Jacks up

[kayla44]

My son discovered a new way to raise jacks before hitting road again.
1 turn engine on
2 emg. brake engaged
3 foot on brake
4 put into reverse
Jacks will turn on, and go thru raising jacks. When jacks have raised system will turn off.
I'm sure this is some sort of safety procedure, but seems to work OK.
Any comments, thoughts? Is it OK to use this way of getting jacks up?
I have a 32 ft. 2009 Tiffen class A

[van-gogh]

I'm not the expert and I'm sure your correct as to it being a safety feature. But think about this. When you turn anything on your pulling power and the more that turns on the more AMPs the RV is drawing to turn on and start the engine. Battieries overtime run down and the PULL of power over and over again shocking the electrical system may not be good for your RV overtime.

I think you should do it the correct way and not add more stuff turning on at the same time. Now you know you have a safety to help stop you from driving off with your JACKS down. But overtime I think doing it the correct way may safe you in the long run on fuses, battery drain and like I said I'm not an expert and it is your RV. SO I would take care of it not add more they is needed in getting home or on the road safely. GOOD LUCK but do as you wish.

[Pigman1]

The sequence you gave is what happens if you forget to raise your jacks before you take off. It's supposed to prevent you from bending the jack rams if you forget to retract them before you try to drive. Your steps will work but depend solely on you having the brakes on while you do it. Forget that and your jacks may be toast. ARE YA' FEELIN' LUCKY? ... Every time?

[Mike8253]

Originally Posted by Pigman1

The sequence you gave is what happens if you forget to raise your jacks before you take off. It's supposed to prevent you from bending the jack rams if you forget to retract them before you try to drive. Your steps will work but depend solely on you having the brakes on while you do it. Forget that and your jacks may be toast. ARE YA' FEELIN' LUCKY? ... Every time?

You beat me to it. Totally agree. You can almost guarantee that at some point when he's distracted/excited/impatient or whatever, he's going to step on the brake, put it in reverse, release the parking brake and hit the gas just enough to wish he never deviated from the proper procedure. Why? Raising the jacks properly is no big deal. You've still got to get out and do a final walk-around anyway.

[NLOVNIT]

I agree with the others. This is for emergency jacks up only. I would not use it in place of the established procedure when it's working.

Lori-

[BradS]

I read somewhere that this emergency operation does not correctly inflate the air bags and is not recommended for diesel vehicles. I always use the recommended procedure and a checklist to get ready to drive.

Safe travels

[Donofly]

Originally Posted by kayla44

My son discovered a new way to raise jacks before hitting road again.
1 turn engine on
2 emg. brake engaged
3 foot on brake
4 put into reverse
Jacks will turn on, and go thru raising jacks. When jacks have raised system will turn off.
I'm sure this is some sort of safety procedure, but seems to work OK.
Any comments, thoughts? Is it OK to use this way of getting jacks up?
I have a 32 ft. 2009 Tiffen class A

I’m going to assume you have Atwood jacks on your RV. (CAUTION) FYI, Atwood is no longer in business and therefore, parts are unavailable. Your control board (The brain of the system which is mounted in the basement) has one wire that connects to the transmission and for safety, raising the jacks if the coach is put into gear. Several things will happen. Your air shocks will not properly inflate, your key pad (Located on the dash) will go into a fault mode which requires a detailed step by step process to clear that fault. (Which is most likely why you can’t raise the jacks properly) If you are not completely level you risk damaging the jacks. During normal operation, the air shocks pump up before any jacks are retracted, releasing the weight off the jack before it retracts.
I destroyed one control panel by not following the proper operating procedure of the leveling system. I also damaged one jack.
You can find troubleshooting guidelines as well as operating procedures on line but I can also send you a copy upon request. I also have a good resource for Atwood used parts. (Florida, but they will ship.) if anyone is interested.