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Old 02-28-2018, 10:39 AM   #1
Dejones57
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Leveling jacks

I have a 2017 Cougar 5th that is equipped with electric self-leveling jacks. Periodically I will be parked in a space that is so far off level that the jacks will lift the wheels on one side or the other completely off of the ground. Is this ok or not?
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Old 02-28-2018, 11:50 AM   #2
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I'd be interested to know as well. My new trailer is my first one with auto leveling.
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Old 02-28-2018, 01:14 PM   #3
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Well not sure with the elec level system but the Hyd 6-point level up supposedly will only let there be a 5 degree difference from side to side.
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Old 02-28-2018, 01:16 PM   #4
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It’s okay.
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Old 02-28-2018, 01:20 PM   #5
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It's Okay...
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Old 02-28-2018, 02:21 PM   #6
travelin texans
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It's OK! Mine sat for 4 days with NO wheels, levelers only, while waiting on brake parts. It looked rather odd sitting there with no wheels & couple feet off the ground & got a lot of lookers scratching there heads.
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Old 03-02-2018, 09:23 AM   #7
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I use Anderson Levelers to get the rig close to level and then let the auto-levelers go from there. I feel it give the rig just a bit more support
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Old 03-02-2018, 02:16 PM   #8
Chief Mole
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This is our first time with an auto-leveling system too. I think that I might be a little more confident with something solid under my tires but I have leveled a TT with bottle jacks and had the tires in the air before.
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Old 03-02-2018, 02:52 PM   #9
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Not a problem, I use my Lippert System to change tires, and service bearings and brakes.

You can actually lift all four, but Lippert discourages this because of their "LIABILITY" concerns.

Good Luck, enjoy!
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Old 03-02-2018, 04:21 PM   #10
sourdough
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I don't have auto level but will relay our friend's efforts to level in his new Big Horn 5th in the next space.

When he arrived he was setting it up (he had once at his home prior to departure) and was having a lot of trouble trying to level it with the self levelers. I asked if he needed help and he said no, the leveling system just didn't want to level it right. A while later he came back with a bunch of wood blocks and told me (guess he talked to ??) that he needed to put blocks under the levelers so it could get to where it needed to be. He did and has been like that for over 4 months now. The site is pretty level so don't know what the deal is but thought I would pass it along since I think most of these factory leveling units come from the same manufacturers. He has 4 point.
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Old 03-03-2018, 12:48 PM   #11
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I always drive up on wood planks to get approximately level. Then I use the electric leveling system.

I just don't feel right with the tires off the ground.
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Old 03-06-2018, 04:48 AM   #12
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Not to intentionally be a naysayer, but one of my front jacks got tweeked about a month ago because of this. I’ll share this as it happened which will allow you to see my obvious lapse of common sense which contributed, but I still didn’t see it coming because wheels are so often off the ground after leveling. Basically the campsite was off camber, and when backed in the nose was slightly downhill. The wheels were chalked on both sides and the auto level button was pushed. By the time the front was lifted during this process to near level front to back the jacks were extended more than I’m used to seeing. That was my first indication that this campsite was not level front to back. Due to surrounding terrain I couldn’t tell prior to this point. Then as the mid and rear jacks began to do their job the passenger side wheels were lifted. As the wheels came off the ground the trailer began to move forward and was pivoting around the wheels that were still grounded and chalked. The movement was merely in inches, but the forward and twisting motion was enough to bend the jack and convince me it was going to collapse, but it didn’t.

This is when the fun started. I couldn’t get my truck back under it! When I retracted the jacks trying to get the wheels back on the ground so that the chalks would hold that side the jacks wouldn’t let me control them because the tilt exceeded 1.4 degrees or whatever it is. The tweeked front jack was making terrible noise from the preload it had from being rolled forward and sideways with the weight of the trailer on it. I cycled them off and on and moved them slightly until the warning came up and control was lost and then repeated. When it was obvious that this wasn’t going to work I carried rocks to try and chalk the lifted wheels and prevent further forward and twisting motion. Then figuring I was playing with the insurance companies trailer at that point I lifted just the fronts jacks in an attempt to get it high enough to get my truck back under it. It was wobbly and creepy to do, but I got it back on the truck. Once safely on the truck I was still struggling to get the other jacks up due to the tilt sensor kicking in, but finally tried the auto retract which worked.

The bent jack still works, but it’s all I can see now when I look at my trailer. Thinking back about how to not get into this pickle again I think this would have bitten anybody with this system. There wasn’t a level campsite in the place, but being in rolling hills and no level surface other than the sites themselves as a reference they all looked level.

So my new personal minimums will be that the trailer must be level in at least one axis before I hit auto level. You just can’t believe how sickening it it to see a fifth wheel trying to roll forward off of its jacks. Even after moving out of that site it still looked like it wouldn’t be problematic by just looking at it. There were just no visual clues that it was out of level front to back anyhow. As for being off camber, well I could see that. We ended up boondocking in an area set aside for large groups, no trees, etc., and not as nice as in the actual campground.
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Old 03-06-2018, 08:08 AM   #13
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Personally I’d have to have all wheels on the ground .. yes my six point level up will lift the whole rig off he ground.
But... with wheels on ground and then leveled you have a much more stable setup with way less stress on the leveling legs.
I boon dock a lot and travel a lot and I’ve yet to find a situation where all my wheels are on the ground.
I carry small blocks of wood just for that purpose.


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Old 03-06-2018, 08:36 AM   #14
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In 5 years and 40,000+ miles of traveling, I have had the wheels on one side of our rig off the ground exactly once. The site was uneven side to side and the wheels on the low side were off enough that they could be turned. We have the Lippert 6-way system and are well pleased with it. I always chock the wheels on both sides before disconnecting the TV and have never had the rig move at all while leveling. We have been in a few places where the site was so uneven that the system could not level within the travel limits of the jacks. Just moved to another site. Not a big deal.
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Old 03-06-2018, 10:50 AM   #15
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I have 2 sets of Lynx Levelers, much lighter & take up less space than lumber, & typically put at least 2 under each jack whether the site is level or not just to shorten the length of the jacks, the further they are extended the more movement felt inside.
We've also found once unhitched to lower the front landing legs considerably before hitting auto level. Yes you'll lose the remembered hitch height, but we've found that by doing this it tends to level the 5er lower than starting from the unhitched height.
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Old 03-25-2018, 10:28 AM   #16
stevie wonder
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Sounds like you need to do a "Zero Point" procedure to tell the system what is level. Did one on our new Cougar and found the system was never leveled from the factory or dealer.
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Old 03-27-2018, 03:52 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stevie wonder View Post
Sounds like you need to do a "Zero Point" procedure to tell the system what is level. Did one on our new Cougar and found the system was never leveled from the factory or dealer.
I did that. The factory setting was pretty close but not close enough for me.

My definition of level includes:

1. all doors stay put instead of swinging on their own.

2. water on the counter next to the sink drains towards the sink.

3. I can fry an egg in the middle of a frying pan and it does not run towards the edges.

4. fridge is within spec.

5. bed is level enough to be sleepable (is that a word)

It took me about 5 tries to get it just right.
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