Outlaw 29J leveling jack clearance

[vmachnig]

Hi All,
First time RV owner and just took my first trip with my Outlaw 29J. One thing that I had some concern with was the height/clearance of the leveling jacks, they seem to be very low to the ground.


On my way out of a gas station I hit a pot hole (not a real big one) and the drivers side rear level jack pad hit the ground and ripped off the jack pad. I now have to go to the dealer to have this repaired.



My question is to other owners to see if they have had any experience with the low clearance of the leveling jacks.

[Trkyte@msn.com]

Had my 29h for three years now. Same thing, jacks are really low. Definetly not a off roader.

Only times they scrapped for me was on speed bumps. I know this so I just slide over them slow.

No room to raise them, so I just live with it.

[The Gritz Carlton]

Same here...just have to watch out as you go. I've rubbed across a few speed humps. There was a thread on another forum where a guy removed them and modified the mount bracket, allowing them to be re-installed into the same holes but considerably higher. He cut a 90 degree corner off the top of the bracket so as to clear the area above it. The only reason they are so low is the length of the generic mounting bracket...has nothing to do with the coach. I will probably do this. A street in my neighborhood just installed speed humps and that eliminated my using that route. Eventually they will hit something as many gas station entrances cross over storm water curbing, etc. I've "tight-butted" speed humps in a few campgrounds also.

[Bob Denman]

Mine have about 5" of clearance.
But I keep my eyes glued to the road in front of me anyway!

[The Gritz Carlton]

At least you'll clearly see what you hit!!!

[Bob Denman]

Not with my eyes...

I spend a lot of my time squinting and wondering...

[azadv]

Bought my Outlaw 29H new last January, it has the same hydraulic leveling jacks as 29J, and same poor stock clearance (5" on front jack feet). That wasn't acceptable for me since I like to boondock and more clearance is needed. Also, in May I was starting a 15,000 mile, 4 month trip from Arizona to Alaska then across Canada to Maine, south to the Carolinas and then back west to AZ and didn't want any clearance issues en route.

So, I found a business in San Diego (Weldtec Designs) that does Class C lifts and in March this year I had a 4" suspension lift done, then installed 2" larger diameter AT tires with a heavier load rating (stock tires are really underrated for the potential loads of this rig). I also spent a couple of months fixing the shoddy quality items of the RV (latches, wiring, item attachment, etc), installing solar, mudflaps, motorcycle chocks, another inverter for the fridge, upgraded charger/converter and thermostat, and other upgrades/personalization and then left for the trip in May. Just got back a couple weeks ago and I have to say the suspension/tire upgrades were well worth the effort and cost (I spent about $4K on the suspension and about $450 on the tires after selling the new originals). The coach handles WAY better than stock and I never once bottomed or drug the rear overhang in 15k miles! The HD Fox RV valved shocks and steering stabilizer really make a difference. RVers complaining about the Alaska roads fell on dead ears with me. No complaints there.

As a side note: I had some 8"x8"x4" wood beam cut for blocks to use under the levelers, but one of those finally split in somewhat rough campground terrain so I had some 10"x10"x3.5" glulam beam blocks cut in Alaska, water treated them, and they are holding up great. You really should have pads for the leveler feet anyway and they come in pretty handy when you want to lift the entire rig off the ground to rotate tires/etc.

https://youtu.be/IN3kNuapKzI

[The Gritz Carlton]

Very nicely done and a clean and organized unit. I've seen MH's with so much crap piled in them it looks as if they've rolled over and down a cliff. How did the larger tires affect the ability to maintain speeds on cruise at a given RPM? Normally larger tires will dictate running a little faster to keep the transmission from down shifting so much. What was the original height and what did the mods increase it to? Again...very nice beefy looking tires and clearance.

[azadv]

Originally Posted by The Gritz Carlton

Very nicely done and a clean and organized unit. I've seen MH's with so much crap piled in them it looks as if they've rolled over and down a cliff. How did the larger tires affect the ability to maintain speeds on cruise at a given RPM? Normally larger tires will dictate running a little faster to keep the transmission from down shifting so much. What was the original height and what did the mods increase it to? Again...very nice beefy looking tires and clearance.

Not sure what you mean by original height, but the combination of 4" suspension lift and 2" larger diameter tires gave it an effective 5" lift so I ended up with about 10" under the front leveler feet in the up position. I think overall RV height is 10.83' so now it's 11.33" New tires have a load rating of 3042lbs @ 80PSI each vs the OEM rating of 2680lbs, pretty significant. The speedo is only 3% off (lower) than indicated on dash according to GPS, cruise seemed fine to me. I'm the slowest guy on the road, travel between 55 and 60mph, in no hurry.

You wouldn't believe how long it too me to find plastic storage bins that fit into all the cabinet areas just right and then stock it with any parts and supplies I'd need for months out. Did my own tire rotations and oil changes on the road too (electric impact wrench and torque wrench). This was in the boonies in the Yukon:


Before lift with OEM tires:


Before lift (with bigger tires installed):


After lift:

[The Gritz Carlton]

I love it and would consider going that route but mine is 12'-6" already. I may investigate footprint wider tires but can't go any higher.

[Bob Denman]

It sure looks nice like that!
Question: since you raised the rig by that much: how much "lift" can your levelers add; when deployed?

(I hate carrying wood around with me...)

[azadv]

Originally Posted by Bob Denman

It sure looks nice like that!
Question: since you raised the rig by that much: how much "lift" can your levelers add; when deployed?

(I hate carrying wood around with me...)

Not sure but I think I can get the tires off the ground. Lift yours all the way up,
subtract 5", and that would be the amount of lift I have without blocks. To me the blocks are a no-brainer. They fit in the outside right rear storage with some chairs, rug, wheel chocks, and a few other things. I've been to a couple of places with asphalt parking spots and they required leveler pads under feet. In sandy areas the wider footprint of the blocks help. Lastly I've been in a few spots where the space was pretty sloped and even with 7.5" of blocks under the front levelers and them extended all the way I still needed a bit more lift if I wanted the rig perfecly level. I like to have anything I'll need in that way on the road, and I used them everywhere.

Here's one such spot at French Creek state campground in PA 52 miles from Philly in August:


The other wood I carried around with me after AK visit:

[Long & Winding road]

Sounds ike an awesome trip. I love what you did to your RV. Great info.

5 inches sounds way to low for levelers to me. I would think they would snag on stuff every day!

Im installing levelers on mine now. I set the rear at 8.5 inch of clearance and the front at 7. But they cylinders are only 13 inch long when deployed so that means 6 inch lift on front and only 4.5 on the back. Luckly I can ajust mine pretty easy - lots of bolt holes so I can move up or down at a later date. Plus I plan on using some block to help left and spread the foot print.

[Bob Denman]

Az,
Morning wood; is always the best wood to have!
They say that it creates the most heat...