Level system

[ewbldavis]

I don't think it's a good idea to leave it with wheels up.

I try to get "reasonably" level before using auto-level. It is strong enough and stable with wheels off the ground, but I'm not convinced this is a good situation. I bet if a failure occurred, it would not be warranted if wheels weren't on ground.

[Ribtip]

We are out at our rec club this week. We do a halloween trick or treat for all the kids. I leveled the camper with the auto level and realized i was on an angle and should of pulled the left side up on some boards. The tires on the left came off the ground about 3/8 of an in. I said hell with it and left it. Is this ok for the camper dont know but it feels sturdy and i just left it for the week. Seems ok to me.

[LewisB]

Originally Posted by Ribtip

We are out at our rec club this week. We do a halloween trick or treat for all the kids. I leveled the camper with the auto level and realized i was on an angle and should of pulled the left side up on some boards. The tires on the left came off the ground about 3/8 of an in. I said hell with it and left it. Is this ok for the camper dont know but it feels sturdy and i just left it for the week. Seems ok to me.

Question: if you had driven the tires up on boards, how would that have impacted the hydraulic rams and the level up? As you raise the frame, those boards under the tires would not change the first opportunity of the frame to get level relative to the ground. If you put boards under the rams (to match the tires), that only shortens the stroke of the rams to find that first condition of level for the frame.

I'm sure others will disagree, but the only warning in my Lippert Owner's manual about tires being off the ground is in relation to being dangerous to get under the trailer for service work while using only the Level-Up system to elevate the trailers. There are no other cautions in my manual stating this is a bad thing.

One of their big marketing points is that their patented system is designed to lift the trailer by the frame (rather than the suspension) so as to NOT put stress on the chassis. With 2 ea 14K front jacks and 4 ea 8K rear jacks, the system has a total lifting capacity of 60K on my 17K trailer. When I am at home, I purposely raise the frame to put most or nearly all the weight on the Level-Up system in an attempt to relax the suspension & tires.

For years, we used to level the tires & suspension to attempt to get the frame level. Subsequent changes to slides and other load issues on the frame always impacted the suspension based level. With the LCI system, the connection is from the frame directly to the ground.

So, I don't have any precautions in my LCI paperwork that precludes parking with the tires off the ground (except for the warning about not doing maintenance under the trailer). My system is a 2018 - maybe they made subsequent changes, but I doubt it.

[flybouy]

I don't have the system however I do know a little bit about hydraulics. The farther a ram is extended the less stable it becomes. When a ram is retracted the distance between the back of the ram (inside the cylinder where it's supported) and the end of the ram where it exits the cylinder and is supported by that bushing will be at max distance.

The further it is extended the closer those two support points become thereby reducing the stability. Envision holding a sledge hammer with your hands to gether in front of you vs spreading out your hands a foot or so apart.

With that being said, I would think that if you cribbed the wheels to come to "somewhat" level the less stress on the frame. If that frame is a foot low on one side then all that force pushing one side of the frame I think would exert more torque on the frame. I'd also think the more delta in side to side the low side rams may be at an angle to the ground as the frame would not be parallel to the horizon but the ram would be perpendicular to the frame.

This is just my opinion from life experiences. I've seen many cranes, drilling rigs,etc. set up on construction sites and they would always preset the level of the rig before deploying the outriggers.

I may be all wrong but if I had the system I would try to "pre level" the rig with boards under the tires then and add some cribbing under the low side rams. Just my opinion FWIW.

[Ribtip]

I do normally try to get closer to level by driving up on boards. Then i put these big plastic rounds i made at work under the rams to take up space.( i was board one day). I made them 5in tall so if they fit with an inch or so space i use them if they dont because of the ground clearance i dont use them. In my last post i just left the tire off because dw took the truck for food and i just got lazy. In my mind i can see the tires on the ground being better.but still dont know if it matters or not. Now on my motorhome i was way off level and tried to level without boards and broke the top off one of the shocks so maybe there is something said about being level first with boards.

[Ribtip]

Here is a pic of the plastic rounds i made. Same as using boards or the squares they sell

[Ribtip]

Originally Posted by LewisB

Question: if you had driven the tires up on boards, how would that have impacted the hydraulic rams and the level up? As you raise the frame, those boards under the tires would not change the first opportunity of the frame to get level relative to the ground. If you put boards under the rams (to match the tires), that only shortens the stroke of the rams to find that first condition of level for the frame.

I'm sure others will disagree, but the only warning in my Lippert Owner's manual about tires being off the ground is in relation to being dangerous to get under the trailer for service work while using only the Level-Up system to elevate the trailers. There are no other cautions in my manual stating this is a bad thing.

One of their big marketing points is that their patented system is designed to lift the trailer by the frame (rather than the suspension) so as to NOT put stress on the chassis. With 2 ea 14K front jacks and 4 ea 8K rear jacks, the system has a total lifting capacity of 60K on my 17K trailer. When I am at home, I purposely raise the frame to put most or nearly all the weight on the Level-Up system in an attempt to relax the suspension & tires.

For years, we used to level the tires & suspension to attempt to get the frame level. Subsequent changes to slides and other load issues on the frame always impacted the suspension based level. With the LCI system, the connection is from the frame directly to the ground.

So, I don't have any precautions in my LCI paperwork that precludes parking with the tires off the ground (except for the warning about not doing maintenance under the trailer). My system is a 2018 - maybe they made subsequent changes, but I doubt it.

By pulling on boards the trailer is closer to level. Yes your rams will come out further if you dont use spacers under them. But with the tires on boards the rams will not have to bring the tires off the ground to level. I dont think its bad to have the tires off the ground.not sure if it is but i dont think so.