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Old 07-18-2011, 03:06 PM   #1
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Are Leveling jacks useful?

I was pondering leveling jacks and wondered if they were useful on my rig or not.
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Old 07-18-2011, 03:10 PM   #2
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Don't know the size of your mh but I have had mh's with and without leveling jacks and would not buy another one that did not have them. If the campsite is close to level, you back in, set the brake, and use the buttons or levers to level and stabalize. Of course if you have severe inclines you may still need to get out some leveling boards/blocks but the levelers make most days a bit easier.
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Old 07-18-2011, 03:50 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wildtoad
Don't know the size of your mh but I have had mh's with and without leveling jacks and would not buy another one that did not have them. If the campsite is close to level, you back in, set the brake, and use the buttons or levers to level and stabalize. Of course if you have severe inclines you may still need to get out some leveling boards/blocks but the levelers make most days a bit easier.
X2. Wouldn't buy a coach without them.
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Old 07-18-2011, 03:57 PM   #4
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X3 ditto
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Old 07-18-2011, 04:05 PM   #5
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Smile

On our class "C" Georgie Boy we didn't have leveling jacks so we had to dedicate one whole compartment to ramp boards. I firmly believe not having jacks contributed to the tranny failures as I had to rev the H__L out of the engine in order to climb up on the boards.
Our class "A" has jacks. Last winter, in Texas, a 5er owner came across the road and lamented that I had it too easy compared to the 5ers. All I had to do was push buttons and then go to the dump station. Upon returning just push a button to level. He said:"Do you have any idea what we have to go to to do a dump?" I replied yes, as we had owned two 5ers and a class "C"

GET IT WITH JACKS!!!!
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Old 07-18-2011, 04:50 PM   #6
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Park in a spot that is not level and spend all night shoving your mate back to his/her side of the bed. Nuff said. Gotta have jacks or airbags to level!
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Old 07-18-2011, 05:04 PM   #7
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Mine is a class C and they don't come with leveling jacks, but I was wondering if there was any advantage to buying those jacks used on trailers.
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Old 07-18-2011, 05:42 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FLIGHTSIMMER
Mine is a class C and they don't come with leveling jacks, but I was wondering if there was any advantage to buying those jacks used on trailers.
The only advantage over not having anything else would the trailer type might control some of the movement when walking around or going in or out of the coach. They are basically stabilizing jacks not intended for leveling.
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Old 07-18-2011, 06:28 PM   #9
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I do have airbags for the rear axles, but I doubet they would be any help for leveling.
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Old 07-18-2011, 08:04 PM   #10
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My research indicates that Class C buyers don't usually specify levellers. Most of the used ones we looked at last year were not equipped with them.

Our signature rig has 4 levellers and having had them, I wouldn't want a MH without them. The "automatic" feature is a pain in the tush, except the "retract all" feature. I found that automatic levelling raises all four corners way too high, to the point that you need steps to reach the steps!

I put my rig on jacks when stored in the driveway alongside the garage for the winter. I contacted the system manufacturer about doing that and they said it was a good idea as long as you kept the piston rods clean and wiped down with a rust preventative. They said that you should wipe them down about every two weeks unless you lived "close to saltwater". I was a bit surprised to find that they define "close" as being within 60 miles, as I'm within about 60 yards (across the street at the end of our neighbors' yards).
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Old 07-19-2011, 05:19 PM   #11
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Trailers usually have stabilizer jacks, NOT to be confused with leveling jacks. Not having levelers would be a deal breaker for me.
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Old 07-19-2011, 05:25 PM   #12
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Been with and without. Agree not having levelers would be a no go. Look for a reputable RV dealer and have them installed if you don't already have them. In Arizona we use Little Dealer Little Prices.

Have a great day!
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Old 07-19-2011, 05:35 PM   #13
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We had the manual Bal scissors jacks on our Class C, they were very useful on non-level sites. They would lift the front wheels off the ground, but that took a lot of elbow grease. On current our Class A, we have electric levelers and we would not be without them.

We also put supplemental airbags with in-cab controls on all 4 axle ends of both coaches, they are useful only for a couple of inches of lift, which does not translate to enough degrees of non-level at the fridge to make it useful, at least for our Class A. They do work very well side to side, though, we can be about 3" off level and the bags level us right up!
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Old 07-19-2011, 07:13 PM   #14
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If and that is IF we every go back to a motorhome, it will have a leveling system......Are they useful...more like necessary.

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Old 07-19-2011, 07:28 PM   #15
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X4 ditto. Wouldn't want to be without.
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Old 07-19-2011, 10:52 PM   #16
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Flightsimmer,
We've had two Cs and both of them came without leveling jacks. So, I did what you're thinking of. I installed the scissors type on both of them. Two just behind the front wheels and two more just behind the rear wheels. Yes, they are primarily intended for stabilization but, believe it or not, I actually could raise the coach quite a bit with them for fine tuning it when leveling.

The worked real well. I'd install them again on a C if that's all I had room for. Now, as for Cs not coming with them, well we've got two Cs in our camping group and both of them came with Hydraulic levelers when purchased new. Maybe all of them don't but surely some do.
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Old 07-19-2011, 11:10 PM   #17
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On our 41' DSDP we naturally have the jacks. Not automatic, but manual push button. Wouldn't have a rig this big without them. HOWEVER, at one park we like I still have to have blocks under the rear wheels and rear jacks due to the slope. The jacks are perfectly capable of lifting the entire rig off the ground (4 X 12,000#'s) and suspending it there for long periods BUT you never want both rear wheels off the ground as that's where your parking brakes are. Even with the blocks I have to drain all the air out of the front air bags, that puts the first step about 2" off the ground.
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Old 07-19-2011, 11:19 PM   #18
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If you look real close at a Class A motorhome the body of the RV slants slightly downward toward the front of the RV which is why you need leveling jacks.
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Old 07-19-2011, 11:47 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by Colorado_Kid View Post
If you look real close at a Class A motorhome the body of the RV slants slightly downward toward the front of the RV which is why you need leveling jacks.
Not true, some do and some don't, ours slants slightly to the rear. Besides, the slant is not enough to require levelers.
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Old 07-20-2011, 12:29 PM   #20
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Not true, some do and some don't, ours slants slightly to the rear. Besides, the slant is not enough to require levelers.

Roger that.
While it is true that some RVs, not only Class As, do have a slant forward, it can be countered by the way you park at a given spot, campground etc. As one of the answers stated, when they hit an overly slanted camp spot, they use "Blocks" under the tires to do the primary leveling. That's the correct way to do it. When it's done that way, all the jacks have to do is fine tune and stabilize, that's it. But, if you use the jacks on on a "compound" slant, that is, a slant that leans way off in two directions as once, you run the risk of torquing the frame, body, windshield etc.

Yes, you can choose a different spot, IF ONE'S AVAILABLE, or simply take a few minutes to use blocks to drive on to assist in getting the rig primarily level so the jacks don't have to do so much work. It sure is nice to have them though.
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