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NowGo · 04-07-2023, 07:57 AM

Pulled into a site last night in Roswell, and the coach is fairly level side to side but is down quite a bit in the front.

Put the slides out and slept on the air bags last night, but I need to level this thing.

I have run into situations where the jack rods are fully extended and not long enough (usually the front jacks). So, I am curious if I can just manually extend the front 2 jacks using blocks under the jack pads I have. Using the auto level will probably make it worse as the rear jacks insist on lifting the rear.

This would mean leaving the air bags inflated and just jacking up the front. I bled the tag off this morning and it helped slightly.

(There is pea gravel here so not sure how that will work, however I do need to do something).

brobox · 04-07-2023, 08:09 AM

JMO, anytime that method of level is performed, the increase of torquing the frame and popping or cracking a windshield will increase. Many say they do it all the time, however I have several receipts where I learned that lesson the hard way and paid for the repairs..

If I cannot get level on a site that I paid for, I will not stay there.

NowGo · 04-07-2023, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brobox

JMO, anytime that method of level is performed, the increase of torquing the frame and popping or cracking a windshield will increase. Many say they do it all the time, however I have several receipts where I learned that lesson the hard way and paid for the repairs..

If I cannot get level on a site that I paid for, I will not stay there.

Hi Brobox,

I just came in from blocking under my jack pads. Thanks so much for this answer. I do not need to be blowing out a windshield.

I have just come in from blocking under the jacks pads in the front, but I also placed my jack pads under the rear in case I was going to try to auto-level now that have the blocks in place.

I have placed about 5 inches of criss-cross blocking under the front jacks, then the jack pad on top. I am thinking I will now try the auto-level. The auto level should not subject the frame to undue torqueing and twisting of the frame?

voltdoc · 04-07-2023, 08:48 AM

If you hit the Auto level button on the Equalizer panel, then wait for it to trigger the air bag dump, then hit Auto level again, it will cancel the Auto level but your air bags will bleed down.

From there what I would do in your situation is wait about 45 seconds until the air bags fully bleed out, then manually "plant" the rear jacks just enough to provide support. Then manually extend the front jacks until level, then the side to side if needed. If you were lower in the rear, plant the front jacks first.

If your Equalizer panel buttons are arranged in a diamond pattern (should be, they went to that design in 2013 or earlier) the jacks can only be operated in pairs, so there is minimal risk of twisting the chassis, regardless if you use Auto or do it manually.

I never use Auto level anymore because the algorithm has no intelligence, won't work in high slope situations and the level sensor is of poor quality and inaccurate.

I use the above procedure along with a Levelmate Pro (I like gadgets) but you can do it with a bubble level, an app on your phone, or even the bathroom door.

Manually I can get level up to about a 9" difference front to back. Even more than that (up to about 13" difference) but will usually have one or more tires off the ground.

Never had a windshield pop or crack and do not have any cracked or loose floor tiles.

Sgt B · 04-07-2023, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by voltdoc

If you hit the Auto level button on the Equalizer panel, then wait for it to trigger the air bag dump, then hit Auto level again, it will cancel the Auto level but your air bags will bleed down.

From there what I would do in your situation is wait about 45 seconds until the air bags fully bleed out, then manually "plant" the rear jacks just enough to provide support. Then manually extend the front jacks until level, then the side to side if needed.

I never use Auto level anymore because the algorithm has no intelligence, won't work in high slope situations and the level sensor is of poor quality and inaccurate.

I use the above procedure along with a Levelmate Pro (I like gadgets) but you can do it with a bubble level, an app on your phone, or even the bathroom door.

Manually I can get level up to about a 9" difference front to back. Even more than that (up to about 13" difference) but will usually have one or more tires off the ground.

Never had a windshield pop or crack and do not have any cracked or loose floor tiles.

I concur fully with VoltDoc. I have downsized recently so I don;t have the ole 40 footer I drove for 15 years, but you really need to be careful about that windshield. As for the Levelmate of which he speaks. My newest rig used had the that installed. What a great gadget. Once installed, as you drive into your site you can look at your phone and it will tell you the level data in inches. Wish I had known about this gadget when I was driving those mon sters.

Gary.Jones · 04-07-2023, 09:08 AM

The answer to your questions is that you can definitely raise the front of the coach all by itself. In fact, I never "autolevel" as my system just doesn't seem able to perform the task correctly although I have had it adjusted twice. Just press the autolevel button and let the coach begin the process. The bags will deflate, and the four pads will come to hit the ground. As soon as my jacks touch the ground and the coach tries to autolevel, I turn off the Equalizer and then get out my trusty $4 foot-long plastic level from Lowes, place it on the first set of bare ceramic tiles and see how the bubble tells me I an sitting. If I need to raise the front, I use the down half of the top pair of manual buttons of the diamond pattern on the equalizer and raise until my level shows us level and then turn off the equalizer panel.

Letting the Equalizer lower the jacks until they touch the ground firmly is important as that puts them in contact with ground and raise hydraulic pressure in the jacks to equalize pressure on all 4 jacks. At that point, turn off Equalizer as you would notice that all your jacks do when trying to autolevel is force the chassis up (never down) but on many of our systems, it overshoots level and therefore must raise the opposite pair of jacks and so autolevel tends to "see-saw" you further and further up. So you prevent that from occurring by turning the Equalizer off after the jack pads touch ground and doing the leveling manually by raising front or back pairs together or side to side pairs together. I can get perfectly level in two rounds of self-adjusting.

On this Cornerstone, I also have "air over hydraulic" jack leveling so the air system also helps in making the coach level.

The important part is to let the hydraulic system let all 4 jacks touch ground and just begin trying to raise the coach to level. That is the time you turn the system off. Then turn system back on and now manually level using the buttons on the control panel. It only lets you raise or lower jacks in pairs, so there should be no "twist" of the chassis. Twist is what cracks windshields!!!!

Gary

NowGo · 04-07-2023, 09:31 AM

Well, decision made.

I am pulling out, following the path of Brobox. I do not need to mess with something and be sorry I did.

I am thinking the auto-level would NOT subject the frame to undue stress (cracking a windshield) but I am on pea gravel. So I wondered if some sudden settling of the pea gravel could result in a twist that could crake the windshield.

I am not sure how auto-level would react to this out of level situation and I never did like the see-saw method its uses that Gary describes.

So I am "out of here". I might be overly cautious, but I prefer that to being big time regretful.

LETMGROW · 04-07-2023, 09:43 AM

I carry two packs of these along:
https://www.amazon.com/Camco-Levelin...749941201&th=1
Stack them, make a ramp to drive up onto or whatever you need then place blocks under the jacks to stabilize.

TampaDave · 04-07-2023, 10:47 AM

Biggest risk of torquing the frame in our experience is dealing with a complex slope, ie one that varies from front to back. If one wheel is low, you're gonna twist the frame no matter what. About half the time you can fix it by backing up or moving forward, pay attention as you're pulling in. Sometimes pulling in a little cattywumpus can normalize a slope.

Be assertive, ask for a different site if you need to. It's not like site leveling is a lost art of the Egyptians but sometimes it seems that way doesn't it

brobox · 04-07-2023, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NowGo

Well, decision made.

I am pulling out, following the path of Brobox. I do not need to mess with something and be sorry I did.

I am thinking the auto-level would NOT subject the frame to undue stress (cracking a windshield) but I am on pea gravel. So I wondered if some sudden settling of the pea gravel could result in a twist that could crake the windshield.

I am not sure how auto-level would react to this out of level situation and I never did like the see-saw method its uses that Gary describes.

So I am "out of here". I might be overly cautious, but I prefer that to being big time regretful.

Wise move. Why even take a chance? Look at the number of posts over the years where people have cracked or popped a windshield, me included on the Travel Supreme. If a site is charging me XX dollars, it had better be close to level I don't need to prove to anyone that I can do it, because I have failed a couple of times. Lucky I only popped the windshield, but still a repair bill.
BTW, never had that problem at a Cabala's or Walmart parking lot.

RVFunlovers · 04-07-2023, 11:31 AM

I mostly use Gary’s method of leveling. But if I am level to start with I just use auto level with airbags and leave jacks up.

I use Chuck’s wisdom. If the site is way off I do not stay. I have a hard enough time dealing with RV problems without creating any. Not worth the risk. It is rare but I have had to to get a different site. All good.

Rob_M · 04-07-2023, 12:07 PM

There are lots of rv parks in hilly areas where a high percentage of sites are not level. Sometimes you have to book 6 months in advance to get a spot. So asking for a different spot because yours isn’t level is many times out of the question, since they are all are in use. Why am I more important than the next guy or the ones before me who use the same spot without complaining?

I always move around on the spot to get as level as possible first, sometimes driving (usually the left rear) up on boards I carry to get the side to side close, then dump air and manually level so the rig is close as possible to the ground. I can tell by how the entry door opens and closes if the rig it twisted, it doesn’t take much to get it in a bind. I do have the 3 jack system so lifting only the front does not twist it, and that’s what usually needs raised.

If it’s level after dumping air I do not deploy jacks unless I’m staying for several days. I also use a foot long level.

Sgt B · 04-07-2023, 01:13 PM

Reading what all you guys do to get level, even breaking out a 4' level. Wow! Driving the big ones, I can't remember ever having that tough of a time getting level, albeit I rarely used auto-level. However, after downsizing several times (age) then losing our 2018 Forza 34T to the hurricane in September we went even further down to a Navion 24D. And it came with this gadget called a Level Mate Pro installed. What an unbelievable gadget. When driving onto a site, I stop turn the Pro on, turn on my iPhone and open the App and in seconds it shows me the exact dimensions for each corner. I can move the rig around and if I am lucky I will find a spot where everything is "0" or exactly where I need to place some blocks. My little rig does not have jacks, although it does have electric "stabilizing" jacks in the rear. So this gadget is perfect to tell me where I need to put the yellow 1" blocks, and had I known about it when I was driving the big I would have had one then also. Go to the link and read about it. Trust me it works!! And for a measly $139 what a savior.

https://technorv.com/products/levelm...YaAuGXEALw_wcB

MRUSA14 · 04-07-2023, 04:40 PM

I did crack a windshield once.

I don't sweat being level. We often stay just one night and rarely stay anywhere more than a few nights, so most of the time I don't even use the levelers. With a residential fridge, being level is a convenience and not a necessity. If staying longer, or if way off level, I will use the jacks but I don't insist on perfectly level where it would be hard to accomplish.