Lippert six point levelling jacks

[MPI_Mallard]

I have Lippert's six point levelling jacks and i'm wondering how "off level" can the bases/system handle/ In my lot in florida, the concrete area is roughly 3" lower from the right to left wheels and with my older fiver with just the forward and rear retractable jacks I would jack up the left wheels, stack two pieces of 2x8" under both then stack two pieces placed under the jacks and level front to back. Now my new fiver has round disks on all six jacks with little play and i'm worried that that much angle will damage them if forced to sit at an angle.

Thanks in advance!

[dieseltruckdriv]

When I park our 5er at home, it is WAY more unlevel than what they showed on the video. Back then we were watching them regularly and it made me a little nervous since I had only been using mine for a year. Now into our 5th year with the 4 point electric auto level I don't even think about it. I won't have another rv without auto level.

FYI, the Ground Control 3.0 will let you go 5 degrees out of level front to back, but you HAVE to use manual control to get it to work. The system stops moving at 5 degrees. I deal with this every time we go home.

[StirCrazy]

austinjenna wrote:

this video doesnt make sence to me. I only have the 4 point, but once there is pressure on all 4 pads it doesnt matter how high the tires are going to come off the ground the rig isn't moving. but my rear and front jacks look substantualy beefier than thoes ones.. elecric vs hydryalic I guess. I just had to use them to lift one side of the 5th so the tires were 1" off the ground a coupel weeks ago to change a tire.

But the site was off level front to back, so when the tires were raised on the one side off the ground, the chocks were no longer holding it, that side slid forward

it had all 6 points down thats a lot more hold than the little chalks on the tires. unless the jacks are all to flimsy for the unit.

[austinjenna]

this video doesnt make sence to me. I only have the 4 point, but once there is pressure on all 4 pads it doesnt matter how high the tires are going to come off the ground the rig isn't moving. but my rear and front jacks look substantualy beefier than thoes ones.. elecric vs hydryalic I guess. I just had to use them to lift one side of the 5th so the tires were 1" off the ground a coupel weeks ago to change a tire.

But the site was off level front to back, so when the tires were raised on the one side off the ground, the chocks were no longer holding it, that side slid forward

[StirCrazy]

this video doesnt make sence to me. I only have the 4 point, but once there is pressure on all 4 pads it doesnt matter how high the tires are going to come off the ground the rig isn't moving. but my rear and front jacks look substantualy beefier than thoes ones.. elecric vs hydryalic I guess. I just had to use them to lift one side of the 5th so the tires were 1" off the ground a coupel weeks ago to change a tire.

[MNRon]

I watched the KYD video and still don't understand. Obviously they believed that the rig had shifted and bent the jack (I couldn't see that). After having tech's review things everything was OK. Was there a real problem?

Fundamentally, can someone explain the hydraulic leveling operation to help me understand the issue. I have autoleveled hundreds of times over the last 4yrs with our VL, probably ~20% of the time having some of the wheels off the ground. I've also lifted some, or all, of the wheels off the ground changing tires etc. I do have MORryde IS so I'm not concerned about an equilizer inverting.

If I'm correct, the Lippert 6pt leveling first tries to level front-back using just the front jacks. Then it levels side-side using the rear jacks. My assumption is that the front two jacks are always hydraulically tied together such that fluid flows between them to equilize pressure; similarly the back two right jacks are tied together, and the back two left jacks are tied together. If this is true, when the right rears are lifting trying to achieve left/right leveling fluid will be flowing between the two front jacks to keep pressure on each side equal. Once sufficient weight has been loaded onto the jacks I don't understand why any wheel chocks would matter any longer. Could someone help me understand why there's a problem?

FWIW - I always chock to take the lateral load off of the front jacks when hitching/unhitching, similarly prevents too much lateral load on the front jacks *before* the rear jacks take up significant loading. To repeat my question though, once the jacks have taken up the load why does it matter how level or unlevel the site is?

[schlep1967]

Watch it again. The bottom of the jacks didn't move. The top of the jack was bending.
Knowing he war far enough out of level that he was going to raise his tires off the ground, he should have used boards to raise that side of the trailer, placed his chocks on the boards and then leveled his rig with the jacks. That way even if he still lifts some weight off of the suspension his tires will still be chocked.

Your jacks look much more substantial than his do.

I prefer to learn from others mistakes. It is cheaper than learning from my own. We are shopping for a new fifth-wheel now. And it will most likely have the 6 point leveling system. I know what I learned from that video will help me make a good decision if I am on a very unlevel site.

[Cummins12V98]

Those pads must be smooth on thew bottom??? My boxes above top and bottom have 1/4" diamond plate rubber pads. So he moved and added 3" under the tires??? Completely a waste of time.

Perfect example of why I NEVER use AUTO LEVEL. I go into manual mode every time.

[schlep1967]

One thing to worry about when lifting the camper off of the wheels is you lose your chocks.

See the youtube video
Losing your chocks bends your jacks

You can start around the 9:30 mark in the video.

Not saying it will happen every time, just saying it can happen. The Grand Design reps told them to use boards if that far off of level.

[Cummins12V98]

All tires are off the ground still hooked up for one nights stay.

[Cummins12V98]

fj12ryder wrote:
Considering the capacity of the six point hydraulic leveling jacks, lifting tires off the ground isn't an issue. The builders say not to do it, but IMO that is strictly a CYA.

It's funny because so many times the tires are just touching and that gives some the warm and fuzzy. But lift a tire 1" off the ground and the sky is falling.

[Cummins12V98]

ford truck guy wrote:
Like above, IF the ground is that unlevel I would use a block or 2 of wood UNDER the ram only to prevent an " Out Of Stroke" warning when leveling.....

Had my 1 side tires off the ground a few times

I am setting above two tires off the ground right now. Has been that way since April.

[Cummins12V98]

GaryUT wrote:
I use blocks under the low side tires to get the trailer within 2 or 3 inches of being level before I auto level. If I don't the jacks will lift the low side tires off the ground. I have a bubble level on the front of the fifth wheel to help getting it level side to side.

System is designed to have the tires off the ground, won't hurt anything.

[garyp4951]

MPI_Mallard wrote:
OK,, really appreciate the feed-back guy's!!! Just to "idiot-proof" this when I pull on my lot with the truck still connected I should,,

-place the 10x10" wedge blocks under the three jacks
-manually lower the front jacks to disconnect the truck
-jack up the two wheels and put the 10x18" wedge blocks under them
-then hit the "auto level" and crack a beer,,,,,am i right?

again thanks for your help!

The first thing I do is chock the trailer wheels, then disconnect and move the truck forward enough so that when the trailer self levels there is no chance of the pin box hitting the truck bed.

On a front to rear sloping pad the front legs will retract pretty far to achieve level.

[lenr]

The Lippert 6 pt system (electric, in my experience, not hydraulic) has limited stroke of the jacks at the middle and rear. The front landing gear have plenty of manual and powered adjustment to get unhooked and level out. Getting unhooked is no problem. I will make a manual adjustment of the landing jacks base on my front to rear reading of my level indicators to make sure there is enough powered adjustment left in the landing gear. The middle and rear jacks have limited stroke and will fault the system when they hit limit. So, if the trailer is more than a few inches off level from side to side, blocks under the jacks will get the trailer to level but "could" lift the low side wheels off the ground. Pulling the low side wheels up on boards fist helps prevent that, but still requires blocks under the jacks to keep them from stroking out. I've done it both ways.