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Old 02-01-2015, 03:39 AM   #21
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Can't wait to hear your report (and see your photos)... as well as anything that you did not like that I should look for.

Also it will be interesting to see if they used an inside or outside channel mount on the rear (they can go both ways).

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Old 02-02-2015, 08:59 PM   #22
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Picked up coach today after Bigfoot install. Couldn't be happier. Nice install. Works great. Tech did a super job.
Front jacks mounted outside channel. Rear inside channel. Brackets were welded on and jacks bolted to brackets.
One thing the tech mentioned not in the manual. Be sure the top of the jack pads are clean before retracting as they push up a pin to indicate when fully retracted. A rock could easily bend the pin and the system would not know the jack is up.
I'll try to take some photos in the next day or two.
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Old 02-03-2015, 05:32 AM   #23
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Good to hear.
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Old 02-04-2015, 02:02 PM   #24
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Pictures of recent Bigfoot install.
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Old 02-04-2015, 02:14 PM   #25
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Thanks for the photos - looks really nice. I saw the jacks at the factory, and the photos show they look pretty heavy duty.

Looks like they did a factory quality job.

I won't know if they will mount the rear jacks on my unit to the inside or outside until installation.

Just curious, do you know where they put the pump?
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Old 02-04-2015, 07:56 PM   #26
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it looks like they hang down pretty far below everything but the axle when retracted.
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Old 02-05-2015, 12:01 PM   #27
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After we level our 31F Thor Four winds (using hard rubber horse stall material cut into custom lengths) I've tried to "stabilize" our unit with standard issue items such as screw jacks, tripods, etc.
The result, however, is never very satisfying as we still get some rock and roll due to the fact that the suspension is still loaded and the stabilizers are not built to lift the entire weight of the RV.
So, I've been thinking about blocking the suspension once we are leveled....
Wild young riders used to remove the springs from Harley's rear ends....
Suspension mods often lower or raise the front or rear of hot stylish road rides...

Would it be possible to block the suspension on our RV? It's coils in the front and leaf springs in the rear. Once leveled, blocking the suspension would end its effect and leave us only with tire-related bouncing.
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Old 02-05-2015, 12:17 PM   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FW28z View Post
Thanks for the photos - looks really nice. I saw the jacks at the factory, and the photos show they look pretty heavy duty.

Looks like they did a factory quality job.

I won't know if they will mount the rear jacks on my unit to the inside or outside until installation.

Just curious, do you know where they put the pump?
The pump was placed in a small storage compartment midway on the passenger side. Easy access.
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Old 02-05-2015, 09:45 PM   #29
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Nice location for the pump. I will ask if they can do that on my coach.
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Old 02-05-2015, 09:46 PM   #30
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Would it be possible to block the suspension on our RV? It's coils in the front and leaf springs in the rear. Once leveled, blocking the suspension would end its effect and leave us only with tire-related bouncing.
As in shoving a 2x4 into the leaf spring gap?
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Old 02-26-2015, 01:08 PM   #31
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I was supposed to have my levelers installed on Monday, but unfortunately, I had to call and delay the installation due to the weather. The cover is "glued" on the coach from the ice on the roof and I cannot get it off until it thaws out.

The entire month of Feb has been a good 15~20 deg below normal, with average daily temps in the low teens. So perhaps by July, the cover will thaw enough to remove it.

I've already paid for the levelers, so I only have to get the coach over to the installer.
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Old 02-26-2015, 01:20 PM   #32
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Well next week is supposed to be 33 for most of the week. I'd say get in the RV and turn on the furnace but you'd want to at least move the cover away from the furnace exhaust.
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Old 02-26-2015, 02:07 PM   #33
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I was supposed to have my levelers installed on Monday, but unfortunately, I had to call and delay the installation due to the weather. The cover is "glued" on the coach from the ice on the roof and I cannot get it off until it thaws out.

The entire month of Feb has been a good 15~20 deg below normal, with average daily temps in the low teens. So perhaps by July, the cover will thaw enough to remove it.

I've already paid for the levelers, so I only have to get the coach over to the installer.
dude, I'd be up there spraying deicing fluid if I had a chance to have levelers installed on my coach!
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Old 02-26-2015, 02:19 PM   #34
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just joking.... be safe!
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Old 02-26-2015, 03:06 PM   #35
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I actually had been working on it. I can't run the furnace as the cover is over it, and I cannot get the cover off at the furnace either. I was lazy I guess (or not mindful) and the cover strap was on the ground at the furnace location, which is now frozen to the ground.

I suppose I could throw a couple of gallons of hot water on the strap to get it off the ground.

I put a portable electrical heater inside of the coach and got it up to 60deg inside last weekend, then I opened the front roof vent; it's under a vent cover, so their is a void between the roof and roof cover at that location. I then ran a fan under the vent from the inside, aimed at the vent opening, it so it would blow the warm air out the vent, and between the roof and cover.

It helps a bit, and I got about 2ft of snow off the top of the roof, but it's been a long time coming, and there is still about 1" of ice on the roof. I am not sure if I am melting/refreezing the roof ice by using the vent or not. I also noticed though that there is evidence of thawing/freezing on sunny days even though the temp is below freezing.

I don't want to risk lifting the roof material or possibly damaging the cover or roof by gorilla-forcing it off.

I guess I should not be in too much of a rush as I don't really want to get road-salt on the frame and then have some welding done on it. Seems everything would just be better without salt on the frame.

According to the weather man, after the first week of March, we're supposed to have an early spring with warmer than normal temperatures for the next three months.

I am a bit skeptical about that, but if true... I'll take it.
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Old 03-01-2015, 03:32 AM   #36
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We had the quadra bigfoot automatic levelers installed on our 31L last year. No problems to date using for 12 months. The front jacks seem low @ 5 inches, but the backs are @ 8+. We have not hit anything yet. Front is outside mount and rear is inside mount. They all drop down until ground contact, then level accordingly. No binding or twisting issues.
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Old 03-01-2015, 04:56 AM   #37
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Mine came with the LCI (Lippert) ones as standard. I believe that's what Thor uses on most of their products. It has the auto feature or you can operate them manually. What's nice is you can operate them with the redi camp remote which also operates the slides, generator, lights and awning.
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Old 03-01-2015, 09:34 AM   #38
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Good to know.

Hopefully we're starting to see a change in the weather so I can get the RV out of the snowbank and to the installer.

Temps in the low 30s are predicted for much of next week. While this is not stellar, it is certainly better than the single digit temps we have been seeing, and that is perhaps all we can ask for at this point.
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Old 03-07-2015, 11:37 PM   #39
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Yipee, I can get the cover off. We had temps in the mid 40s today, and just as important... sunshine.

I'm leaving the cover on for now so that the cover finishes drying out and the driveway dries. That way, I won't get it wet when taking it down. Of course, if there is any snow in the forecast, I'll pull the cover before that happens.

Now I got to call Bigfoot on Monday and re-schedule the installation.
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Old 03-12-2015, 03:17 PM   #40
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Finally, the Bigfoot Levelers are installed. Overall, I like the system. However, there are a couple of things I want to change. Not that they didn't do a good job, but I am a perfectionist (which drives me crazy owning a Thor product), so there are a couple of improvements I want to make.

First, they connected directly to the coach batteries via an auto-resettable breaker. This is OK, but I want the ability to disconnect the system totally from the batteries during storage. In actuality, the quiescent current draw is only a couple of mA; but a couple mA here and a couple there, and soon, we're draining the battery. So I will simply install a switch (or swap out the breaker for a manual reset type that you can also turn on and off).

I suppose one of those battery knife switches would work.

And, there is a toggle switch inside of the pump unit that is so you can lift all of the cylinders at once for an emergency retract. I want to relocate that switch into a cabinet that is easier to access. I am just getting too old to crawl under vehicles.

I talked to Bigfoot and they said there would not be any warranty issue by doing so.

They also put the receiver on a long cable so that I could relocate it if I found reception issues. That was nice.

Another thing they did that I like is they were able to put the rear cylinders on the outside of the frame. They cannot always do that as it is dependent on where other stuff, like holding tanks are located. Locating them to the outside increases stability a bit I suppose.



Welding the brackets to the bottom of the coach. I should have gotten a photo of the RV in the foreground. It was a custom built Class C on an International chassis, with dual rear tire dualies. They had already put jacks on it, and the whole rig was off the ground on the jacks.

They were working on another huge International cut-away. I think they were extending the chassis, as while we were there, they removed the rear tires and axles.

They told me that for my rig, each hydraulic cylinder can lift 12,000lbs.



Rear jacks on the outside of the frame.



Jack detail showing the "big foot" baseplate, hence the name.



Wireless Remote.

I took these photos with my cell phone so they suck. I'll take better photos one of these days.
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