New to using auto leveling system

[Harris-And-Lynn]

Recently purchased a new Heartland ELKRIDGE with the 6 point auto leveling system. Have already found some good inf and advice using this owners forum. Thanks for sharing.

 

[danemayer]

Hi Harris and Lynn,

Congratulations on the new Elkridge and welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

Thanks for the feedback and if you have any other questions that you can't find answers to, don't hesitate to post your question. You can usually get answers very quickly.

 

[Gapboat239]

Also new to the 6 point leveling. Seems to be working fine, but had a question. We are on very level site with less than 2% slope. The jacks in auto level lift the wheels entirely off the ground. Is this correct? Came from a 40' DP, and find this unusual.

 

[jayc]

Ours will raise one side many times and never been a problem.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

We had same issue when we first took delivery of our BH. As it turns out, the dealer never did a Level Set on the system, so it didn't have a baseline for level.

I'd recommend doing a manual level of the system with an actual bubble level....then follow the manual for setting level on the LCI controller. After we did this...it worked GREAT!

 

[Gapboat239]

So you are saying that lifting the wheels off the ground is incorrect? The coach
is level.

 

[beasleyrl]

On our last Cyclone, we had the Level Up system installed after delivery of our unit. We had to take it out to Indiana and were fortunate to meet the man that actually designed the system. He made it clear to us that it was fine for the system to lift the rig completely off the ground. In fact, he went on to say it was okay to use it to change a tire even though most dealers won't do that for safety reasons since there is no way to manually lock the system in the up position like most hydraulic jacks do.

Bottom line - there is no harm in being off the ground but like Oregon Camper says, I would follow the procedure to readjust level and see if that helps. From personal experience, even with a little bit of the wheels touching the ground, the rig is slightly more stable than being completely up on the sticks.

 

[danemayer]

They sometimes do this. If the site is really almost level, I'd suspect that the auto-level is extending the jacks further than is needed.

You might try manually leveling.

• Retract the rear jacks all the way.
• Then retract the front jacks until the rig is level front-to-rear. If the site is level, the front jacks won't be fully extended.
• Then extend the rear jacks to just take a little weight off the wheels.
• Finally, level left-to-right if necessary.

 

[Gapboat239]

They sometimes do this. If the site is really almost level, I'd suspect that the auto-level is extending the jacks further than is needed.

You might try manually leveling.

• Retract the rear jacks all the way.
• Then retract the front jacks until the rig is level front-to-rear. If the site is level, the front jacks won't be fully extended.
• Then extend the rear jacks to just take a little weight off the wheels.
• Finally, level left-to-right if necessary.

Thanks for all the advice and recommendations. You all have been very helpful.

 

[busted2341]

I have a question. The Lippert manuel says you can use the level system independantly by leg but I have not found this to be true. Does anyone know how you can manually level each leg? I haven't seemed to make that work. I can't even seem to make just the 3 on the left or right work at the same time, or independantly.

 

[danemayer]

I have a question. The Lippert manuel says you can use the level system independantly by leg but I have not found this to be true. Does anyone know how you can manually level each leg? I haven't seemed to make that work. I can't even seem to make just the 3 on the left or right work at the same time, or independantly.

The center and rear jacks on each side operate together as a unit.

If you want to move just the front doorside, try pressing the FRONT and RIGHT buttons at the same time.

 

[carl.swoyer]

Never try to manually level the rig. You more than likely will twist your frame. I use wood blocks to decrease how much the hydraulics have to come out. Reduces the sway and helps protect the seals

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[carl.swoyer]

Nose drops first then it goes side to side and again front to rear.

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[carl.swoyer]

According to Lippert each hydraulic piston is rated for 6000 lbs. However they said never level the unit if the wheel s are off the ground. In this case I put short planks under the tires and re level


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[carl.swoyer]

Cycle through the options pick manual. Then select front or rear. I only do this to stabilize the unit never to attempt to level it

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[avvidclif]

According to Lippert each hydraulic piston is rated for 6000 lbs. However they said never level the unit if the wheel s are off the ground. In this case I put short planks under the tires and re level


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From the Lippert Level-Up Components list at http://www.lci1.com/support-level-up

A 257125 Left 14,000 Landing Gear
B 257126 Right 14,000 Landing Gear
C 195860 8,000 Leveling Jack x4 for 6 point

The Aussie ratings may be different

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Never try to manually level the rig. You more than likely will twist your frame. I use wood blocks to decrease how much the hydraulics have to come out. Reduces the sway and helps protect the seals

I don't understand why you would think this. Can you please provide more details?

The controller itself has a manual mode, so why would there be any risk? We've done manual leveling a few times, in situations (way out in bookdocks...very uneven surface) that call for it.

 

[danemayer]

Never try to manually level the rig. You more than likely will twist your frame. I use wood blocks to decrease how much the hydraulics have to come out. Reduces the sway and helps protect the seals

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Carl,

I almost always manually level the rig. We have a 4 point with the early firmware. At that time Lippert thought it would be smart to disable using auto-level more than once unless all power was removed from the system. For me that means if I use auto-level, at the next stop, to use it again I have to leave shore power unplugged, and turn the battery Cutoff switch to OFF, then back ON. Rather than go through that process, which also resets my refrigerator defrost clock, I elect to manually level.

It's really quite easy, usually faster than the auto level, and in 5 years I've had no reason to think that it's twisting the frame.

However, I do think that operating one jack at a time could put a twisting force on the frame, so I think there's a need to take care if doing that.

 

[carl.swoyer]

While I was at Lazydays Rv in sefner Fl I ran into a Lippert rep. His specialty was chassis and 6 point leveling. He told me never manually level. Only use manual to stabilize your rig. So I took the information as gospel. I suggest if you have any further questions call Lippert. By the way this rep was recruited out of retirement from Lippert. So that information to me was first hand info.

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[avvidclif]

The problem I have seen with the auto level is that it only knows "UP". If it overshoots on one side instead of lowering, it raises the other side. A couple of times I have had to manually "adjust" the auto level because of this. It will run out of travel. Because of the short travel and height of the rear jacks I always use 6x8 blocks there. The middle gets 4x6. Unless the site has a large slope up the front usually has enough travel but in that case the rear doesn't need as much.

It's a learning curve. Study the site and figure out what blocks go where. Let it self level. I call it the dance. "Mi Lady" curtsies to me and I toast her back with a cold one and the dance begins.