Community Forums

Petek · 07-21-2016, 08:06 AM

OK folks, being new to owning a coach i have read and learned a lot on IRV2,the first hand knowledge from owners is invaluable information. However, on the topic of Leveling / Slide sequence procedure i'm at a loss.
I own a 2007 TS 45' Alante' on a K2 chassis. I have read the applicable threads on the TS owners forum as well as the Spartan forum. Seems there are different opinions on the topic.
What i am trying to understand is do I Deploy the jacks and level the coach first, then open up the 4 slides? Or do I open the slides first then deploy the jacks and level the coach. Form the threads i have read, seems owners of 45' TS's do it both ways, does anyone know the which way is correct?

tom chelbana · 07-21-2016, 01:55 PM

On a Newmar Essex Newmar recommends that the slide out are extended and retracted at what they call ride height. What that means when the air suspension is up. Then us jacks to level the coach. The reason is because at ride height at factory was when the slide outs were adjusted to fit the coach. There is on going issues which you do first but that is how are slide go in and out easily with ride height for us.

mackwrench · 07-21-2016, 08:32 PM

There seems to be a lot of opinions on the correct way to due this, but in my mind, if the coach is "unlevel" the chassis / suspension will have a certain amount of "flex" or twist....the hole in the coach side might also be flexed and slide could hang up, or place a more then normal load on slide motor/geartrain.

But that only my .02$..... I have done it both ways, if I'm on nice reasonbly level site, sometimes I'll drop air bags and slide 'Em out.....

tropical36 · 07-23-2016, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petek

OK folks, being new to owning a coach i have read and learned a lot on IRV2,the first hand knowledge from owners is invaluable information. However, on the topic of Leveling / Slide sequence procedure i'm at a loss.
I own a 2007 TS 45' Alante' on a K2 chassis. I have read the applicable threads on the TS owners forum as well as the Spartan forum. Seems there are different opinions on the topic.
What i am trying to understand is do I Deploy the jacks and level the coach first, then open up the 4 slides? Or do I open the slides first then deploy the jacks and level the coach. Form the threads i have read, seems owners of 45' TS's do it both ways, does anyone know the which way is correct?

It says right on my panel, brake on, engine running, jacks down and level, whether going in or out, which makes logical sense. Less drag and/or alignment problems and full voltage from the alternator. Now, most sure shore power and the converter will deliver, as well if one's batteries are down. In fact we had one coach that would retract the jacks on their own with the ignition and starting the engine, so we always pulled in the slide first, started her up and waited for the alarm and light to go out before pulling out. Pretty easy and convenient in fact. It eventually quit doing that and started acting like most, with only sounding off, if you should put it in gear.

**TonyDi** · 07-23-2016, 07:31 PM

I level first the deploy my slides (4). On some of the full wall slides they say to deploy the full wall slide then level. Doesn't your owners manual address this topic?

Ray,IN · 07-23-2016, 09:13 PM

My MH manual says the coach must be leveled before moving the slide-either direction.

tropical36 · 07-24-2016, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mackwrench

There seems to be a lot of opinions on the correct way to due this, but in my mind, if the coach is "unlevel" the chassis / suspension will have a certain amount of "flex" or twist....the hole in the coach side might also be flexed and slide could hang up, or place a more then normal load on slide motor/geartrain.

But that only my .02$..... I have done it both ways, if I'm on nice reasonbly level site, sometimes I'll drop air bags and slide 'Em out.....

I'm very new to our pusher here and we've only had a maiden voyage thus far.
I would like knowing more about the air dump sw. and this practice of when to use it, as I haven't tried it, as yet.
Did see a coach next to us last week that was sitting really low, jacks retracted and slides out.
Made for easier access, with the low steps, I'm guessing and the reason for it.
Didn't see the occupants for asking this question and don't like bothering people by knocking, unless it's for something important.

rlwhite · 07-24-2016, 07:23 AM

We just purchased a 2017 Entegra Aspire, moving from a 40' 5th Wheel. Was use to leveling first then extending the slides but the manual for the Aspire says you must extend the slides first before putting the jacks down. I did forget once and the slides seemed to bind when extending after jacks were down. Didn't do that again!!

rag_ftw · 07-25-2016, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlwhite

We just purchased a 2017 Entegra Aspire, moving from a 40' 5th Wheel. Was use to leveling first then extending the slides but the manual for the Aspire says you must extend the slides first before putting the jacks down. I did forget once and the slides seemed to bind when extending after jacks were down. Didn't do that again!!

Petek, where have you been given this advice before? Maybe on the TS page! Different manufactures have different procedures, as you can see here. If you don't want slide binding and broken floor tile follow the coach manufacture's recommended procedures. Your Spartan chassis has nothing to do with slide extension procedures.
We can only tell you what the coach manufacturer recommends and what has worked for us in the past. As I said before, "Do what works for you!"

lanerd · 07-25-2016, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rag_ftw

Petek, where have you been given this advice before? Maybe on the TS page! Different manufactures have different procedures, as you can see here. If you don't want slide binding and broken floor tile follow the coach manufacture's recommended procedures. Your Spartan chassis has nothing to do with slide extension procedures.
We can only tell you what the coach manufacturer recommends and what has worked for us in the past. As I said before, "Do what works for you!"

Absolutely correct. All the answers above are for different rigs....and therefore may or may not be applicable to your rig; therefore, they are irrelevant to your question. As mentioned above, you need to go 100% by what your manufacture recommends (owner's manual) says to do.

Ron

mackwrench · 07-25-2016, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tropical36

I'm very new to our pusher here and we've only had a maiden voyage thus far.
I would like knowing more about the air dump sw. and this practice of when to use it, as I haven't tried it, as yet.
Did see a coach next to us last week that was sitting really low, jacks retracted and slides out.
Made for easier access, with the low steps, I'm guessing and the reason for it.
Didn't see the occupants for asking this question and don't like bothering people by knocking, unless it's for something important.

...funny to me I see some MH at campgrounds with what looks like jacks as high as they go. Parked next to one at a Walmart that had tires jacked off the ground....lol...

Mine has a "air suspension dump" switch on dash that will exhaust the air from air bags, it drops the coach to where bottom step is just a few inches from ground. My wife has a bad back and neck, steps and stuff give here a fit.

Cruzer · 07-26-2016, 06:49 AM

You need to be careful when receiving advice from other brand owners who may not be familiar with your particular coach.

"Most" motorhomes require the jacks to be down so that the coach is level before extending or retracting slides.

However, Entegra is different and I'm pretty sure that Travel Supreme is the same way because the construction method is identical. After all, Entegra inherited much of it's design from Travel Supreme.

Entegra does want the coach to be at ride height on it's aired up suspension prior to extending or retracting the slides. The jacks are extended after the slides are out and the jacks are retracted prior to retracting the slides and once the suspension is aired up.

The difference is due to the way Entegra Coaches are constructed. Most manufacturers create a sidewall with a precut hole for the slideout and then screw it to the floor, adding the actual slideout later on during the construction process. Entegra builds the sidewall complete, including the slideout face walls. The coaches are constantly on aired up suspensions during the entire build process. The sidewall is then brought over to the coach and bolted into place. Once the wall is fastened down to the aired up coach the slideout portions of the sidewall are cut out and sent to the slideout build area to be completed. Entegra's slideouts are flush and a precise fit with tight tolerances so you need to recreate that aired up suspension environment whenever you extend or retract the slides.

Berryfarmer · 07-27-2016, 02:49 PM

We are also new to the Class A. We have an Entegra Anthem. The delivery technician explained the slides to me this way. "The Coach was built on rubber so deploy the slides on rubber". He went on to say this method makes it easier to deploy a slide while stopped in a rest area or such without dropping the jacks.
My owners manual also says deploy the slides then level. But it's the manufacturers recommend sequence, and may not be the industry standard.

tropical36 · 07-28-2016, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mackwrench

...funny to me I see some MH at campgrounds with what looks like jacks as high as they go. Parked next to one at a Walmart that had tires jacked off the ground....lol...

Mine has a "air suspension dump" switch on dash that will exhaust the air from air bags, it drops the coach to where bottom step is just a few inches from ground. My wife has a bad back and neck, steps and stuff give here a fit.

Well, now I'm hearing that some coaches don't even have jacks and use the air bags for leveling. Anyone have such and animal and could be what I saw with sitting almost on the ground?
As for ours, I'd like dumping the air with the dash sw., as well, but then we're supposed to be level with the engine running for going in or out with our slides, so pretty hard to accomplish. Now are we dumping air just from the bags with this sw. or are we dumping the tanks, as well?
Also I believe ours dumps the air bags along with deploying the jacks automatically.
For all I know at this point, dumping air could be just dumping air from the tanks and no matter how it's done.
I have noticed that once level and set up, if you should turn on the ignition, front air tank, I believe is about 60psi, but the rear is almost depleted, so evidently it doesn't completely dump the air.