How to level a motorhome: levelling ramps and levelling systems

If your motorhome isn't level, you'll notice by the first night at the latest: you slide to one side of the bed, the shower doesn't drain and the door swings shut on its own. You can level it with levelling ramps, stabiliser jacks or a levelling system. This article explains why it matters, which solutions there are, how to level a motorhome without guesswork and how Camper Jarvis helps you do it.

Why your motorhome should be level

• Sleeping: You feel even a slight tilt when you're lying down. Your head should never be lower than your feet.
• Water: The shower and sink only drain if the slope is right. If the vehicle tilts the wrong way, water stays in the shower tray.
• Fridge: Absorption fridges need to be roughly level, otherwise they don't cool well. How much tilt is allowed is in the manufacturer's manual.
• Tank gauge: If the vehicle tilts, the water in the tank tilts too, and every tank gauge shows a distorted value. More in Camper tank level sensors.
• Doors and flaps: Cupboard doors and the habitation door stay where you put them instead of opening or closing on their own.

The solutions compared

Solution	How it works	Strength	Weakness
Levelling ramps (wedges)	Stepped plastic ramps that you drive onto with one or more wheels	Cheap, light, no installation	Without measuring, lots of trial and error: ramp under, check, back off again
Manual stabiliser jacks	Wind-down jacks at the rear or at the corners	Stable footing, less rocking	Usually not designed to make up large height differences, lots of winding
Electric stabiliser jacks	Jacks that extend by motor	Convenient, stable	Installation, weight, cost
Hydraulic levelling system	Hydraulic jacks level the vehicle at the push of a button, often automatically	Fast, accurate, no need to get out	Expensive, heavy, installed by a specialist workshop
Air suspension with level control	Air bags raise or lower individual sides	Comfort while driving too	Limited levelling range, depends on the vehicle

For most panel vans and semi-integrated motorhomes, levelling ramps remain the practical solution. The problem isn't the ramp, it's the guesswork: how high does each ramp need to be, and which wheel does it go under?

Level without guesswork: Vehicle level

The SmartKnob has a built-in tilt sensor. The Vehicle level widget turns its readings into step-by-step camper levelling. You set it up once in the dashboard, in a few steps:

1. Orientation: You say which way you look when you stand in front of the SmartKnob: Forward, Backward, Left or Right. That tells the widget which wall the SmartKnob hangs on and which way it faces. Front is then really the front, wherever it sits.
2. Display: You choose whether you want to see the tilt in degrees or the block height for each wheel.
3. Vehicle: For the block height you select your base vehicle, for example Fiat Ducato, Citroën Jumper, Peugeot Boxer, Ducato on an AL-KO chassis, Mercedes Sprinter, VW Crafter, Ford Transit, Iveco Daily, Renault Master or VW Bus, and then its length. You'll find it in the German registration certificate (Fahrzeugschein), field 18. If your vehicle isn't listed, you enter the wheelbase and track width yourself. Both are in the certificate of conformity (CoC), items 4 and 30.
4. Zero point: You park the vehicle once on level ground, ideally checked with a spirit level on the floor, once lengthwise and once crosswise. Then you tap “It is level” and don't move inside the vehicle for 5 seconds. From now on, this position counts as level. You can also set the zero point directly on the SmartKnob and set it again at any time.

After that, the widget in the dashboard and on the SmartKnob shows your vehicle from above, with a dot for the tilt and the block heights at the four wheels, accurate to the millimetre. The highest wheel reads 0, and every other wheel needs a ramp of the height shown. Where the dot points, that's where the ramp goes. So you drive on once instead of trying three times, and you can keep an eye on the display from the driver's seat while manoeuvring.

Vehicle level in the dashboard: tilt side to side and front to back, and the block height for each wheel. Here 9.4cm go under the rear left wheel.

And on the SmartKnob: the same block heights at the four wheels, right on the rotary knob.

You decide how precise “level” needs to be: Relaxed for a quick stop, Normal for sleeping or Very precise. Green means level, yellow means almost level. Out of the box, the display is green up to 0.5° and yellow up to 1.5°.

Because the sensor is fixed in the vehicle and calibrated to your zero point, it always measures the same way. A phone app, on the other hand, only measures as well as you place the phone.

What about a motorhome levelling system?

If your vehicle has a hydraulic levelling system or air suspension, it levels itself with its own sensors. Until now, though, such a system has had its own control unit and knows nothing about the rest of the vehicle.

We are working on connecting Camper Jarvis to an automatic levelling system. You will then control levelling on the SmartKnob and in the dashboard, just like lighting, heating and water, and the vehicle will level itself at the push of a button. As soon as it's ready, you'll find it here.

Levelling tips

• Choose your pitch first: A few metres further on, the ground is often much more level. A quick look at the tilt can save you the ramps.
• Bed up, not down: If your head is slightly higher than your feet in bed, you sleep better than the other way round.
• Front to back first, then side to side: Even out the difference front to back with both wheels of one axle, then the side.
• Handbrake and gear: Once you're on the ramps, pull the handbrake and put it in gear or in P. Before you drive off, only remove the ramps once the vehicle is standing safely again.
• Ramps on firm ground: On soft ground, ramps sink in. A base plate helps.

What else a smart motorhome can do is shown in the guide Camper van smart home.