BAL tire leveler for a 17A?

[Tony N]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Tony, yes, with a bottle jack and literally just a tad. I mean that. Like maybe 1/4" for me. I find it I run the leveler ALL the way down where it's 'floppy' loose off the screw, it certainly comes out easier from the tire. Does this make sense?

Thanks for the information Donna. I was able to bend it but will have to wait until spring to get the trailer out of storage and try it. The BAL is admittedly heavy and clumsy but we find it works better for us, in that it seems to lock the trailer in place. Tony

[h2owmn]

I may be the lone dissenter....i'm a single traveler but the BAL is heavy and messy and big to store. I now use an andersen wedge leveler and can usually eyeball the backup necessary by just looking at the black bellyband in the rear view mirror. Currently less expensive than amazon at camping world if you can pick up in person.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by h2owmn

I may be the lone dissenter....i'm a single traveler but the BAL is heavy and messy and big to store. I now use an andersen wedge leveler and can usually eyeball the backup necessary by just looking at the black bellyband in the rear view mirror. Currently less expensive than amazon at camping world if you can pick up in person.

And that's perfectly okay. Different strokes for different folks. I don't find the BAL to be heavy nor messy and since my tug is a truck, storage isn't an issue either. BTW, I carry the BALs in heavy-duty Pizza bags

[JeffreyG]

Originally Posted by Tony N

Thanks for the information Donna. I was able to bend it but will have to wait until spring to get the trailer out of storage and try it. The BAL is admittedly heavy and clumsy but we find it works better for us, in that it seems to lock the trailer in place. Tony

As a note, in case you are not aware you can get a wiggle free camp with just a pair of chocks.

1) Pull the low wheel onto your crescent or block levelers and get the trailer level.
2) Place a chock in front of the high wheel. Drive forward another inch onto the chock.
3) Place another chock behind the low wheel and let the trailer / tug settle. The low wheel will be firmly trapped between the two chocks and your trailer will be wiggle free.

This is very easily done with two people, slightly more of a PITA with one (you have to use the parking brake to set the second chock). And this is why I say the BAL is kind of nice if you camp alone, but not really faster or better if you have two people.

[Nemo]

I used this BAL Leveler on our 1st TT, 2021 Clipper 20ft 3800lb. The 2nd yr the threads stripped out. The weight rating was not listed at the time but was for 2000lbs. Think a bit light for my trail and as a newbie I never lubed it.


I replace it with this one now and love it for single axle TT.



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1.



Rated for twice the weight but tight for the 15 inch tires on my 2022 Wildwood FSX 22ft. I have to use a jack to get it under the tire.


Hope this helps

[Sandra L]

Originally Posted by Sarah Henderson

Hi all --

Curious to know if anyone has tried this product with a 17?

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00...K6Y9EEQB&psc=1

Thanks,

Sarah

I have used a BAL leveler on my 17 B for many years. The downside for me is that it is heavy to carry. However, it works great. I put a rubber cap on the top of the screw rod or whatever it’s called for safety reasons.

[endorice]

Sarah – I have used the BAL leveler with my 17A (and previously with two different pop-ups). Works just fine. On soft ground you might need to dig away a little dirt in order to wedge the BAL under the tires.

Pretty much what everyone else says – whatever your preference is since there are pros/cons with each system. I finally moved away from the BAL to an Anderson leveler. I find with a section of 2” x 10” and the Anderson, it’s simpler for me personally.

The suggestion of storing the BAL in a pizza delivery pouch is a great one.

One thing to note, as this happened to me on my Escape camper. After getting the BAL under the wheel, and cranking it up, the head of the shaft detached. I had no way of lowering the camper and I was *really* remote camping. Fortunately, I had a large pair of vise-grips in the camper and I was able to use that to get the camper back down. Something you might want to consider!

Gerald

[Bobbie54]

I'll have to fish mine out and try it. I used it with the Campster which weighed 1/3 what the 17b does. It is nice that it also chocks the trailer so you don't have as much to worry about but yes- big and heavy.

[Donna D.]

BAL Leveler: Dimensions: 21"x19.5"x4" and weighs 14 pounds. I know lots of things are subjective, but I wouldn't call this big OR heavy. Especially when a lot of people carry generators which are bigger and weigh right at 50lbs or more.

[Sarah Henderson]

We finally got the new (to us) trailer out over the weekend, and I wanted to report that the BAL tire leveller worked like a charm on our 2018 17A. I did not need to widen the flanges; it fit perfectly right out of the box. I was very pleased to pull into camp and level out so quickly and easily. Thanks to everyone here for the advice!