leveling your motorhome

[trickto322]

We brought the jacks down with a level next to the controls and one on the floor near the kitchen sink. when it looked OK the big slide on our Tourmaster went out very, very slow. Now every once in awhile we feel a jolt. It looks like the jack are failing because we are way off now.
Are jacks suppose to be twicked every once in awhile if you sit for awhile?

 

[GStream40]

You didn't say what terrain you were sitting on, concrete, dirt or blacktop.

We have to put some boards down when sitting on dirt or sand. It gives the jack a bigger area to support the weight of the coach without sinking and sometimes it sinks even with the boards. On blacktop I use some plastic jack support pads that I purchased at Camping World so that the jacks do not sink into it.

I would check to make sure that is not what is happening to yours.

When we are in Florida we sit on our lot on grass/dirt and it sinks the boards into the ground up to 4 inches. I have to relevel about once a month but about weekly the first month until the boards/dirt settle.

Hopefully that is what is happening to yours. If yours is leaking it's pressure, then it could be a control valve or a leak in the system.

Also, Do you air down the suspension before leveling?

I found out on our other coach we used to have that if I didn't flip the lever to exhaust the air in the suspension, it would make noises and jerk the coach as the air depleted in the system with the jacks down.

Ron

 

[trickto322]

We are parked on gravel and it sounds like what you said is right on. We will look for something to put under the jacks. Thanks

 

[djqualls]

Are both rear jacks down?

On my coach, with Power Gear Jacks, when you press the RR button one of the rear jacks lowers until it touches the ground then the other lowers and when it touches the ground, they then operate together.

Seems wierd but Mastertech in Elkhart told me they were working correct.

 

[GStream40]

Are both rear jacks down?

On my coach, with Power Gear Jacks, when you press the RR button one of the rear jacks lowers until it touches the ground then the other lowers and when it touches the ground, they then operate together.

Seems wierd but Mastertech in Elkhart told me they were working correct.

Dave, Mastertech is correct, that is exactly the way the Power Gear Jacks on our previous and present GS have worked. They work that way so they do not twist or bind the frame. They always level the coach in pairs but will go down one at a time when there is no resistance, when it touches the ground and builds a present amount of pressure, it checks the other jack by a pressure equalization valve to see if it has the same amount of pressure built up, if not then the valve activates to lower that jack until it touches the ground and pressure equalizes in the pair, then at that time it will lower them both to level the coach.

It works the same for each pair depending on what is needed to level, Front 2, Right 2, Rear 2, left 2. Also works the same for the manual or the Auto leveling controls like we have on our coach.

Power Gear Website: http://www.powergearus.com/

Hope this simple explanation helped,

Ron

 

[djqualls]

Thanks Ron,

That really makes sense. I really didn't think of the frame twist issues until noe but on an incline that could really put some stress on a frame.

Dave........

 

[trickto322]

If this is true how can u ever get the unit level when one side is lower? I just do not understand these things. There is a button for each of the rear jacks to make it straight should you do the rear jacks first then when it looks level bring the front down?

 

[GStream40]

If this is true how can u ever get the unit level when one side is lower? I just do not understand these things. There is a button for each of the rear jacks to make it straight should you do the rear jacks first then when it looks level bring the front down?

On our present coach the leveling system is completely automatic, I just push the "Auto" button and it does it all to level the coach. At times I do need to "tweak" it to get it perfect. One thing we found out is that on a Automatic system, one cannot walk around while it is doing it's thing. It messes up the sensor and it does not level correctly. Looks really funny when one end is way up in the air and the system shows it being level.

On our '03 it was a manual system, I always would lower all the jacks until they touched the ground, then lower the set needed to raise the coach to level. Usually I would level front to back first, then raise (lower the jacks) the side that needed to raise to make it level. The auto system does the same thing.

When one side is lower, then you just push the "button" for that side to bring it up to level. Quite simple really after you do it a few times.

Just remember when you raise the coach, you are actually lowering the jacks. Don't confuse the two terms.

Ron