Leveling Question

[bratbros]

If the front wheels are off the ground in order to get the coach level do you block up the front tires and take pressure off the jacks?

[RKBob]

I was in that situation last year in my I5 camping outside of Phoenix ... the front tires were about 6 inches off the ground for 5 days... no ill effects that I could determine. The suspension is designed to work both ways and the truck weighs much more than the wheels!😎

[Sandiegodoug]

I jack up a little higher , put enough LEGO blocks under wheel to fill space and drop back down when really unlevel

[formerFR]

some folks will do it one way, others aren't comfortable with 'tires off the ground' and will do everything in their power to overcome it... anyway they can...

the truth is: once the levelers hit the ground and move the coach even 1/4", they have already lifted the whole weight of the coach off the ground - so they don't care whether you are barely lifted, or lifted to the max, or the tires are off the ground 6", or the tires just don't 'look' off the ground, even though they really already are.

[kenandterry]

Originally Posted by formerFR

some folks will do it one way, others aren't comfortable with 'tires off the ground' and will do everything in their power to overcome it... anyway they can...

the truth is: once the levelers hit the ground and move the coach even 1/4", they have already lifted the whole weight of the coach off the ground - so they don't care whether you are barely lifted, or lifted to the max, or the tires are off the ground 6", or the tires just don't 'look' off the ground, even though they really already are.

Sometimes you make so much sense it’s scary.

Just saying

[bclemens]

Block them. Its never good to have the entire weight of the cab just hanging there, cantilevered. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

When jacking up a car...the jack can hold the weight of the car, no problem. But I always use jacks stands if it is going to be there for more than a flat tire.

[JeffandLori]

Originally Posted by formerFR

some folks will do it one way, others aren't comfortable with 'tires off the ground' and will do everything in their power to overcome it... anyway they can...

the truth is: once the levelers hit the ground and move the coach even 1/4", they have already lifted the whole weight of the coach off the ground - so they don't care whether you are barely lifted, or lifted to the max, or the tires are off the ground 6", or the tires just don't 'look' off the ground, even though they really already are.

Not sure I understand how you got there. Jacks are part of the frame, right? I can likely grab your front bumper and raise it 1/4 inch and I am confident I will not be lifting the whole weight of your coach.

I would bet money if you put a scale under your jack it would steadily climb- but not linearly, until the suspension is almost fully unweighted then will climb dramatically.

Maybe I’m wrong, but that's just my experience from the auto industry years ago.

[bubbles]

Originally Posted by bclemens

Block them. Its never good to have the entire weight of the cab just hanging there, cantilevered. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

When jacking up a car...the jack can hold the weight of the car, no problem. But I always use jacks stands if it is going to be there for more than a flat tire.

Only restriction I've seen in any manual is to not have all the wheels off the ground. You say "it's never good" but can you elaborate on why it's bad?

[Oldbyker]

Originally Posted by formerFR

the truth is: once the levelers hit the ground and move the coach even 1/4", they have already lifted the whole weight of the coach off the ground - so they don't care whether you are barely lifted, or lifted to the max, or the tires are off the ground 6", or the tires just don't 'look' off the ground, even though they really already are.

Not quite:
As the jacks start to raise the vehicle, the tire weight on the ground smoothly decreases as the suspension stretches and weight transfers to the jacks. When the tire is just about to lift off the ground, all the weight is finally on the jack.

All the lift distance you need is so the low corners come up to the high corners to make things level. Any greater lift just puts more force and wear on the jacks. The tires don't care at all.

The RV is more stable parked with weight on the tires than up on stilts with the tires in the air. All the tires on the ground resist side loads. The rears are also in Park and resist front and back loads.

When jacking up a car, there is always the chance that the jack or car will slip or break and the car will come down. That's why one uses jack stands to hold the weight before getting under there.

[bubbles]

Originally Posted by Oldbyker

Not quite:
When jacking up a car, there is always the chance that the jack or car will slip or break and the car will come down. That's why one uses jack stands to hold the weight before getting under there.

And if the car has a frame aren't those jack stands situated under a frame member? Which is where the coach jacks are situated.

[TheWolfPaq82]

Over by my daughters house, there was a Motorhome parked in a driveway all winter long. It showed up in October as I recall and has since left about a week ago. this drive was fairly steep and I kid you not...the front wheels were at least a foot or more off the ground. Someone built a wood staircase to get into the MH and it was a total of 6 steps to get to entry door. No blocks under the front wheels and someone lived in it all winter long...I wish I'd stopped and taken a picture...it was truly amazing.

[JohnMirada]

I would also think it's a matter of stability. Think of the jacks as stilts - do you want to be on stilts that are 6" high or 6' high. An exaggeration for sure but you get the idea. The higher the jacks have to lift the coach to level it, the less stable it will be.

[MasterBlaster]

We never have ours with the wheels off the ground. If this is going to happen then we block them to make sure we have all tires and all jacks in contact with the ground.

[FOURWHL]

Also it's not the jacks I worry about it's the shocks supporting the entire weight of the axle hanging there. That's not what they're designed to do.

[bratbros]

Originally Posted by bclemens

Block them. Its never good to have the entire weight of the cab just hanging there, cantilevered. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

When jacking up a car...the jack can hold the weight of the car, no problem. But I always use jacks stands if it is going to be there for more than a flat tire.

Ok. I suspected that was the best course of action. I'll do that from now on.

[Oldbyker]

Originally Posted by FOURWHL

Also it's not the jacks I worry about it's the shocks supporting the entire weight of the axle hanging there. That's not what they're designed to do.

The shocks are strong enough to tame the motion of many thousands of pounds of RV, bouncing over bumps and dropping into holes. Several hundred pounds of wheel and axle weight gently applied is easy.

These are truck chassis and designed to take bounces and bumps all day long that would threaten to tear the cabinets off the walls. TV is full of advertisements showing trucks out in farm and ranch country bashing through stuff, proud that they are TOUGH! That does shorten the life of the suspension components, but that is from motion, not parking.

Now I might be a little jaded towards expecting the shock absorbers to do their job. In the early 1970's I took an RV (VW Bus) thhrough Africa for a year. There were thousands of miles of washboard roads and surprise bumps and holes. I carried a supply of spare shock absorbers and replaced a blown shock a couple of times a month. I also had the tools, seals, and fluid to rebuild them.

So don't worry at all about the shock absorbers when parked. They're on vacation.

[Sandiegodoug]

You have your wheel off the groung and there are high winds. Do you want your coach supported on a solid footing, suchs as tires and jack, or do you want your coach supported by a 2 inch diameter piece of tubing resting on a 6 X 6 inch plate. I just think it’s safer to have all the wheels supporting the coach.

[PhotoMaster]

I never like to have any wheel(s) off the ground. If the hydraulics fail you could get a sudden unwelcome drop. Also the coach seems to be more stable, less motion caused my people moving about in the coach.

As long as the wheels are in contact with the ground they support some of the weight even if it's only the weight of the wheels themselves, which is often over 100 lbs/tire.

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by Oldbyker

The shocks are strong enough to tame the motion of many thousands of pounds of RV, bouncing over bumps and dropping into holes. Several hundred pounds of wheel and axle weight gently applied is easy.

These are truck chassis and designed to take bounces and bumps all day long that would threaten to tear the cabinets off the walls. TV is full of advertisements showing trucks out in farm and ranch country bashing through stuff, proud that they are TOUGH! That does shorten the life of the suspension components, but that is from motion, not parking.

Now I might be a little jaded towards expecting the shock absorbers to do their job. In the early 1970's I took an RV (VW Bus) thhrough Africa for a year. There were thousands of miles of washboard roads and surprise bumps and holes. I carried a supply of spare shock absorbers and replaced a blown shock a couple of times a month. I also had the tools, seals, and fluid to rebuild them.

So don't worry at all about the shock absorbers when parked. They're on vacation.

Those trucks on the commercial are not set up the same as the one you drive off the dealers lot. The commercial that makes me laugh the most is the one with a F150 lifting a I-beam. The way they have it hooked up the rear of the truck will be lifted taking weight off the rear axle as the truck takes the full weight of the beam off the ground. You can't tell me the rear wheels would not start slipping if that is a steel beam. Maybe if it's an aluminum beam but I doubt it for the size of beam they show.

[Wolf Alaska]

I have learned much from this forum. I put some of the new knowledge gained here to good effect during our recent trip to the MATS in Louisville, KY. We "camped" in the large truck lot for 3 nights and 4 days with 1100 Class 8 trucks, most with a 53' trailer in tow. Had a great time!

We didn't bother with the HWH jacks. Forum said, "you don't have to be on jacks to extend slides". We had no problems at all with the slides. I found that the coach leveled when I manually bled a bit of air from the rear air suspension. Propane fridge was perfectly level and ran cold during the entire event. With 48 gallons of propane on board and the fridge being the only user, we can run the fridge a long time on propane.

I have 28 years experience with Type B motor homes that have no leveling jacks. During that time, I have also used travel trailers for a total of 16 trailer years.

Putting a board or two down & climbing a low wheel on there to level out is just routine to me. Same for side to side leveling.

Often, a slight move of the vehicle can greatly reduce the effort to level the vehicle. If I can't easily level on a CG site, then I'm on the wrong site.

If I deploy those nearly worthless HWH jacks, then it will mainly be to stabilize the coach. I have a high tech leveling device + the usual bubble levelers + the panel on the HWH. If a wheel needs a bit of additional altitude, I'll put down one of those big wooden jack pads which I carry to put under the HWH jack pad (like Anchors Down CG requires).

I think I'll prefer to level out using the "old school" method of shimming up the low wheel rather than relying on the HWH system. I am certainly not going to camp with motor coach wheels off the ground and in the air! That leaves the jacks as a stabilizing device and we have found the Grand Sport to be so stable, we may not bother.

P.S. My understanding is: shock absorbers are not load bearing devices. Wheels are suspended by springs which carry the weight of the vehicle. I have often jacked up wheels, removed the wheel & tire, then the shock. There was no load on the shock. Of course, I always safely protect the job with jack stands & don't rely solely on the hydraulic shop jacks.