Auto Level Question

[hoffbrew]

With my old Raptor I put the lego blocks under tires to level up side to side, on new Fuzion it has Auto Level, do I need to still put lego blocks under tires to get close then hit auto level or just back her in and let it do its auto level thing? AND.....I am guessing I can keep my tripod at home now, not needed?

[canesfan]

My new Raptor has the auto level too. Only used it once on a small side to side incline with nothing under the wheels and it worked fine, lifted the door side wheels off the ground maybe an inch and put the 4th bottom step at the right height.

My thought is this, if you put stuff under your wheels your rig will be higher on that side and you will have less travel for the pistons to do their thing (or should I say the pistons will have to travel farther and may run out of travel).

My second thought is if you need more travel to put the legos under the jacks, not the wheels.

Hope that all makes sense.

As for the tripod, I'd say leave it at home. Mine is solid as a rock with the jacks down.

[hoffbrew]

Makes sence to me. When not on the level part of the driveway, I hit the auto level, dang it scared me at first, front end retracted almost all the way, started moving around and I thought it was going to turn into a transformer!! By the time it was done, the door side wheels were off the ground about an inch. Seemed pretty solid. I pushed retract, then auto level and the front retracted all the way down and stopped. I have to check this process again. Just a whole different ball game from the last 3 trailers I have owned.

[canesfan]

Yes, BE CAREFUL with the auto level! Make sure your truck is out from under it! It does dip the nose first and you don't want your truck under it. Thankfully my dealer warned me AND demonstrated it to me AND I read the manual. Haven't watched the DVD yet though.

Dealer also warned me about using the auto retract or whatever it's called. He said it doesn't know if your truck is under it or not, and it WILL retract all the jacks whether it is or isn't. His suggestion for idiot proof is to forget the auto retract and just use the manual front retract and the rear retract (or whatever it's called) so you know exactly what you're retracting. If I remember correct the rear retract controls both the rear and both the mid jacks.

Also, the recall or whatever it's called that is supposed to return it to the height it was when you unhitched may or may not work, depending if you are higher or lower then when you unhitched, I forget which, but there is info about it. I can't remember if there is something on this forum about it or where I read about how to make it work, but I've been managing to hookup for many years without a computer doing it for me.

[hoffbrew]

Dealer went over it with me and yes on truck not being hooked up. But once I got home and opened up the lid, everything he told me went right out the door!! lol, I will grab a couple more "sodas" and the book and go from there.

[hoffbrew]

But I do remember dealer telling me when I did auto retract the the trailer would go back to where it was before I hit auto level???

[canesfan]

Yeah, I remember the dealer going over it and me thinking, yeah, I'll forget this by time I drive off the lot. Then by time I got to the campground it was dark, my controls are in the LP compartment and there is no light in there. Of course I couldn't see a thing, couldn't find my flashlight since everything was packed in boxes for the move from last rig to this one, so I'm lighting a match in the LP compartment to see the controls. Have since solved the lack of light problem in the compartment with a battery LED puck light.

I thought there was another option besides auto retract that got you back to where you were before auto leveling. I'm not in front of it and I'll have to look at it now. I'll join you on the "couple more sodas" later this afternoon.

[hoffbrew]

I will grab some sodas and meet you by the trailer to figure this out!

[canesfan]

Sounds good to me! I'll meet you there.

Here's the online manual but my aren't exactly the same.
http://www.lci1.com/images/support/m...c-leveling.pdf

[hoffbrew]

I just found on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M08moJU9ilE

[canesfan]

I saw that. Mine says different things, I wonder if it's a newer or older version?

Also, mine didn't come with the girl to push the buttons and move the truck.

[hoffbrew]

I guess I have the older version, mine wont push any buttons and I wont let her get close to driver seat and ....... oh wait... yes, control panel... yes looks like mine!

[canesfan]

Hmmm, know what you mean.

My control panel looks the same but seems the display readings are different and I don't recall pushing the 2 arrow buttons to get back to unhitch height, now I have to go out there and look at it (which will require some of those "sodas"). At least the sun is out and it's not freezing. Come on 4:00!

And now I have to look at my roof, too.

[hoffbrew]

I emailed Keystone Sunday about wheels coming off the ground:
*
*
Good morning Scot,

Thank you for contacting Keystone RV. In regards to your email, Scot when using the auto level the wheels should never leave the ground if you are in uneven terrain yes blocks may have to be used, once again you should never have the wheels off the ground this means the jacks are taking all the weight this can lead to component failure.

I hope this assists you

[bobbecky]

That is just a bunch of lawyer talk. What the heck, the front jacks are always taking all the weight. What is the purpose of having a leveling system if we are expected to hassle with leveling with pads under the low side tires before using a hydraulic level system?

[hoffbrew]

I was just trying to confirm but didnt get the answer I was looking for. I see motor coach wheels of the ground at RV parks?? Same concept?

[Quad]

I'm not understanding it ether. What would be the point of the leveling system if I still had to use blocks? I have the 4 point electric version and for over a year now been using it without blocks and have yet to have a problem. It lifts just fine, little here, little there until it levels. Like mentioned above mine use the same jacks to lift/lower the front while hitching as it does to auto level. So those jacks are always holding the weight of the camper in the front. Where would the difference be in that?


2005 Silverado 2500HD D/A
2013 Laredo 321BH

[canesfan]

Well, I have my own opinions, but let's look at this just because.

Say my rig weighs ~14000 lbs (note - all my figures are rough and rounded)

The front jacks are supporting rough pin weight per Keystone of ~2500 lbs.

That's ~1250 lbs per jack. If I lift one side off the ground, that's ~7000 lbs and each jack on that side is supporting ~2300 lbs.

How much can each jack lift/support? I don't know. Would Lippert tell us? I doubt it.

Here's what the online manual says:

> NEVER LIFT THE UNIT COMPLETELY OFF THE GROUND. LIFTING THE UNIT SO THE WHEELS ARE NOT TOUCHING GROUND WILL CREATE AN UNSTABLE AND UNSAFE CONDITION.

The word "completely" is a key word, what if I lift it "partially" off the ground? Yeah, I know, you can read into it however you want.

Opinions welcome.

[hoffbrew]

Those figures are going through my head too, I guess we need to find out how much weight these levelers can handle.

[hoffbrew]

lci1.com has a short video showing you "no more blocks to drive up on", "are you tired of trying to level"