Brand New 2022 Bighorn 35BH - cannot extend landing jacks

[James Donovan]

Brand new member - with a brand new 2022 Bighorn Traveler 35BK with a Lippert 6-Poing Leveling System. I'll try to explain this in as few words as possible.

Got home from the dealer, backed down my driveway and attempted to disconnect the coach. Got an "Excess Tilt" message when I tried to raise the landing jacks up enough to disengage from my truck and could not extend the landing jacks further. The angle was approximately 5 degrees, which honestly... I've seen that much at campgrounds. Moved the coach up the driveway some and tried the same from a 3-degree angle. Same situation. Finally moved it up further to a 2-degree angle and it allowed me to extend the jacks enough to disengage my truck. I then selected "Auto Level" - and the Landing Jacks retracted all of the way (the coach is darn-near on the deck) and stopped. I now cannot extend anything. When I press the "up arrow" to extend, there is a "click" - and that's it. Nothing. Tried this on battery, connected to my truck, and the on shore power with no difference. Battery indicator reads 13.0v when turned on. When I press the "up arrow" it drops to 12.7v. Tried resetting the system using simultaneous "Retract/Enter" buttons for 3 seconds with no joy. Tried calling a Good Sam Technician to talk it over on the phone, but after 3 hours of no callback, went to bed.

Appreciate any insight anyone may have!

Glad to be a part of this community. It seems pretty close-knit!!

 

[Dahillbilly]

call Lippert Support
Phone: 432-Lippert (432-547-7378)
Monday – Friday 8am – 7pm EST
Saturday: 9am – 5:30pm EST
another option is the Lippert Communities App llots of info on Lippert products there & support info

 

[david-steph2018]

Brand new member - with a brand new 2022 Bighorn Traveler 35BK with a Lippert 6-Poing Leveling System. I'll try to explain this in as few words as possible.

Got home from the dealer, backed down my driveway and attempted to disconnect the coach. Got an "Excess Tilt" message when I tried to raise the landing jacks up enough to disengage from my truck and could not extend the landing jacks further. The angle was approximately 5 degrees, which honestly... I've seen that much at campgrounds. Moved the coach up the driveway some and tried the same from a 3-degree angle. Same situation. Finally moved it up further to a 2-degree angle and it allowed me to extend the jacks enough to disengage my truck. I then selected "Auto Level" - and the Landing Jacks retracted all of the way (the coach is darn-near on the deck) and stopped. I now cannot extend anything. When I press the "up arrow" to extend, there is a "click" - and that's it. Nothing. Tried this on battery, connected to my truck, and the on shore power with no difference. Battery indicator reads 13.0v when turned on. When I press the "up arrow" it drops to 12.7v. Tried resetting the system using simultaneous "Retract/Enter" buttons for 3 seconds with no joy. Tried calling a Good Sam Technician to talk it over on the phone, but after 3 hours of no callback, went to bed.

Appreciate any insight anyone may have!

Glad to be a part of this community. It seems pretty close-knit!!

On our control panel I would have to hit a "confirmed" or "okay" button to be able to continue operation. Did this message come on?
I then can use "manual control" system to level or get close to level.

 

[James Donovan]

David - thanks for the response. Yes - when I got the "Excess Tilt" message, it made me confirm it with the "Enter" button. But then -- nothing.
A little troubleshooting (in the rain) this morning. The clicking is definitely coming from the solenoid. There is no corrosion (the thing is pristine - I just picked it up yesterday). The guy from Good Sam (he finally called) said I could try a mallet on the pump, but I'm not sure I want to do that.

I'm trying to learn how to test a solenoid - and am reading all kinds of posts on how to do that. Ours has three posts; one coming from a busbar with a positive cable, the other two go to each terminal on the pump - both are black. Any assistance on how to test would be greatly appreciated. I'm not a gearhead or anything, but I know how to use a multimeter.

 

[chaplady]

My level up has a inline fuse going to pump. It inline with wiring not on buss bar. I over extended once during the auto level blew this fuse. Took me a few minutes to figure it out due to it looking like power was in place

 

[James Donovan]

Well - these forums are for sharing information, and I really appreciate Chaplady, David-Steph2018, and Dahillbilly responding. For anyone else who searches for a similar issue, here was my problem - and the solution.

When I selected Auto-Level, the Landing Jacks retracted all the way, trying to get the coach level. Because of the angle, it could not get level but it was STILL trying because the internal level was telling it that the nose was still too high (which it was... I'm on a 3-degree grade). It kept trying and trying to go lower until it finally said it's tired of trying, and it tripped the 80A Busbar breaker that is between the battery and the solenoid. The picture I'm attaching isn't exactly like the one I have, but it's very similar and the small black tab sticking out is the breaker in the tripped mode. Upon closer inspection, it actually says "RESET" on the black tab when it's tripped. Mine doesn't have a red button, for if it had, I would have thought it to be a breaker. But when when I looked at it, I couldn't see the word "RESET" and didn't even think it was a breaker.

But now I know.

Lippert leveling systems don't like anything more than about 2.5 or 3 degrees, so I'm going to try building some long ramps/blocks to back onto, to raise the rear of the coach some to get it a little more level.

Thanks again guys.

---

Jim and Colleen (US NAVY Vets)
Lusby, MD
2022 Bighorn Traveler 35BK
2019 GMC Sierra Denali 3500 Longbed 6.6 Duramax Diesel

 

[travelin2]

Well - these forums are for sharing information, and I really appreciate Chaplady, David-Steph2018, and Dahillbilly responding. For anyone else who searches for a similar issue, here was my problem - and the solution.

When I selected Auto-Level, the Landing Jacks retracted all the way, trying to get the coach level. Because of the angle, it could not get level but it was STILL trying because the internal level was telling it that the nose was still too high (which it was... I'm on a 3-degree grade). It kept trying and trying to go lower until it finally said it's tired of trying, and it tripped the 80A Busbar breaker that is between the battery and the solenoid. The picture I'm attaching isn't exactly like the one I have, but it's very similar and the small black tab sticking out is the breaker in the tripped mode. Upon closer inspection, it actually says "RESET" on the black tab when it's tripped. Mine doesn't have a red button, for if it had, I would have thought it to be a breaker. But when when I looked at it, I couldn't see the word "RESET" and didn't even think it was a breaker.

But now I know.

Lippert leveling systems don't like anything more than about 2.5 or 3 degrees, so I'm going to try building some long ramps/blocks to back onto, to raise the rear of the coach some to get it a little more level.

Thanks again guys.

---

Jim and Colleen (US NAVY Vets)
Lusby, MD
2022 Bighorn Traveler 35BK
2019 GMC Sierra Denali 3500 Longbed 6.6 Duramax Diesel

Not familiar with the current version of level up but on ours, in that situation, I’d use the manual level function

 

[david-steph2018]

James were you in the Navy, what years were you there?
I was in from early 1980 to Nov 1989. At sea I was an electrician for 6 years then on shore I went to the new Security Force duty and finished at Pensacola.

Glad you figured it out and cheap fix at that as well.

 

[James Donovan]

James were you in the Navy, what years were you there?
I was in from early 1980 to Nov 1989. At sea I was an electrician for 6 years then on shore I went to the new Security Force duty and finished at Pensacola.

Glad you figured it out and cheap fix at that as well.

David - glad to see another good shipmate out here. I was in from 77-97 and retired as a Chief Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive). I spent most of my time either in Korea or Fort Meade (NSA). Did a lot of flying with VQ squadrons, short trips on 3 fast attacks, 1 carrier, and one Guided Missile Cruiser. All of my at-sea trips were very short 2-3 month trips. Colleen was in from 81-89 and was a Cryptologic Technician (Technical) working Classic Wizard in Maine and Adak, AK. We both loved our time in the Navy. We liken camping to heading out on deployment, sometimes!

 

[James Donovan]

Not familiar with the current version of level up but on ours, in that situation, I’d use the manual level function

Lippert has no fewer than 1,000,000 different configurations - but that does look a lot like mine. And the manual mode works great, as long as you reset any tripped breakers! Thanks for the reply.

 

[david-steph2018]

David - glad to see another good shipmate out here. I was in from 77-97 and retired as a Chief Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive). I spent most of my time either in Korea or Fort Meade (NSA). Did a lot of flying with VQ squadrons, short trips on 3 fast attacks, 1 carrier, and one Guided Missile Cruiser. All of my at-sea trips were very short 2-3 month trips. Colleen was in from 81-89 and was a Cryptologic Technician (Technical) working Classic Wizard in Maine and Adak, AK. We both loved our time in the Navy. We liken camping to heading out on deployment, sometimes!

Corry Station had all the CT schools in the late 80's.

 

[Rip]

James, you may wish to purchase this for your trailer.

4 inch trailer lift kit
https://classifieds.ksl.com/listing/68797871

 

[James Donovan]

James, you may wish to purchase this for your trailer.

4 inch trailer lift kit
https://classifieds.ksl.com/listing/68797871

RIP - Thanks for the idea. I'm going to explore all kinds of options, and I'll be sure to give this some thought.

 

[James Donovan]

I don't want this thread to go on forever... but - an UPDATE.

After taking our new coach out for our first actual camping trip - could not auto-level, despite being on relatively flat space. The problem before (I thought) was that my driveway was too steep. Well....

Come to find out - the Lippert 6-point system was INCORRECTLY IWRED. Was on the phone with Lippert Customer Service (5-star Technical Service, in my opinion) - and he walked me through moving four wires around to put them in the right places. Went back - and it worked like a champ.

To new owners who may have problems - and this may be an understatement to veteran owners - do NOT assume your coach is wired correctly. What makes me a little mad - is that the dealer (doing their pre-sale check) didn't find this. I'm going to have a few words with them.

 

[the office]

I don't want this thread to go on forever... but - an UPDATE.

After taking our new coach out for our first actual camping trip - could not auto-level, despite being on relatively flat space. The problem before (I thought) was that my driveway was too steep. Well....

Come to find out - the Lippert 6-point system was INCORRECTLY IWRED. Was on the phone with Lippert Customer Service (5-star Technical Service, in my opinion) - and he walked me through moving four wires around to put them in the right places. Went back - and it worked like a champ.

To new owners who may have problems - and this may be an understatement to veteran owners - do NOT assume your coach is wired correctly. What makes me a little mad - is that the dealer (doing their pre-sale check) didn't find this. I'm going to have a few words with them.

Do you have pictures of which wires you had to reconfigure?

 

[wdk450]

Nice to hear from some newer Ex Navy CT's out there.
I enlisted in 1968 (took a day off high school to do the physical in L.A.) Well 1968 was the year of the North VietNamese/Viet Cong "Tet" offensive, and there was a 200,000 man DRAFT that year in that (at the time) "Undeclared" war, making that the largest US draft in "Peacetime" history. The result was that so many near draftees ran to the Navy recruiters, that I couldn't get a boot camp billet until early December. I wanted to do electronics, was thinking ET rating, and in boot camp at the ratings (jobs) lecture, the guy giving the lecture in typical Navy salty language said that if you ever had brought feminine products for your girlfriend you probably couldn't get the very high security clearance needed for the CT group of ratings. For some reason, I just wanted to learn electronics and get this stamp of approval of my character. So, I became a CTM, did boot and BEEP schools at San Diego, about 60 miles from home. Then onto Treasure Island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay Bridge for 9 months of electronics school a short bus ride away from San Francisco, one year after the "Summer of Love". Got to see a lot of great rock groups, etc. in those 9 months. I had a sister with a family in San Mateo 30 miles South down the Peninsula.
That was the age of CT's doing HFDF with Wullenweber antenna arrays in outposts circling the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. My first duty station was in Chesapeake, Virginia at a place called Northwest, a place that was a big (500 acres?) former farm in the "Great Dismal Swamp" on the Virginia/North Carolina border. The most memorial event for me there was the Great Atlantic Coast Solar Eclipse of 1970 (?) where all the birds and wildlife in that swamp preserve quieted/settled down midday as the total eclipse took place.
I could ramble on with memories, but I will just say I made CTM 2 when only 7 guys in the Navy made it in that testing cycle. I was in Keflavik, Iceland, Todendorf, Germany, and finally at NATO CINCLANTFLT in Norfolk, before I separated in late 1974.

You aren't related to "Wild Bill" William Donovan, originator of the OSS and CIA, are you???
Best of luck to you New Heartlanders, and Ex-SECGRU "Spooks"

 

[wdk450]

This being Memorial Day, I thought I would add to my previous post on the Naval Security Group, by remembering NSG personnel who were lost while serving, including my friend Greg Zeller.

Gang:
I made a posting here earlier in the week, about my time in the Naval Security Group, 1968-1974. With Memorial Day upon us, I thought I would add on to my posting about the men lost in conflict, those who Suffered as prisoners of “War”, and those who suffered injury from hostile military attack in the nation's Naval signals intelligence effort. When people think of this job, nobody thinks you will be killed, shot at, or taken prisoner of war.

On June 8th, 1967, The USS Liberty was in international waters offshore of OUR ALLY, ISRAEL. It was attacked for over 2 hours by unmarked ISRAELI Mirage aircraft, strafing of the lifeboats and communications transmitting antennas were the first priority of the airstrikes, with the obvious intention of sinking the ship with all hands aboard and no survivors. 2 ISRAELI torpedo boats joined the attack, shot 2 torpedoes into the Security Group classified workspaces, and killed 34 sailors. During the attack sailors ran out to the fantail of the ship and hoisted an over-sized U.S. flag amid the strafing attacks. The great hero of this event was the engineering officer who being a Pearl Harbor and WWII Pacific Navy veteran, did all the right damage control to keep the ship from sinking.

About a year before I enlisted in Dec. 1968, the USS Pueblo was illegally stopped 15 miles off the North Korean Coast. International law at that time recognized a 12 mile offshore international border. North Korea then (and now) lives by its own set of rules and claimed a 50 mile limit. 1 Ships company sailor was shot and killed, and 82 other Security Group and ships company sailors and officers were captured and made prisoners of war (did you know that no armistice has ever been signed between the US/ Allies and North Korea after the Korean “War” – just a ceasefire – and we are technically STILL at war with North Korea? ). When I served at NSGA Northwest, 2 of the sailors there were former North Korean POW’s.

I had a fellow CTM friend who was also from Southern California (Pasadena), who enlisted right when I did, and we went through boot, and electronic schools together for a year, and were then both assigned to NSGA Northwest for our first duty station. A couple of years later when I was in Germany, I was told the story that CTM2 Greg Zeller was eventually assigned to NSGA Guam, got a short term temporary duty assignment to Vietnam with about 8 other people, got on a 4 engine piston prop Navy personnel transport plane WHICH NEVER ARRIVED IN South Vietnam. There were no mayday calls received, no bad weather, no explanation of what happened. It is believed that the unarmed personnel transport with only weather radar, suffered a surprise attack from a North Vietnamese fighter jet.

I wish you all a respectful and reflective Memorial Day 2023.

 

[david-steph2018]

While I was in Pensacola in 1986 to 1989, I had a Warrant Officer who was on the USS Liberty at the time of the attack. We would sit around and talk a little about it, and I would talk about being off of Beirut in October 1983 - March 1984.