First RV Issue

Monday: Auto Level System Issue

When we first leveled the FW on Saturday for the first time, the jack near the door did not touch the ground.  Also, the wheels on that side of the FW were slightly off the ground, enough where I could turn them.  I didn’t think this was right but for then I was just going to leave it alone.  I reasoned that maybe it was supposed to be that way.

This morning I started to investigate the leveling issue just to satisfy myself.  I started by doing some research on the internet.  I found that the situation I had was not correct but I wasn’t finding any satisfactory ways to correct it.  The system is made by Lippert and is called the Level UP Auto Level System.  It has 6 hydraulic jacks under the FW that are used to level and to hold the FW when it is disconnected from the truck.   Lippert makes a lot of things for RVs including most of the frames, axles, and suspension equipment for most of the RV manufacturers.  They are known to have good customer service so I sent an e-mail to them describing the issue I was having.

Lippert (Dave) called me back within an hour to run through the issue I was having.  We discounted several things first like the levelness of the driveway.  The driveway is not perfectly level, but darn close as campsites go, so that was ruled out.  After re-leveling the FW, Dave had me measure the  length of the piston that wasn’t touching the ground.  The length was 15 inches.   After some adjustments in manual mode and more measuring, Dave determined that the system was installed wrong.  The jacks were installed by the RV manufacturer too high.  Dave explained the general instructions given to the RV manufactures by Lippert.  Basically, Lippert only tells the manufactures to install the jacks to meet the minimum clearance under the RV.  In other words, as long as the jacks are higher than the minimum all is well with Lippert.  In this case, the jacks are installed fine for clearance but could and should be brought closer to the clearance line, closer to the ground.

Patty called a local Forest river dealer and we made an appointment for Tuesday morning at 9 am to correct the leveling system.  So far in just 3 days I have reinstalled one of the bathroom doors and now the leveling system needs to be adjusted.  From what I have read, this is normal stuff for RVs!

After we got the leveling issue squared away, we went to the shack to move our stuff out.  It was very hot and humid, around 90 in the shack.  We didn’t put any AC on as we had the front doors open so we could haul stuff out.  We spent about 2 and ½ hours loading the truck and didn't completely finish.  Still need to pack up some of the food.  We will be back later in the week.

Patty packing some cleaning supplies

This was our bedroom for the past 3 months

The truck looked like the Beverly Hillbillies truck, just needed the rocking chair on top for Granny to ride. 

Inside the shack looking out to the truck

We returned to the RV with the stuff from the shack around 3pm.   Then we spent the next 4 hot hours unloading and arranging the stuff into the RV.  The RV is not full yet but we made a good start at it.

Tomorrow we get to hitch up again and take the RV for service about 45 minutes away.  This will be our first time hitching up by ourselves.

Stay tuned!