Kwikee vs. HWH Hydraulics

troth · 01-11-2005, 07:26 AM

I know the Winnebago has been putting the Kwikee units on Sightseers, and now the new Voyages. They may be on some Itasca models as well. The Kwikee jacks have a larger diameter base pad and use a dual action powered cylinder, as opposed to the HWH designs. I see these differences as advantageous.
Has anyone had problems with their Kwikee jacks (or slides)? Has anyone had both (Kwikee vs. HWH) and which do you prefer?

troth · 01-11-2005, 07:26 AM

I know the Winnebago has been putting the Kwikee units on Sightseers, and now the new Voyages. They may be on some Itasca models as well. The Kwikee jacks have a larger diameter base pad and use a dual action powered cylinder, as opposed to the HWH designs. I see these differences as advantageous.
Has anyone had problems with their Kwikee jacks (or slides)? Has anyone had both (Kwikee vs. HWH) and which do you prefer?

George Miklas · 01-11-2005, 01:54 PM

Judging by the description of the Kwikee jacks, they seem to be similar to Bigfoot Levelers by Quadra Manufactuing. I had Bigfoot Automatic Levelers on my former MH and loved them. Bigfoot's features include hydraulic power up and down, individual hydraulic pump/reservoir for each jack, and large 100 sq.in. foot pads.

I was at a campout with Warpath, Joe-K, and ISLAPP. The campground was muddy when we arrived, and got worse while we were there. All of us was in mud over the tops of our levelers' pads. Warpath had his Showhauler equipped with Bigfoot Levelers and my Georgie Boy Pursuit was also equipped with Bigfoots. But Joe-K's Winnebago Journey is equipped with HWH. On Sunday morning, Joe had one leveler that wouldn't retract. Joe got out a shovel and dug around the leveler's pad.

Needless to say, if I ever convert a bus or truck, it will have Bigfoot Levelers.

George

Joe-K · 01-11-2005, 04:18 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Originally posted by George Miklas:
Joe got out a shovel and dug around the leveler's pad. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

While George is stretching the story a little, ..... no way would I ever use a shovel while camping, I'll agree, bigger is usually better when it come to the size of the jack pad if you're on soft earth.

On this particular trip, we were all camping in mud after several days of steady rain. I was parked with the back of the motorhome in a low spot and with the weight of the engine back there, the jacks had sunk in pretty far when I was ready to leave.

It's really wasn't a big problem though as with the air suspension, the solution is a clean simple one if a jack gets buried in the mud

All I did was dump the air suspension, turn off the jack panel to lock the jacks, then inflate the suspension.

The raising of the motorhome pulls the jack right up out of the mud. A clean no mess easy way to be happily on your way.

Keep that little secret in mind if you ever find yourself stuck in the mud.

George Miklas · 01-11-2005, 04:32 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Joe-K:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Originally posted by George Miklas:
Joe got out a shovel and dug around the leveler's pad. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>While George is stretching the story a little, ..... no way would I ever use a shovel while camping... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Hi Buddy!

Please excuse my recollection.

George

Outbumn · 01-12-2005, 01:23 AM

Our sightseer has Kwikee. The only problem I have is controling the jacks. They work in pairs, and never go down at the same rate. So once level, I will have 1 jack still in the air (normally one of the rears). I just wish i had the ability to lower that one jack until it made contact instead of lowering both rear jacks.

troth · 01-12-2005, 01:41 AM

Thanks for the feedback guys!
George & Joe-K, I hate shovelin' too and leave that tool at home!

Outbumn Ron, my HWH's also work in pairs, and while I'd prefer to have true individual control, I've found operating two buttons at one (ex.- curb side & fronts) will get the right corner up higher. Takes a bit of jockeying around, but I'm getting used to it. I've heard that the reason they operate in pairs (and this may have been a spec requirement from Workhorse or Ford to HWH), was that it prevents the user from severely twisting or tweaking the coach frame.

Good input guys!

Tom

Art E · 01-18-2005, 04:56 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Outbumn:
Our sightseer has Kwikee. The only problem I have is controling the jacks. They work in pairs, and never go down at the same rate. So once level, I will have 1 jack still in the air (normally one of the rears). I just wish i had the ability to lower that one jack until it made contact instead of lowering both rear jacks. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Man, are you ever right. I have the exact MH as you and levelling is always tricky--can't tell you the number of times I've gotten frustrated by not being able to let just one jack down (one always manages to stay in the air). It is funny though because there has been a few times when everything went perfectly on the first try. Those times were rare. In any case, we are truly happy with our choice of motor home and hope you are as well.

Clay L · 01-19-2005, 01:48 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote">quote:<HR>Originally posted by Art E:

Man, are you ever right. I have the exact MH as you and levelling is always tricky--can't tell you the number of times I've gotten frustrated by not being able to let just one jack down (one always manages to stay in the air). . <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I talked to Kwikee about that and they said it was a Winnebago spec to keep from twisting the frame.
They said a work around is: For example if you drop the two front ones and one is off the ground, then lower two side jacks utill the off ground one touches, then go back and continue dropping the front ones. When they both touch, both will extend at the same rate - according to the Kwikee guy.

Dsouthw524 · 01-21-2005, 06:25 AM

the requirement for having two jacks at a time is made by the chassis manufacturers. You areglad they do as the systems that do one at a time frequently twist the frame so doors don't work and windshields pop out!

Outbumn · 01-21-2005, 07:09 AM

Don't get me wrong, I like the 2 jack system. It makes leveling a lot easier. I just wish the Kwikee system on the Sightseer had individual jack controls so you could put the one jack still in the air without affecting any of the others.

I dii see that Kwikee has an upgrade package available to make there systems auto leveling.

lakewoodpaul · 01-30-2005, 08:58 AM

by adding a jack pad under your ram arent you increasing the size of area of contact? This is my 6th winnie in 30 yrs. and 1st with jacks They are hwh and so far the cats a--.
paul

tomsm · 01-30-2005, 02:46 PM

Don't know about the Kwikee units, but the HWH jacks shouldn't leave you with a jack in the air. The jack that makes contact first stops until the other jack in the pair contacts the ground. Then they both raise the coach together.

The following is copied from the HWH online manual:

All HWH BI-AXIS® systems feature jack equalization,
that is, the pair of jacks being operated at any
given time are tied together hydraulically in the valve.
This means that as the jacks are extended, the first
jack to hit the ground stops until the second jack hits
the ground, then both jacks raise together. Jack equalization
is an important part of the BI-AXIS® leveling
process and enables the RVer to level their rig quickly
and easily, with minimal structure twist.