leveling and slide out

campingman, this is from a retired winnebago dealership service manager, for 25 years, and now, a hwh traveling service tech for 15 years. with jacks, level first, then extend rooms, retract rooms then retract jacks.
if you have air leveling, read the owners manual. use common sense.
every manufacturer has a different technique, that said, having a level coach before extending or retracting a room is always best. you are not moving a square room inside an off square hole.
the main concern is that moving the room while not level may bind, or damage a seal. if you are reasonably level, without leveling, moving the rooms doesnt normally cause any damage. its only in extreme cases that i have seen damaged seals.
if in doubt, call the manufacturer. this forum is a good source of information. most people give basically the same info. some even consult that new unused unread manual in their owners packet.

Just my $.02 I have put my slides out without being on the landing gear at all. Just hooked up to the truck. Now I didn't live in it that way, but for loading or some other chore, can't see that it would matter. FWIW

If my slides are in they will not hit anything on the way up or down. Motor home up-slides out-slides in-motor home down

The manual for our 2002 Itasca Horizon, (made by Winnebago) with HWH jacks and slides, says level first then slides out. Slides in then retract jacks. It also recommends to leave the engine running while you extend the jacks and move the slides. It keeps the voltage up to the hydraulic pump motor. I have seen the battery voltage drop to 11.5 operating the slides without the engine running. This makes for a much higher current draw and more heat.

Resd the manual or call Winnie. Jacks down slides out . You can ask on the Winnebago forum but I've had 2 and all our friends have Winnies. Jacks down, slides out.

campingman55 wrote:
ok we just got our new old dp it is a winnabago vectra 40fd and it is a2005 we would like to know do u bring the slides in with the jacks down and do u run the slides out with the jacks up need to know what way is the best

I don't know if you have the Operator's Manual for your coach. If not, you can find it here:

2005 Vectra Operator's Manual

The manual states that you level the coach before moving the slideout. All Winnebago products I've looked at state the same thing. Other brands of coaches are different.

When I'm working on my coach here at the house, I often run one or both slideouts out, without extending the jacks first. My driveway is pretty much level front-to-back, and has a slight slope away from the house. Slides work fine in this situation.

You will see in the Op Manual that Winnebago recommends using the jacks to raise the side of the coach opposite the slide, to force water runoff if there is water on the slides, before retracting the slides. That implies to me that Winnebago doesn't consider it a great sin to move the jacks while the slides are out.

This post provided for information only.

Our Monaco book says to extend the slides first,with the coach still aired up, then dump air and level. Go by what your manufacturer says. I don't understand it, but I do as I'm told. :)

As we all know that some RV parks do not have level parking spots therefore it puts a twist on the body of the coach. I have seen it so bad in South Carolina that support brackets that support the front and rear end caps have broken off from the fiberglass. I also saw an American Tradition in Batesville, Indiana where the twisting of the superstructure popped the windshield off the corner and cracked.

Putting a twist on the superstructure will crack the fiberglass in the stress area's.

Tiffen might recommend it, but they could be wrong also and maybe that is why they are having problems with cracks on the curve part where the roof and the side walls meet.

If you level the coach first so that there will be no twisting stress on the frame of the coach, the slide should come right out. Makes sense if you stop and think about it.

I'll throw my 2-cents in, as stated numerous times, check the manual for your specific unit. My HR Admiral (Monaco) owner's manual states the slide(s) first before lowering the jacks. Not all units are the same.

Most of you guys have been on here long enough to see this same argument 2-3 times a year about leveling first vs slide outs first. Why do you still argue over this. Some brands want it done one way and some want it done another.