Auto Leveling

Merrykalia wrote:


I'm not saying I don't like the levelling system - I do. I am just saying that from MY experience, if the trailer is more than 3" unlevel, side to side, it will disable our levelling system and make it unusable. That may not be anyone else's experience, but it was ours.

Never experienced that. We sat for two winters with the drivers side tires off the ground, so I am pretty sure that we were more than 3" off level when I pushed auto level mode.

topjimmy wrote:
I do not know where GHop or MerryKalia are camping at or if you are not using the auto level right but I have had auto level on my 5er's since 2012 and being a full timer for 8 years and I can tell ya it is one of the best things that have ever come out for 5th wheels Only sometimes times do I have to use a few orange blocks to compensate for a real unlevel site it is pretty much hit the auto level button and watch it do it's thing I LOVE IT! and would NEVER go back to the old school jacks with Pins and wood blocks Blah Blah Blah

GHop wrote:
MerryKalia is right. We have the same problem and have only had them work correctly one time. I just go old school and don't use it at all. I'm thinking it was a waste of money. I hope you have better luck with yours.

I'm not saying I don't like the levelling system - I do. I am just saying that from MY experience, if the trailer is more than 3" unlevel, side to side, it will disable our levelling system and make it unusable. That may not be anyone else's experience, but it was ours.

Lantley wrote:

laknox wrote:

Piddlers wrote:
We are making the switch from a travel trailer to a fifth wheel trailer. With our travel trailer we have Andersen levelers, plastic (Lego) levelers, etc.

In the event of a sloping site do you ever have to raise a side before auto leveling a fifth wheel trailer? I'm unclear as to how much is acceptable for the auto leveling system.

Thank you,

The Piddlers

You're likely to run out the rear jacks well before the front jacks simply because they're shorter. On the street in front of my house, I have to put a block under the curb-side rear jack to get level without running the jack to the stop, due to the crown in the street and because it's slightly uphill to the front. I quickly learned that I need to do an "eyeball check" of the ground to see if it's unlevel, then put a block, or 2, under the low side rear jack. Might need more if you're also lower in the tail than the nose, too.

FWIW, the curb side wheels are off the ground when parked in front of my house. Given that the 4 jacks on my KZ are capable of lifting the full GW twice over, I have zero issues with this. Needs be, I'll use them to lift a side of the trailer to change a tire, too (with blocking).

Lyle

As far as being supported by the jacks. I agree the jacks can handle the weight but can the frame? Can the frame withstand being supported across an increased span?
I'm not saying it's a problem , but there is more to consider than just the lift capacity of the jacks themselves.

Sorry, but that just doesn't make any sense, whatsoever. If the frame can't support a unit lifted off its wheels by the leveling system, what makes you think that the frame won't support the rig by "normal" leveling. You seriously can't think that the frame isn't engineered to allow for wheels on one side, or both in the right circumstances, being off the ground when auto-leveled? Now, if you said was the frame =built= to the engineering spec, especially if it's a Lippert, then you've got a point. :B

After thinking about this for a minute, I'd be willing to bet that, if I parked my FW in the spot where I parked my old one on our annual family boondocker, all 4 wheels would be off the ground due to the fore/aft slope. I'd have a good 1' of blocks under the rear screw-down stabilizers and have to drop the front jacks at least 18" after unhooking.

Lyle

"As far as being supported by the jacks. I agree the jacks can handle the weight but can the frame? Can the frame withstand being supported across an increased span?
I'm not saying it's a problem , but there is more to consider than just the lift capacity of the jacks themselves."

This maybe true for some units however on the DRVs the frames are 15" boxed frame. Plenty stout enough.

We have the 6 point Level Up System, we've had the wheels off the ground for extended periods of time with absolutely no problems what so ever. I LOVE the auto level!!

Dan

"I agree the jacks can handle the weight but can the frame? Can the frame withstand being supported across an increased span? "

I don't have an issue with that. My frame is a stacked box tube frame. Two 2x6 tubes stacked and welded to a 2x3 tube making my frame 2"x15". Never heard of a frame jack related issue???

Lantley wrote:
I have been at sites where the auto level lifts the low side wheels off the ground to obtain level. I do not like have the wheels hanging in the air with all the weight on the jacks.
When/if the wheels are lifted I will place boards beneath wheels to support the weight.
If I notice a extremely unlevel site in advance of setting up I will place boards down and pull up on them the old fashion way to get closer to level before hitting the auto level button.

This is what we do.

We also put 4 LynxLeveler blocks under the rear 4 jacks and a couple blocks of wood under the front 2 landing gear jacks. Less extension = more stable inside the camper. With 4 of us in here, any bit of stability helps.

laknox wrote:

Piddlers wrote:
We are making the switch from a travel trailer to a fifth wheel trailer. With our travel trailer we have Andersen levelers, plastic (Lego) levelers, etc.

In the event of a sloping site do you ever have to raise a side before auto leveling a fifth wheel trailer? I'm unclear as to how much is acceptable for the auto leveling system.

Thank you,

The Piddlers

You're likely to run out the rear jacks well before the front jacks simply because they're shorter. On the street in front of my house, I have to put a block under the curb-side rear jack to get level without running the jack to the stop, due to the crown in the street and because it's slightly uphill to the front. I quickly learned that I need to do an "eyeball check" of the ground to see if it's unlevel, then put a block, or 2, under the low side rear jack. Might need more if you're also lower in the tail than the nose, too.

FWIW, the curb side wheels are off the ground when parked in front of my house. Given that the 4 jacks on my KZ are capable of lifting the full GW twice over, I have zero issues with this. Needs be, I'll use them to lift a side of the trailer to change a tire, too (with blocking).

Lyle

As far as being supported by the jacks. I agree the jacks can handle the weight but can the frame? Can the frame withstand being supported across an increased span?
I'm not saying it's a problem , but there is more to consider than just the lift capacity of the jacks themselves.

I built blocks for our setup for more stability and also the fact we have 3" risers. I hit AutoLevel and it does it's thing.

I get a kick out of not wanting the suspension hanging comments. The fact is the system is designed to that without issue. Imagine the wheel touching but if the rig were to be raised 1" it would be off the ground does it make it better that the tire is barely touching?

Piddlers wrote:
We are making the switch from a travel trailer to a fifth wheel trailer. With our travel trailer we have Andersen levelers, plastic (Lego) levelers, etc.

In the event of a sloping site do you ever have to raise a side before auto leveling a fifth wheel trailer? I'm unclear as to how much is acceptable for the auto leveling system.

Thank you,

The Piddlers

You're likely to run out the rear jacks well before the front jacks simply because they're shorter. On the street in front of my house, I have to put a block under the curb-side rear jack to get level without running the jack to the stop, due to the crown in the street and because it's slightly uphill to the front. I quickly learned that I need to do an "eyeball check" of the ground to see if it's unlevel, then put a block, or 2, under the low side rear jack. Might need more if you're also lower in the tail than the nose, too.

FWIW, the curb side wheels are off the ground when parked in front of my house. Given that the 4 jacks on my KZ are capable of lifting the full GW twice over, I have zero issues with this. Needs be, I'll use them to lift a side of the trailer to change a tire, too (with blocking).

Lyle

Piddlers wrote:
We are making the switch from a travel trailer to a fifth wheel trailer. With our travel trailer we have Andersen levelers, plastic (Lego) levelers, etc.

In the event of a sloping site do you ever have to raise a side before auto leveling a fifth wheel trailer? I'm unclear as to how much is acceptable for the auto leveling system.

Thank you,

The Piddlers

In nearly 8 years of (almost) full time I’ve been in that situation exactly once. The right rear corner of the site was probably 18” below the others. A few lego blocks under that jack and all was well.

Two wheels were well off the ground.