Please tell me about the different types of leveling sytems

[janegowest]

We don't know much about the leveling systems in the 5ers. How many types are there? And how do they operate? we know that the auto-levels are just that, but the others, we don't know much about.

What should we look for in terms of the leveling system, if it does not have auto-leveling? What is the best type?

Thanks for your help in advance!

[bgant4]

I researched for 4 months. Went with the Lippert 6 point system. Has worked flawlessly for 2 years.

[janegowest]

dedmiston wrote:
From my observations as a moderator here (I moderate the Toy Hauler forum), the quickest way to infuriate someone is to answer their question with "Use the Search". The state of mind that folks are in when they ask a question is not at all suited for that kind of teaching. The Socratic method has its place, but it typically isn't very successful in these forums. At least that's been my experience.

Thank you for your insightful comment. I am a researcher and have learned TONS of stuff on my own, but this is unfamiliar territory and there are soooo many aspects to RV shopping that it makes my head swim!! Sooooo much to learn in a very short time when it comes down to making fast decisions on a unit! My state of mind DOES get altered...feeling lost, clueless, overwhelmed, frustrated, confused, and I do not function as I normally would in familiar territory!

I sooooo appreciate everyone having been so kind to lead me by the hand through this whole process!! One day, after we have some RVing experience under our belt, I will be on here helping others through the same process!!

[dedmiston]

From my observations as a moderator here (I moderate the Toy Hauler forum), the quickest way to infuriate someone is to answer their question with "Use the Search". The state of mind that folks are in when they ask a question is not at all suited for that kind of teaching. The Socratic method has its place, but it typically isn't very successful in these forums. At least that's been my experience.

[Irish2]

Hi SabreCanuck

I concur with your method of teaching in that it is best to teach individuals how to find the information themselves as there will be times in our lives that there will be no one to ask. I have been on this forum since 2003 and have found that majority of my questions can be answered in the Search function and if not through other internet venues as you have noted. But sometimes it is just nice to hear an updated answer from someone in our forum family. I have read and enjoyed a number of your post and you, and many here, are well versed in the RV world and your willingness to share information is what makes this forum the place to come to learn and at times to be entertained. All the best from a former Pegger!!!!

[SabreCanuck]

janegowest wrote:

Thank you, this type of explanation would have been much more helpful than comments about being weary. I never knew that a "vidoe" option was available.

And I was not being derogatory re teaching gifts. There is nothing wrong with NOT having a teaching gift. Everyone has different gifts. If everyone had the same gifts, we would not need one another.

I was just trying to explain why one might feel weary/impatient with "teaching.".

It's all good Jane sorry for the WEARY comment, I quite literally was 'weary' last night (as in tired)

For the record, there are many ways to teach..
1) Teach someone to constantly ask questions and provide them answers every time.
2) Teach someone the ability to learn on their own and only ask questions when they need to.

In our house, I always choose option 2. But I've also learnt over the many years that I'm not always right. I'm happy I was able to show you something today that you didn't already know.. Which was my misguied point in the first place.

Enjoy the shopping.

[laknox]

janegowest wrote:
Well...there must be something better than all manual...how do electric and hydraulic jacks work?

Basically, you have an individual motor or hydraulic cylinder at each jack point. They are all connected to a computer that you first calibrate by manually adjusting the jacks until the rig is level; you use a carpenter's level to verify this. You then calibrate the brain at that point which tells it that this is now the zero point from which to start. (The computer has an electronic "tilt meter" that tells how far off level the FW is, and in which direction.) Retract the jacks and move to your camp site. As you're setting up you push a button which then levels the FW automatically. There are also features where you can set a "hitch point", so the rig automatically will jack itself to the proper point that you can just slide right under when you're ready to move. Personally, I don't have one, but I've read a fair bit about them and, when they work, they're great. Obviously, they're also another "device" that can fail; so can the "old school" jacks.

Lyle

[janegowest]

SabreCanuck wrote:

janegowest wrote:

dedmiston wrote:

SabreCanuck wrote:

janegowest wrote:
SabreCanuk, weary yourself no further! You are not under obligation to answer any of my questions.

BTW...I did Google first, but did not find any answers.

Jane, This is a helpful community here but asking so many questions means people will not bother answering. Trust me, I know it's an exciting time but you are kinda bouncing all over the place.. Use the community when you need to (for opinions, advise, etc.) but for technical questions you can generally find the answers yourself. My suggestion to try and help yourself was legitimate.

Perhaps you are not searching properly? I went to google. typed in RV HYDRAULIC LIFT, clicked SEARCH then clicked on VIDEOS right under the search bar. I received 6 pages (approx. 30 vids) of how-to videos and people explaining how each system works..

In the past, I have found the same scenario for pretty much everything. I recently dropped our $400.00 Panasonic camera and could tell the lens was cracked inside the camera. Found the 'how-to' video on Youtube, ordered the part and fixed it for $75.00. Quote I got from two camera repair places? "Replace it"

The information is out there.

Hope you have a good day.

Take a deep breath, SabreCanuck. There's nothing wrong with asking questions. Move onto the next thread if this one is upsetting you.

Thank you! I have discovered that there are various giftings. Not everyone has the same gifts. There are various gifts, such as teaching, organizing, motivating, encouraging, selling, to name just a few. Those who are gifted/called to teach find it a joy to teach and LOVE questions.

To clarify re my Google search, it was "types of leveling systems on fifth wheels" and did not get answers, so I posted here.

In an attempt to enhance my obvious lack of teaching gift.. Once you type in the exact words on Google Search, hit the VIDEOS option underneath the search field.

I just did your exact word search and came up with pages of videos on every leveling system imaginable.

This should directly answer your original post of 'Please tell me about the different types of leveling sytems".

Thank you, this type of explanation would have been much more helpful than comments about being weary. I never knew that a "vidoe" option was available.

And I was not being derogatory re teaching gifts. There is nothing wrong with NOT having a teaching gift. Everyone has different gifts. If everyone had the same gifts, we would not need one another.

I was just trying to explain why one might feel weary/impatient with "teaching.".

[SabreCanuck]

janegowest wrote:

dedmiston wrote:

SabreCanuck wrote:

janegowest wrote:
SabreCanuk, weary yourself no further! You are not under obligation to answer any of my questions.

BTW...I did Google first, but did not find any answers.

Jane, This is a helpful community here but asking so many questions means people will not bother answering. Trust me, I know it's an exciting time but you are kinda bouncing all over the place.. Use the community when you need to (for opinions, advise, etc.) but for technical questions you can generally find the answers yourself. My suggestion to try and help yourself was legitimate.

Perhaps you are not searching properly? I went to google. typed in RV HYDRAULIC LIFT, clicked SEARCH then clicked on VIDEOS right under the search bar. I received 6 pages (approx. 30 vids) of how-to videos and people explaining how each system works..

In the past, I have found the same scenario for pretty much everything. I recently dropped our $400.00 Panasonic camera and could tell the lens was cracked inside the camera. Found the 'how-to' video on Youtube, ordered the part and fixed it for $75.00. Quote I got from two camera repair places? "Replace it"

The information is out there.

Hope you have a good day.

Take a deep breath, SabreCanuck. There's nothing wrong with asking questions. Move onto the next thread if this one is upsetting you.

Thank you! I have discovered that there are various giftings. Not everyone has the same gifts. There are various gifts, such as teaching, organizing, motivating, encouraging, selling, to name just a few. Those who are gifted/called to teach find it a joy to teach and LOVE questions.

To clarify re my Google search, it was "types of leveling systems on fifth wheels" and did not get answers, so I posted here.

In an attempt to enhance my obvious lack of teaching gift.. Once you type in the exact words on Google Search, hit the VIDEOS option underneath the search field.

I just did your exact word search and came up with pages of videos on every leveling system imaginable.

This should directly answer your original post of 'Please tell me about the different types of leveling sytems".

[janegowest]

dedmiston wrote:

SabreCanuck wrote:

janegowest wrote:
SabreCanuk, weary yourself no further! You are not under obligation to answer any of my questions.

BTW...I did Google first, but did not find any answers.

Jane, This is a helpful community here but asking so many questions means people will not bother answering. Trust me, I know it's an exciting time but you are kinda bouncing all over the place.. Use the community when you need to (for opinions, advise, etc.) but for technical questions you can generally find the answers yourself. My suggestion to try and help yourself was legitimate.

Perhaps you are not searching properly? I went to google. typed in RV HYDRAULIC LIFT, clicked SEARCH then clicked on VIDEOS right under the search bar. I received 6 pages (approx. 30 vids) of how-to videos and people explaining how each system works..

In the past, I have found the same scenario for pretty much everything. I recently dropped our $400.00 Panasonic camera and could tell the lens was cracked inside the camera. Found the 'how-to' video on Youtube, ordered the part and fixed it for $75.00. Quote I got from two camera repair places? "Replace it"

The information is out there.

Hope you have a good day.

Take a deep breath, SabreCanuck. There's nothing wrong with asking questions. Move onto the next thread if this one is upsetting you.

Thank you! I have discovered that there are various giftings. Not everyone has the same gifts. There are various gifts, such as teaching, organizing, motivating, encouraging, selling, to name just a few. Those who are gifted/called to teach find it a joy to teach and LOVE questions.

To clarify re my Google search, it was "types of leveling systems on fifth wheels" and did not get answers, so I posted here.

[GoPackGo]

OK, got it. I have dealt with the Lippert folks too and I also thought they were very helpful.

As I'm sure you've already figured out, once you get squared away you do not have to do the reset every time. What wonderful BS.

[dedmiston]

GoPackGo wrote:

dedmiston wrote:
We have the 6 point Level Up system on our new toy hauler and so far I haven't been impressed. I spoke with Lippert on the phone and they said that it sounds like one of the sensors is faulty and that I should take it to my dealer for warranty service. The dealer is booked until late next month.

My two problems are...

Autolevel has never worked. It goes through of its gyrations and seems like it's almost level and then it nearly tips the trailer over to one side or the other. It's pretty scary to watch. Luckily it errors out and stops.

Also, the campsite has to be VERY level to even use the jacks in the first place. We dry camped at a pretty flat location last weekend and after extending all the jacks to the ground I couldn't level from side to side because of "excessive angle". The angle wasn't anywhere near as excessive as when the autolevel tried to tip it over. I had to pull up on 4" leveler blocks and get it nearly level before the jacks would operate. Why have autolevel jacks if you have to level the rig first?

I admit that it sounds like you have a system that needs to be looked at, but in the mean time have you tried to reset the system ? The procedure is in your manual. Basically you manually level it using the front/rear/side jacks and then tell it's brain this is the new 'level'. After that, when you hit 'autolevel', it should level your rig based on the new inputs.

I'm not saying this will absolutely solve your problem but since you can't get it into the dealer for a few months . . . .

It's funny you mention that. The dealer showed us how to do the calibration reset (10x up button and 10x down button). They told us "you have to do this every time". Wrong. I also did it with the factory on the phone. The Lippert tech who I talked with was a heck of a nice guy and very patiently walked me through all the steps that I had already done myself. I was hoping that it would be user error and that he would tell me what I was doing wrong, but he said it's going to have to go back to the North Pole so the elves can have a look at it.

[dedmiston]

SabreCanuck wrote:

janegowest wrote:
SabreCanuk, weary yourself no further! You are not under obligation to answer any of my questions.

BTW...I did Google first, but did not find any answers.

Jane, This is a helpful community here but asking so many questions means people will not bother answering. Trust me, I know it's an exciting time but you are kinda bouncing all over the place.. Use the community when you need to (for opinions, advise, etc.) but for technical questions you can generally find the answers yourself. My suggestion to try and help yourself was legitimate.

Perhaps you are not searching properly? I went to google. typed in RV HYDRAULIC LIFT, clicked SEARCH then clicked on VIDEOS right under the search bar. I received 6 pages (approx. 30 vids) of how-to videos and people explaining how each system works..

In the past, I have found the same scenario for pretty much everything. I recently dropped our $400.00 Panasonic camera and could tell the lens was cracked inside the camera. Found the 'how-to' video on Youtube, ordered the part and fixed it for $75.00. Quote I got from two camera repair places? "Replace it"

The information is out there.

Hope you have a good day.

Take a deep breath, SabreCanuck. There's nothing wrong with asking questions. Move onto the next thread if this one is upsetting you.

[SabreCanuck]

janegowest wrote:
SabreCanuk, weary yourself no further! You are not under obligation to answer any of my questions.

BTW...I did Google first, but did not find any answers.

Jane, This is a helpful community here but asking so many questions means people will not bother answering. Trust me, I know it's an exciting time but you are kinda bouncing all over the place.. Use the community when you need to (for opinions, advise, etc.) but for technical questions you can generally find the answers yourself. My suggestion to try and help yourself was legitimate.

Perhaps you are not searching properly? I went to google. typed in RV HYDRAULIC LIFT, clicked SEARCH then clicked on VIDEOS right under the search bar. I received 6 pages (approx. 30 vids) of how-to videos and people explaining how each system works..

In the past, I have found the same scenario for pretty much everything. I recently dropped our $400.00 Panasonic camera and could tell the lens was cracked inside the camera. Found the 'how-to' video on Youtube, ordered the part and fixed it for $75.00. Quote I got from two camera repair places? "Replace it"

The information is out there.

Hope you have a good day.

[janegowest]

SabreCanuk, weary yourself no further! You are not under obligation to answer any of my questions.

BTW...I did Google first, but did not find any answers.