Community Forums

hbob1957 · 05-03-2018, 03:33 PM

Newby here, we are parked in a UN-level driveway and in order to level the coach the right rear tire must be off the ground about 2"-3", is that OK or not.

BFlinn181 · 05-03-2018, 04:14 PM

When you lift a rear tire, you're lifting your parking brake axle off the ground. I'd run those tires onto blocks of wood to make sure when the jacks are used the tires still have contact with the ground. Also be sure to chock the front wheels. If you're only lifting one corner, you could be twisting the frame, which can cause serious problems, including popping the windshield out of its frame. Be careful.

Betr2Trvl · 05-03-2018, 04:15 PM

The general answer based on various opinions, etc. on that is going to be an overwhelming "no, it's not alright".

Starting with answer #1 "that's where your parking brake is".

"You will damage your suspension / air bags" will be #2

The solution being use some sort of leveling blocks / wood under the wheels (both wheels on each side in the rear) and in addition put blocks under your jacks won't have to extend as far and have a more stable platform.

I don't even let my front tires dangle, although a lot of people do.

It also may be wise to chock the tires that are firmly on the ground before you level too.

Mr. Flinn beat to the submit button, so I'll also second his frame twisting concern too.

Regards

hbob1957 · 05-03-2018, 04:32 PM

Thank You Both we will just put up with it being off level and keep all four on the ground.

twinboat · 05-03-2018, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hbob1957

Thank You Both we will just put up with it being off level and keep all four on the ground.

It's a shame, you pay for levelers and get talked out of using them.

The frame is probably sitting twisted now. Leveling will straighten it out.

Your leveler feet, supporting all of the weight, except the axle, don't have wheels, why would you need brakes. Are the tires going to roll away ?
The chocks in front of the tires don't slide, why would the leveler feet, unless your on the side of a mountain.

M8tor · 05-03-2018, 05:27 PM

In the Tiffin owner's Manual there is a caution (not a warning) that reads "DO NOT LIFT the wheels of the motor home off the ground when leveling—if done, the motor home can tilt forwards or backwards when supported only by the leveling jacks"

I think the tilting risk is from soft ground that may let the jacks sink in. That being said, If the ground is stable I will use the auto level feature. If the wheels are off the ground, so be it. I've never had any issues.

The owners manual also has a warning (not a caution) that says that you should not extend the slides until the coach is level. Once leveled the frame is straight. So do you risk a little tilting or do you risk binding up the slides while there is stress on the frame?

M8tor

Pigman1 · 05-03-2018, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

It's a shame, you pay for levelers and get talked out of using them.

The frame is probably sitting twisted now. Leveling will straighten it out.

Your leveler feet, supporting all of the weight, except the axle, don't have wheels, why would you need brakes. Are the tires going to roll away ?
The chocks in front of the tires don't slide, why would the leveler feet, unless your on the side of a mountain.

I agree with twinboat. As long as your levelers can level the coach, the frame is NOT twisted, it's level. If you run out of leveler you will get a twist, but this can be eliminated by putting a couple of 2x8's under the jack that's bottomed out. Unless you're talking about a 6 point quake on the Richter scale, 4 jacks on the ground is sure better than locking the 2 rear wheels.

Betr2Trvl · 05-04-2018, 07:28 AM

First, to the OP, I hope you have not deployed your slides without the coach being level......

Think about this with regards to lifting the rear tires off the ground......

When auto leveling (at least on my coach) the the jacks start going down at the lowest corner, around the coach until it's level.

In the case of a low rear, that means the rear jacks go down first. If you are on a slope, in a situation where the rear is very low and you will have a period of time when the front is still on the tires, not on the jacks, that is the time that nothing is keeping the coach from rolling back except the friction point of the jack pad with the ground.

And, jacks are built to support a vertical load, not a horizontal load. And, the longer the jack is extended the more suspectabe it is to horizontal forces.

If you have nothing holding the coach from rolling from the time the rear jacks are extended until the front jacks are down, and if the front tires want to roll, the coach could start extorting a horizontal force on the rear jacks, which could cause them to bend or break. The pad won't move, but think about the forces between the pad and the top of the jack. Of course, this is dependent to some degree of the slope the front tires are sitting, but in any case, chocking the front tires would greatly alleviate this situation.

I will also note, that the rear tires do not necessarily need to be compeletlynoff the ground. If there is virtually no weight on the rear tires, the tires may very well "skid".

As for twisting the coach, I do my best to avoid it as much as possible....... If the coach is already twisted when parked, then I agree leveling will undo the twist, but the question becomes is leveling puttng more strain / movement on the chassis than "driving" it out of the twist where the suspension takes up some of the movement? Not sure if the answer to that one, and it's probably situational.

brucev · 05-04-2018, 07:52 AM

I am not sure what leveling system you have but look up the manual leveling procedures. I never use auto level anymore. Manual is so easy and usually much more accurate. Congrats on the new rig, now you can take your stuff with you as George Carlin probably would have said.