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Old 01-20-2016, 02:36 PM   #1
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Receiver height

Wife and I, just upgraded to a 2015 Winnebago Tour QD, which is currently stored down south until Mid Feb. I need to replace my current ball mount and forgot to measure the distance from the ground to the center of the 2 inch square receiver, when the coach in the travel mode, any info. on this I would appreciate. My Second question is the manual states the engine should be running when extending and retracting the slide outs, they are Power gear units is this harmful on the engine when starting and stopping just to do the slides and not driving the coach all the time. I have a lot to learn and will turn to the pros here on this forum. Thanks Steve.
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Old 01-20-2016, 06:22 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by steve4539 View Post
Wife and I, just upgraded to a 2015 Winnebago Tour QD, which is currently stored down south until Mid Feb. I need to replace my current ball mount and forgot to measure the distance from the ground to the center of the 2 inch square receiver, when the coach in the travel mode, any info. on this I would appreciate. My Second question is the manual states the engine should be running when extending and retracting the slide outs, they are Power gear units is this harmful on the engine when starting and stopping just to do the slides and not driving the coach all the time. I have a lot to learn and will turn to the pros here on this forum. Thanks Steve.
I can't answer the first question because we are not in travel mode, but I can tell you it is several inches lower than our '07 Endeavor. Blue Ox tow bar and Jeep didn't care, but I will have to get a raised extension for my ATV trailer to keep it from riding tongue down. As for the engine running for the jacks and slides, it does dose say "engine running." During the PDI I was told this was because of the power requirements for that big 25' slide. I haven't tried doing it without the engine running and don't plan on trying. Yes, diesels are not supposed to be short cycled. Don't worry about the Cummins ISL. A few short cycles is not going to kill that beast. It won't die on your watch from a few short starts and stops.
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Old 01-21-2016, 07:48 AM   #3
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My manual also says to have the engine running. But I have run my slides in/out many times without running the engine. As long as your batteries are good, it should work okay.
I can't help with the receiver height.
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Old 01-21-2016, 09:01 AM   #4
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Having the engine running during slide extension and retraction isn't much of an issue as you are usually extending the slide after arrival with the engine running or preparing for departure and you can start the engine and leave running until departure.
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Old 01-21-2016, 09:07 AM   #5
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We have been in a few areas where wind had a possibility of damaging the toppers so I would pull the slide in without using the engine. Unless they reduced the capacity of the motors on the slides there should not be a problem. I would not do it consistently. I have also short cycled the engine a few times to do the same thing. I have done the leveling system the same way. Typically when we pull in the engine is running to do all that and when we depart the engine is running.

The batteries need to be in good shape. A lot of current is used to move the slides.
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Old 01-21-2016, 10:19 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BVThunder View Post
Blue Ox tow bar and Jeep didn't care, but I will have to get a raised extension for my ATV trailer to keep it from riding tongue down.
You might want to read this piece from Blue Ox to see why the tow bar might care about the receiver to base plate difference. The hitch angle is every bit as important with a receiver hitch as it is with a ball hitch.

www.irv2.com/forums/f85/tow-bar-angle-and-height-difference-16631.html

I use a 6"drop to get my 03 Ultimate Advantage receiver within 4" of the very low base plate on my Honda Odyssey.
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Old 01-28-2016, 01:01 PM   #7
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I use a Roadmaster All Terrain bar with my 2012 Tour. Since it fits right into the Receiver the height really doesn't matter. There is no ball. This bar is very easy to connect/disconnect and I have never had it bind.

I try to always have my engine running when operating the slides. As discussed most times this is when you arrive/depart a campground so the engine is running anyway.
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Old 01-28-2016, 04:32 PM   #8
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I use a Roadmaster All Terrain bar with my 2012 Tour. Since it fits right into the Receiver the height really doesn't matter.
Absolutely & dangerously wrong! See the Blue Ox info above. Blue Ox/Roadmaster/Demco/etc makes no difference. The height relationship of the tow bar connect points to the receiver is very important (though very often ignored). As I recall, they should be within 4" of one another, and the base plate end should NEVER be higher than the receiver. It has to do with stresses on the drawbar & hitch, especially in hard braking situations.

About 12 years or so ago Blue Ox replaced the drawbars on aluminum hitches with steel drawbars as they were snapping in two at the receiver from excessive up/down stress at that point. The stress is already there, but is greatly increased (at other points too) when the height differential between the connect points is to great.
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Old 01-28-2016, 06:06 PM   #9
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nova 42qd - I was under the impression Roadmaster tow bars must be + or - 3 inches to level. At least my roadmaster falcon 2 bar has to be. Which roadmaster all terrain tow bar do you have?
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Old 01-29-2016, 05:44 AM   #10
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I should have been clearer - certainly the distance relationship needs to be reasonable. I would not try towing a big 4X4 with oversized tires for example.

The point of the All Terrain bar is to handle variations in terrain that can impact the relationship between the receiver and the ground. I tow a 2015 Subaru Forester with no problem. Have logged more than 5K miles at this point with that set up.

My Suby has a manual transmission allowing it to be flat towed - in case anyone is wondering.
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Old 01-29-2016, 06:51 AM   #11
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The reason Power Gear manual says to have the engine running when extending or retracting slides and jacks is to ensure there is sufficient electrical power to activate the system. If the batteries get low the jacks and/or slide motors will stop and you'll get a "Low Battery" or similar message on the display panel.


In some cases the batteries may then be low enough that the engine won't start. If your coach keeps the batteries charged from shore power it's essentially the same thing. Our Schwintec slides and jacks (made by the same company) have the same warning. We just leave the coach plugged in until the slides are retracted.
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Old 01-29-2016, 02:52 PM   #12
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Receier Height

Thanks to everyone for your reply's. I did find out the coach receiver is 16 and 1/2 inches from the ground. My car, with stowmaster installed is 17 inches from ground so I need about a 1 inch rise ball mount to be level. As far as extending and retracting the slides. I first tried with out running the engine. I got a low battery voltage led on the slide operation panel. I checked the one place panel and chassis battery was reading 12.9, after starting the engine it jumped to 14.0 and with the engine running retracted all the slides for storage. My friend has a 2014 Tour with the lippert systems and can extend and retract just being plugged into shore power,which I was to, but I had to start the engine just like my previous 2012 Winnebago Adventurer. The manual does say to run engine, so I will limit the times I have to do this. Thanks again. Steve.
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Old 01-29-2016, 04:37 PM   #13
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If your batteries are in top condition and fully charged you should be able to extend and retract the slides without running the engine. However, batteries do get weaker with age. So to help the batteries we need to run the engine.
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Old 01-29-2016, 09:22 PM   #14
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Well gang,
We've owned our present coach, an '04 Itasca Horizon 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT now for almost 5 years. I've ran the galley slide and bedroom slide out and back in, probably around 40-50 times, both at home and, while camping, and NEVER had the engine running when doing it. Our slides are HWH hydraulic units. We keep the batteries fully charged at home and the same, IF, we're on hook-ups.

As has been stated, the primary reason for the engine running while extending or retracting slides is to provide maximum electrical power for the pump. Well, our batteries have done that task, just fine and no damage, to anything, batteries, slide pump, wires, connections, etc. has ever happened. I maybe wouldn't run them out and back in several times a day, without the engine running but, on an "as needed" basis, every once in a while, would surely be fine. Just keep the batteries up to snuff.

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Old 01-30-2016, 03:05 PM   #15
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Steve: Here is the short answer.


The slides electrical power comes from the engine batteries. The alternator, with engine running, supplies power to engine batteries first, coach batteries second.


You can figure it out from there. Our 2012 Tour has a massive full wall slide and needs all power possible.
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Old 01-30-2016, 03:59 PM   #16
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I run my full wall kitchen side slide in an out without the engine and never had a problem.
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Old 01-30-2016, 04:53 PM   #17
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Electrical thought behind it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hikerdogs View Post
The reason Power Gear manual says to have the engine running when extending or retracting slides and jacks is to ensure there is sufficient electrical power to activate the system. If the batteries get low the jacks and/or slide motors will stop and you'll get a "Low Battery" or similar message on the display panel.


In some cases the batteries may then be low enough that the engine won't start. If your coach keeps the batteries charged from shore power it's essentially the same thing. Our Schwintec slides and jacks (made by the same company) have the same warning. We just leave the coach plugged in until the slides are retracted.
Good answer...

Electrically you want the peak draw of current to not cause an excessive voltage drop. If you can monitor of the voltage you could watch that and as long as you don't exceed the same drop as it is with engine running there's no difference in how you do it. The other comments about usual cases are with engine running and watching for depleting the battery are true of course. I believe the thought of short cycling the engine not being a problem is correct but my bottom line would be to do what you want as long as you don't overload or underpower the slide motors.
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