SWharton Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 How are the levelers suppose to work? The documentation says they work in pairs. I would assume(I know, bad word) that they would level in one direction and then the other. It seems to me they do a lot of tweaking. I guess I am asking what is "normal". Having blown one fuse we don't want to blow another. Our driveway needs both back to front and side to side leveling, to the extent that our front wheels are off the ground(that was a surprise to us). It seems to take forever. Also, how far off level can you be? 2" 4" 6" or more? Also, do you level all the time or do you have levels on the outside of the MH to see if you really need to level? In the 5th wheel we had levels in the back for side-to-side and in the front for front-to-back. If the side-to-side was reasonable we just leveled the front-to-back. Is it better to manual level or automatic level? When we did the automatic level was when we blew the fuse so we are afraid to try it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark and Dale Bruss Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 Assuming four leveling jacks, the leveling process should occur in pairs to prevent frame twist. In other words, you lift side to side or front to back. If you only lift one corner, you twist the frame. 6 jacks is a variation of 4 jacks with the rear pairs of jacks acting as one. 3 jack systems are by nature using axis rotation. In general, automatic leving should be smarter than you. On some slopes, wheels are off the ground as the suspension only has so much travel. Please click for Emails instead of PM Mark & DaleJoey - 2016 Bounder 33C Tige - 2006 40' Travel SupremeSparky III - 2021 Mustang Mach-e, off the the Road since 2019 Useful HDT Truck, Trailer, and Full-timing Info atwww.dmbruss.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 I have never owned any of the fully automatic jack systems so have no basis to address that but with a four jack, manual system the instruction which came with mine was to lower the jacks as a group until the first one touched(you could feel it in the driver's seat). Next I would individually lower the other three until each one touched. At that point I leveled based upon which axis was farthest off, using two jacks on that side or two on that end, then doing the other axis. Usually it would require just a bit of tweaking of the first side once we were close. The other thing which our jack operation manual stated was that one should never lift any wheel completely clear of the ground but use leveling blocks if more than that was required. Good travelin !...............KirkFull-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXiceman Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 Auto leveling is really sweet...when it works. Our Big Foot on a 5er will level front to rear fist with the front two jacks. Then it brings down one (or sometimes both) rear jacks and then will level side to side. It goes around a couple of times to level the coach. If the trailer is too far out of level to start with, it may have a problem and not get it level. In these cases, I have learned (by the exterior level gauges) to place the low side wheels on blocks to get it closer to level. A motorhome is a bit different due to the wheels being basically on the corners, where the 5er wheels are more to the middle. WE have had semi-automatic levelers on a class C and manual on a claass A. They have always worked in pairs, ether two fronts of two side levelers to prevent frame twist.. Ken Amateur radio operator, 2023 Cougar 22MLS, 2022 F150 Lariat 4x4 Off Road, Sport trim <br />Travel with 1 miniature schnauzer, 1 standard schnauzer and one African Gray parrot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckbear Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 I see many posts regarding the problems with twisting the frame. Our 1999 Bounder is set up so the front jacks should be raised first and the rear second. Then the side to side adjustment is done by the rear jacks only. Would this not twist the frame or am I misreading this and by adjusting the side to side with the jack button, does the front also adjust? Chuck Chuck and Susan 1999 Fleetwood Bounder 34 Triton V10 on Ford Chassis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark and Dale Bruss Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 Would this not twist the frame or am I misreading this and by adjusting the side to side with the jack button, does the front also adjust? Yes if only the rear jacks are adjusted. HWH has a great video explaining their Bi-Axis level and why jacks should always be activated in pairs after the 4 jacks are down. HWH were the innovators but the same concepts have been put into the Quadra BigFoot and Lippert' Level Up systems. Please click for Emails instead of PM Mark & DaleJoey - 2016 Bounder 33C Tige - 2006 40' Travel SupremeSparky III - 2021 Mustang Mach-e, off the the Road since 2019 Useful HDT Truck, Trailer, and Full-timing Info atwww.dmbruss.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckbear Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 These are Power Gear jacks and that is the way they operate according to the manual. Only the rear jacks adjust side to side. Chuck Chuck and Susan 1999 Fleetwood Bounder 34 Triton V10 on Ford Chassis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark and Dale Bruss Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 That would be valid if you have a three jack system. We had a 1997 PaceArrow with a three jack system. Please click for Emails instead of PM Mark & DaleJoey - 2016 Bounder 33C Tige - 2006 40' Travel SupremeSparky III - 2021 Mustang Mach-e, off the the Road since 2019 Useful HDT Truck, Trailer, and Full-timing Info atwww.dmbruss.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckbear Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 Nope. Two in the front, two in the back. From the manual, "Pressing right button will operate the right rear jack; pressing left button will operate the left rear jack." "The right and left rear jacks are ,used to level the coach side'to side. Pushing the "LEFT" pad on the control panel will extend the left rear jack. Pushing the."RIGHT" pad on the control panel will extend the right rear jack. There is no individual control of the right or left front jacks." Chuck and Susan 1999 Fleetwood Bounder 34 Triton V10 on Ford Chassis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark and Dale Bruss Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 Then watch the video from HWH and see whats happening Please click for Emails instead of PM Mark & DaleJoey - 2016 Bounder 33C Tige - 2006 40' Travel SupremeSparky III - 2021 Mustang Mach-e, off the the Road since 2019 Useful HDT Truck, Trailer, and Full-timing Info atwww.dmbruss.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWharton Posted July 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 You have all been very helpful. The keyword I found was from TXiceman, that the levelers do it several times until level. I think that has been one of our concerns. We didn't realize that was normal. We thought the levelers were "hunting", like car gears. OK, that has been resolved. I am sure once we hit the road most of this will work itself out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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