Brain Failure with Hydraulic Leveling System

On June 11, 2010, we upgraded to a BIGHORN from our 1 year old Big Country. One of the major selling points for us was the factory installed AutoLevel System. I would tell you, in hindsite, that our dealer did a less than adequate job of teaching us to use it and provided no paperwork (since remedied). We took our new BH to Lancaster on its first trip (other than break-in weekend) so that we could go to the Lippert plant in Denver, PA to have the TriGlide Air Ride system installed. System set up very well on Thursday night but Friday morning it was non-functional when it came to breaking down to go to Lippert. Being that I was less than comfortable, I called the dealer and he walked me through the operation twice with no success (we had no power to anything but the hydraulic pump worked fine as the slides went in and out with no issue). I spent the next 3.5 hours on the phone with Vance from Lippert who walked me through every troubleshooting step he could find and then talked me through manual bypass of the system. He was absolutely top notch and I have commended him to everyone who will listen. Lippert stepped up, replaced the system brain, and got everything working properly. We took it to Nashville and back with no issues. My point in this is, "If it happened to me, it can happen to you".

I am preparing notes and photos of what we went through just to become mobile and get our TriGlide installed. I intend to post it upon completion. My notes for the factory installed unit will likely be different than if you have one installed "after market" but you hopefully will get the idea.

We love our system so please don't take this as a knock. It is simply to help others.

THANKS

Re: Brain Failure

Man Pete...you are making this too easy titling this "Brain failure', but I will refrain because I really am interested in seeing the post about the Level Up.

Mine is currently in the shop having it's brain replaced. I kept having to zero it out and re-level. Lippert is aware of these issues and my dealer has installed a shut off switch to the jack system next to pad.

very interesting. had not heard of this before. will be curious to see how it works with the new brain.
Good Luvk

hello:
Have you uploaded your notes & photos yet?
I would like to see them.
Sincerely
Micahel Jordan

Obviously not. Sorry for being so slow. Will get back on it.

THANKS for the reminder!

Thanks to Michael & Darlene Jordan, I was reminded that I had not posted my notes and photos. I have now completed them and tried to post. I received an error message about being too large. I will submit them to Heartland Owners Manuals for inclusion.

UPDATE: PDF file attached

Pete very good writing. We just orded a 3585 RL and added the self leveling system. I hope it works ok. we have a 3600RL year 09. We feel that with all the up grades and while the rig has good value it was time for a change. We winter in mesquite, but our address is little field az. thank you lfor insight.

Good luck with your new coach. We just love ours and the upgrades like Level-Up and the power cord reel make it so much easier on an older guy like me.
TRAVEL SAFE

Because I had one of the very first of these systems on my demo coach, it contained a very early software revision in the logic control. From time to time, I would have trouble with it. Recently, Lippert swapped out the logic control with one with a more recent version. All better now.

Also, with all but the earliest software revisions, there is a feature I was not aware of. It's a hitch height recognition feature. When you break camp and turn on the power to the control panel, the rear stabilizers raise up. When they are up, press the LEFT-RIGHT buttons at the same time. The leveling system will put the hitch at the height needed to re-hitch to the truck.

As always - make sure your truck is completely clear of the RV hitch before doing this. Try it - pretty neat feature.

Jim

I saved a copy of your write-up in my Bighorn Manuals file. I've been weighing the pros & cons of getting the Level-Up installed on my rig next spring. For the cost of getting it installed, this just adds a big "con" to the pile.

I'm a bit surprised that there isn't a simpler manual override system, similar to operating the slides when the pump motor fails. Running the pump with an electric drill via the 1/4" hex fitting and using the selector valves to move the fluids.

Thanks Jim, I'm going to try this. The stabilizers always retract when the unit is powered up, but will the rear jacks retract before the front jacks adjust to the hitch height?

jbeletti said:

Because I had one of the very first of these systems on my demo coach, it contained a very early software revision in the logic control. From time to time, I would have trouble with it. Recently, Lippert swapped out the logic control with one with a more recent version. All better now.

Also, with all but the earliest software revisions, there is a feature I was not aware of. It's a hitch height recognition feature. When you break camp and turn on the power to the control panel, the rear stabilizers raise up. When they are up, press the LEFT-RIGHT buttons at the same time. The leveling system will put the hitch at the height needed to re-hitch to the truck.

As always - make sure your truck is completely clear of the RV hitch before doing this. Try it - pretty neat feature.

Jim

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