Finally had enough with Atwood electric jacks
I have been battling 8 years with Atwood screw leveler jacks. I have owned a 2006 Phaeton for the last 8 years with these screw levelers. I should have seen signs when the previous owner didn't want to demonstrate them, claiming the lot owner didn't allow them, but the seller looked honest and was a friend of a friend.
From the beginning, they worked sometimes and not at others. Air dump and lift systems were not even active and I didn't know enough to question this. I had to replace 2 jacks, 2 controllers and rebuilt 2 jacks over the years besides all the times I had to crawl under the coach to use my drill to manually move the jacks in up so I could depart. I always dreaded arriving or leaving a campsite, not knowing if they were going to work or not. I spent enough to have replaced them with hydraulic jacks more than once.
I finally had enough, drove to Moscow, IA, 775 miles each way, this week spending 5 days and $6600 having the Atwood junk replaced with an HWH hydraulic system. While there, I saw scrap bins full of Atwood jacks. They say they do at least 2 coaches a week and have a backlog of people waiting. I was told that during the years from 2006 to 2010 that several rv builders went with Atwood to save $1400 per coach.
I know $6600 sounds like a lot and 1550 miles sounds like a lot of driving but the peace of mind is worth it all.
From the beginning, they worked sometimes and not at others. Air dump and lift systems were not even active and I didn't know enough to question this. I had to replace 2 jacks, 2 controllers and rebuilt 2 jacks over the years besides all the times I had to crawl under the coach to use my drill to manually move the jacks in up so I could depart. I always dreaded arriving or leaving a campsite, not knowing if they were going to work or not. I spent enough to have replaced them with hydraulic jacks more than once.
I finally had enough, drove to Moscow, IA, 775 miles each way, this week spending 5 days and $6600 having the Atwood junk replaced with an HWH hydraulic system. While there, I saw scrap bins full of Atwood jacks. They say they do at least 2 coaches a week and have a backlog of people waiting. I was told that during the years from 2006 to 2010 that several rv builders went with Atwood to save $1400 per coach.
I know $6600 sounds like a lot and 1550 miles sounds like a lot of driving but the peace of mind is worth it all.
