HWH Auto Leveling - Wheels Off Ground

[Sky_Boss]

Hello all and OH YA! Picked up the coach on Friday! Sooo exciting...

Anyway...

We have a lot in a local storage service to keep it parked for a week or so while we set it up and all the fun stuff for getting it ready to go to a camp ground. It is parked on solid concrete that is level from side to side but slopes back a bit. The HWH doesn't indicate that I have an excessive grade and when activated appeared to set us up pretty darn level but did indicate a yellow light between the 2 back jack lights. When I inspected the coach I found the back set of wheels about 2-3" off the ground. I went ahead and stowed the jacks since I wasn't sure about that being proper.

Is that an acceptable situation? Any thoughts?

[Doug Sage]

NO!!! First of all the only parking brake is through the rear wheels. If they are in the air then the rig is free to roll downhill! Secondly, I strongly recommend that you always have the wheels on the ground. In extreme cases like this you should put the low set of wheels on boards and block them with chocks. Then put blocks under the jacks and level. There is a lot of leverage when the jacks are fully extended and moving around in the rig or a breeze can cause the rig to move and bend the jacks. Don't do it.

[RKL]

no.....you can level it better by going to manual mode, dumping air and raising only the rear end but not so that the wheels are off the ground...if possible then you could raise the front till level....or leave the front off the jacks....RKL

[Sky_Boss]

Thanks for the education!

Having the coach level is not essential for this first week. We are not running the refer. It is real windy so all I needed was to help it be a bit more stable. I manually deployed the jacks in front and back. The fronts just barely lift th bumper and the back ones raise the back bumper about 2 inches. We can walk around the coach without it swaying. The wind gives it a little sway but not bad at all. I assume that high winds will always cause some motion regardless of how "perfect" the jacks are deployed.

Wheels are also choked.

Does all this seem to be reasonable?

[FIRE UP]

Well,
The subject of correct proceedure leveling comes up every now and then. Your answers you've received so far are correct. In all reality, you should never raise the rear wheels off the ground due to the fact that the parking brakes/emergency brakes will not be in effect if you do so. Now, this is where I differ from a lot of RVers, I almost always use ramps that I carry on board the rig to do the preliminary leveling with.

I get the rig as close to level as possible by driving on or backing on those ramps as needed. That is, If I have to use all four ramps under the rear duals, then that's fine. If I have to use two on one set of rear duals and the other ramp on the front of the same side, then that's fine too.

Once that's done, then I place blocks under the jack pads so the jacks don't have to travel the l longer distance to accomplish the "fine tuning" they do in the final stage of leveling. When done in this manner, the rig is about as stabil as it can get, all the wheels and tires are touching the ground, the brakes are still in effect, and the jack system isn't stretched beyond belief to TRY and get the rig level. It takes just a minute or two to do it this way but, it works better every time.
Scott

[steelheadbluesman]

I think we all agree -- I also never raise the rear tires off the ground. But, front tires (the lighter end of the rig) are often off the ground. Rarely use the auto level feature, because it wants to pick the whole rig up way too far. My preference is to take the weight off the chassis and get level as low as possible. I use thick plywood squares, 12" by 12", for pads so my jacks don't punch into the ground/blacktop,grass, whatever. Have fun!

[Steve N Sal]

Yow, good thing you asked. As mentioned keep those backside tires on the ground.

[JimM68]

I completely agree that auto level often raises the coach much higher than required.


I completely disagree with anyone who thinks a large box on sticks is able to roll anywhere.

I'm particularly amused by those who claim anecdotal evidence that this has actually happenned.

[steelheadbluesman]

Originally Posted by JimM68

I completely agree that auto level often raises the coach much higher than required.


I completely disagree with anyone who thinks a large box on sticks is able to roll anywhere.

I'm particularly amused by those who claim anecdotal evidence that this has actually happenned.

Yeah, me too.... but I still like having my rear tires on planet earth

[John Mo]

Auto-level is pretty much useless. It'll get it level, but it'll be much higher than it needs to be.

[AFChap]

Auto level works great on my coach, and doesn't raise the coach all that much ...maybe the difference in a diesel that drops due to dumping air, and a gasser that does not? I do avoid letting it raise the rear wheels, but that can be controlled by carefully parking too in most situations. We can in some situations require a step to help getting in the door if on a sloped site where that corner gets lifted higher. When the slope causes the front tires to lift I normally slide a 2x6 or two under them AFTER they lift. The suspension will sag a bit and then the boards are securely held in place ...not being able to see daylight under the tires settles the DWs nerves considerably.

[Texas TC]

Now this thread brings up another point. I had electric leveling jacks on my previous coach and always leveled when in storage. I continued this practice with the hydraulic jacks until I went to Camp Freightliner. Mike Cody says you should not store your coach with the jacks down with a hydraulic leveling system. Instead, he recommends you place tall blocks under the jack pads and release the air from the suspension system so the jack pads rest on the blocks. The theory is not to have the hydraulic system under pressure for extended periods of non use.

I don't agree or disagree with this theory but decided to give it a try. If your storage location is fairly flat in the first place, this method takes some of the pressure off the tires and rests the load back on the chassis.

And to the original point, never store the coach with the rear wheels off the ground!

TxTC

[Dadeaux]

Originally Posted by JimM68

I completely disagree with anyone who thinks a large box on sticks is able to roll anywhere.

+1 My thinking exactly.

[AFChap]

No idea who Mike Cody is, but HWH reps at Winnebago GNR have consistently said put the jacks down during storage. My jacks have been down most of their lives, except for the few days here and there when we moved on to the next place. We've had zero problems with the jacks ...never wipe them down, etc ...just use 'em. Hydraulic systems are designed to be under pressure...

It sounds like the blocks under the jacks before dumping air might work if someone wanted to try it ...

[bachler]

This is an interesting post. However Sometimes I feel My mind is getting Poluted With all those suposable Higher Know it alls ; After 73 years I find the answer is with each Indevidual .My feelings are If the wheels need to be off the ground to be leval . so be it. . I will say the HWH jack system is MUCH stouter then the frame on your coach; So don't worry about the jacks;; I can only say . WHAT IS A MAN TO BELIEVE ????

[FIRE UP]

Well,
I'll have to say, since we've purchased our Itasca Horizon, 2004 36GD, with the 330 CAT about 11 months ago, I've used the Auto leveling system a dozen times and it's been absolutely flawless. It does NOT raise the coach too much. I've watched it several times and while I'm smart enough NOT to use it on real unlevel ground, it barely raises the coach to the travel ride height. It works great every time. Now, like stated, if we camp in a fairly unlevel spot, I use common sence and drive onto ramps, etc. for a "Pre-level" set up and then, take a minute to place blocks under the jack pads so they don't have to extend too much to do the fine tuning and stabilization. The entire operation of leveling in un level camp spot takes around, 5 minutes. After all, it's not an "Indy Pit stop", I'm just getting ready for some nice, relaxing camping.

And then I'm happy that the coach leveling system did not have to strain that much of the frame just to get me close to level. And I agree on the use of the jack system while at home or in storage. It's a hydraulic system, they're meant to be used, short term or long term. I rarely wipe mine down either. I did have one lag a bit on its way up during our departure proceedures last time out. I hit the down button, brought it back to touch the ground, sprayed some silicone spray on it and let it retract. It's a bit on the slow side but, it went all the way up. Let's face it, that rig is 36' long and that jack was all the way in the back and those srpings have to force that hydraulic fluid through all those lines, cold or warm, all the way back to the reservoir.

Sure, it does it, but, that's a feat even for those strong springs.
Scott

[wb7auk]

For those that say lifting the rear tires off the ground because of the loss of the parking brakes have been sold a bill of goods. The minute the jack pads start to take on weight the braking ability of the tires diminishes fast. What does happen is the weight that was spread over several inches of rubber now is applied to a much smaller area and the pounds per sq. inch is very high. The end results is a much better ability of holding the MH in place. The main reason they do not want the wheels off the ground has to do with too much downward weight on the suspension that among other things could cause problems with hoses, air bags and the like.