stands are designed to support the weight directly. We recommend using jack stands instead of scissor jacks.
No, you don’t have to level the trailer until the walls are raised. However, leveling the trailer is recommended before any construction takes place.
Sang Kim is the founder of Riding Tiny® and has been active in the tiny house scene since 2018. Since then, his mission is to help people plan and build their dream tiny homes. And each year, he continues to help more people on the path to simple living and financial independence. Follow Sang's journey @ridingtiny
Sang Kim is the founder of Riding Tiny® and has been active in the tiny house scene since 2018. Since then, his mission is to help people plan and build their dream tiny homes. And each year, he continues to help more people on the path to simple living and financial independence. Follow Sang's journey @ridingtiny
Get our FREE tiny house materials list to help estimate costs of your tiny home.
By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from Riding Tiny. We’ll respect your privacy and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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