Level pitching vs roof operation

[AdamsFamily]

After 5 months of having our Cali and getting everything together, its finally time for a proper camp out.

I'm pretty sure I have read somewhere that you need to be as level as possible for safe operation of the electric roof. By safe, I mean to avoid sides raising and lowering incorrectly.
Now I can't find it anywhere on here, and OH has done what I don't do and RTFM - nothing in there either.

So first question, and the main one is did I dream this - do you need to be pretty spot on level to open/close the roof.
My next question is LEVELS - obviously they are going to help get you pretty flat in all directions, but are they really necessary?
I ask this as I see so many going up for sale which makes me wonder if they are one of those items you find you don't use/need.

Thanks in advance

 

[TripleBee]

I think being level left to right is more important than being level nose to tail.

 

[dspuk]

Not sure what you have but the 6.1 has a level built in. If older just use the level on your phone. We used to obsess over level at the start but find it’s hard to tell the difference up to about 2 degrees. We also used to carry levelling ramps but have ditched now. As mentioned left to right more important for raising the roof and if you have to be on a slight slope try and make sure it’s feet down.

I’ll be honest though, with experience, it’s generally a non issue.

 

[Corradobrit]

The levels are not always necessary but sometimes you have limited manoeverability and thats when leveling chock's are useful. I've used mine 4-5 times and when not in use slide neatly ot of the way in the gap normally occupied by the small bench drawer.

 

[ThomasHJ]

After 5 months of having our Cali and getting everything together, its finally time for a proper camp out.

I'm pretty sure I have read somewhere that you need to be as level as possible for safe operation of the electric roof. By safe, I mean to avoid sides raising and lowering incorrectly.
Now I can't find it anywhere on here, and OH has done what I don't do and RTFM - nothing in there either.

So first question, and the main one is did I dream this - do you need to be pretty spot on level to open/close the roof.
My next question is LEVELS - obviously they are going to help get you pretty flat in all directions, but are they really necessary?
I ask this as I see so many going up for sale which makes me wonder if they are one of those items you find you don't use/need.

Thanks in advance

I have never thought about, let alone worried about the levelness of the van when it comes to raising or lowering the roof. Never occured to me and never had any problems. And we prefer camping in small, natural camp sites with grass pitches, so often somewhat uneven. We carry two levels which (as mentioned above by @TripleBee) we mostly use to make sure we don't roll onto each other while sleeping ;-). If the van is not level front to back, then we also use them, but unless you want to carry huge levels, they do only help a little bit. Sometimes we just move our pillows to the back of the van and sleep with our heads there. Often though, just choosing the most level spot on the pitch is enough.

 

[Maidment_Ocean]

Been using my Van for 18 months, used ramps maybe 5 times no issues. My understanding is that any roof issues can come if you use one ramp on a corner and the chassis is twisted and then bring the roof down. Simple fix is to just roll off the ramp before you drop the roof so chassis is not twisted. I remember Campervantime had this issue in a YouTube video once.

 

[RedWhiteMonkey]

As already said, being level left to right is much more important than front to back. Your T6.1 will have a level indicator in the command panel but don't get hung up on trying to perfectly level, you won't notice a few tenths of a degree.

I personally prefer to have my head a little higher than my feet, otherwise it feels like all the blood is going to my head!

Ps. You've had your van five without camping in it! You've got much more patience than me.

 

[acer]

We use ours a lot to get onto more interesting spots, maybe 3 camps in 5. But we’re also a bit fussy about being as level as possible, so I’m not sure how much that helps.

 

[Hawthorn37]

The only occasion when we’ve had an issue on closing the roof was when renting a van (try before buy deal) and we didn’t have levelling ramps. The site was hard standing but the field sloped downwards. We didn’t realise the roof was left up on the left side until driving away, and someone flashed us. We raised the roof fully and closed it, without issues.

With our own van, we’ve pitched at a left to right angle up to about 1.8 degrees (according to the display). We haven’t had issues, but we’re aware of needing to keep eyes on the roof when lowering.

 

[MyrtleMoo]

Same as others here - hadn't really given it much thought when it comes to the roof, but we generally aim for a fairly level pitch anyway. We do carry ramps and find we use them maybe 50% of the time, the times we've needed them I've been glad to have them - though they do eat space. Anything up to around 2 degrees for us is fine, though never sleeping with our heads downhill. Our ramps seem to give up to around 2, maybe 3 degrees of adjustment at most. If we're stopping more than one night, then I'll always use the ramps to try and level it.

It often feels like mensa-level problem solving trying to balance all the factors that go into that perfect pitch. Trying to balance a level pitch with best views, side-door downwind, nice view out the pop-top, roof angled into wind, solar pointed at the sun, mind that mud patch, easy drive off if damp, the list goes on and on.... having the ramps just helps give us one little bit of extra flexibility.

 

[Corradobrit]

Eat space yes, but they are hollow so can be packed with bits and pieces to maximise space utilisation.

 

[RedWhiteMonkey]

Full size ramps carried on the side of our van.

 

[AdamsFamily]

Thank you all for your replies, seems I may have been overthinking this.
Seems like left to right is more important, unless you don't like headrush in which case, cautionary on which end (front or back) is lower.

@dspuk - yes, T6.1 here, and it was the little levels that got me wondering how much it could be out of even. We'd driven around a few pitches in Bude and measured up and to be fair, most were under 1-2°

Thank you @Maidment_Ocean - I knew I wasn't going completely mad having seen something about it - it was the Campervantime video you referred to with the twisting chassis bit.

@RedWhiteMonkey I know, I know.... 5 months isn't good. We've had lots of day trips, and took it to Bude whilst we stayed in a lodge with friends but it was great for getting out and about down by the sea.
Its taken us a while to get the bits n pieces up together. Been trying not to over purchase but ensure we have what we need. That and work - just not had much time but as of now we are hoping to get as much use as we can.

 

[Hawthorn37]

To be honest, it’s a lot easier just doing it - than you might think when reading posts on forums etc. I suppose the complexity and cost of Cali’s causes that ‘gulp’ moment when things going slightly awry. After a while it’s just second nature.

 

[wildslammer22]

I’m a great believer in anything I carry in the van that doesn’t see regular use should do double duty if possible. On that basis I ditched my levelling ramps. I carry traction boards (for soft roading) and these combined with logs or rocks have always been enough for when I need to level the van. Anything under +/- 3° fore and aft I don’t bother, sometimes more as long as my head is higher than my feet and the kettle sits fine on the hob! I’ve never had an issue closing the roof following these rules of thumb.

As an aside I regretted getting rid of the ramps when I realised they would be handy for getting under the van when fitting my spare tyre bracket for example!

Enjoy your camp, first of many!

 

[Lambeth Cali]

You dreamt it.

 

[Habokjes]

View attachment 1743437453934.jpegWe got these, together with
a bespoke mounting solution, can be used to level the van and help us out when we get stuck at some nice and remote place.

 

[happyjames013]

You need levelling ramps. I’ve had a camper of some kind for 35 years and trying to sleep on an uneven pitch is horrible.
As for the roof, it doesn’t have to be perfectly level, but, left to right, the stress on the rams and hinges is quite considerable. Consequently, I minimise it as much as I can without being silly. Imagine standing on a slope sideways, your down hill leg is taking a lot more weight than your right and vans don’t have hips/backs other human bits to compensate.

 

[stephen watson]

Full size ramps carried on the side of our van.

View attachment 133729

Looks good. Please do you have a link to the rack/mount? I've never seen this in the UK..

 

[RedWhiteMonkey]

Looks good. Please do you have a link to the rack/mount? I've never seen this in the UK..

I'm in Germany and they were bought from a German website. Its a combination of these three things and a holder for the ramps that I made from threaded bar, aluminium bar and screws.

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[RockinNRollin]

The issue I believe isn’t to do with how level the van is but more if there’s significant unevenness putting stress on the van body (eg front axle and rear axle aren’t parallel due to back right wheel in a dip). The roof closed will act like a brace and add stiffness but with the roof up, the van body may flex slightly - when you bring the roof back down again it then may not evenly match up to the van body again. Pretty sure I’ve seen this happen in a @CampervanTime video somewhere in Scotland? Moving the van to a level spot, raising and dropping the roof cures it.

 

[stephen watson]

I'm in Germany and they were bought from a German website. Its a combination of these three things and a holder for the ramps that I made from threaded bar, aluminium bar and screws.

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Tool-Board für VW Bus - Robustes Zubehörpanel

Das Tool-Board ist die ideale Ergänzung für Abenteuerliebhaber im VW Bus. Befestige flexibel Zubehör an deinem Adventure Van und erlebe unvergessliche Abenteuer!

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Thank you