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Old 03-12-2015, 04:03 PM   #41
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sweet! Where did they put your pump?

We're heading out this weekend. I guess part of me hope the site is out of level, so that I can better justify this addition to DW!

I'm still concerned about dragging these things though. I live in the flat lands, and so far I've only ran into one situation, where I had my hitch bike rack installed and something drug going into a parking lot. I hope to get up to the mountains in the coach a few times.... and It's one thing to drag a 20 year old bike rack.. Completely another to drag an expensive hydraulic actuator!

I guess they put them close enough to the axles that it must not be too big of a concern......

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Old 03-12-2015, 04:04 PM   #42
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from the looks of it, they could be a bolt on mod if given some guidelines to drilling specs. (hole size and acceptable locations)
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Old 03-12-2015, 08:58 PM   #43
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Perhaps you can call ahead and reserve the most un-level site you can find. Planning, planning, planning...

The pump is in a box under the chassis.

If the cylinders are not all the way up, an alarm sounds in the cab when the engine is running. And if they lose hydraulic pressure so they drop, the alarm will also go off.

The cylinders do look a little low, but they are no lower than the axles and other suspension components. And they are a lot higher than the underbody of my passenger car.

I suppose you could bolt them on if you could have room on the outside of the frame. If on the inside, you have the frame angles to contend with, so I would see that might be more challenging.

I suppose you could call the factory and ask if it is OK to just bolt them on.

For me, the factory has a $650 flat rate on installation, and in January, they were giving a $500 discount on installation, so it cost $150, which was a no-brainer as they welded them on.

Also, if you need a 13ft hydraulic hose, they can just go to the parts bin and get one. If you did it yourself, you have to estimate the lengths (although if you have the time, you can exchange lengths I think). At any rate, that is better than having to coil up uneeded hose from a 20ft hose when you only needed 13ft.
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Old 03-13-2015, 01:15 AM   #44
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......
If the cylinders are not all the way up, an alarm sounds in the cab when the engine is running. And if they lose hydraulic pressure so they drop, the alarm will also sound.......
So the failure mode is deployed..... what do they say you are to do if say a hose gets cut and pressure is lost, dropping the cylinder?
Is there a manual bypass valve and some sort of locking pin or some way to hold them up?
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Old 03-13-2015, 01:52 AM   #45
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what do they say you are to do if say a hose gets cut and pressure is lost, dropping the cylinder?
I guess in that case, you call CoachNet, etc. and ask them to bring a big bungee cord.

But the only one I think that would not have that issue is the HWH brand, as they use springs to retract the cylinders (they only have one hydraulic line to them to push them down).

However, I don't know how often that happens. You do bring up a good point though. I usually bring along a few cargo straps - the kind that has a ratcheting mechanism to tighten them. I suppose in a pinch, you could use one of those to keep the bad cylinder up.
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Old 03-13-2015, 02:04 AM   #46
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FW28z - Happy to hear you got the levelers installed.
In your post you said the alarm sounds if the cylinders are not all the way up and the engine is running. On mine the alarm sounds if the cylinders are not all the way up and the ignition is turned on. The engine doesn't have to be running.
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Old 03-13-2015, 02:09 AM   #47
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FW28z - Happy to hear you got the levelers installed.
In your post you said the alarm sounds if the cylinders are not all the way up and the engine is running. On mine the alarm sounds if the cylinders are not all the way up and the ignition is turned on. The engine doesn't have to be running.
Yes, you are correct, mine alarms as soon as you turn the key on to start the engine as well. They are probably wired into the ignition circuit.
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Old 03-14-2015, 04:13 AM   #48
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Equalizer jacks

I installed equalizer jacks on my Hurricane 31D about a year ago. I had the brackets welded on by a local welder that didn't mind welding in the vicinity of the fuel tank. I paid the welder about $300 as I remeber. I bolted the jacks on myself and ran the hydrolic lines. I mounted the pump and reservoir in a storage bin between the battery box and the generator on the drivers side of the coach. I use the jacks every time we park even if it is fairly level just to stabilize the coach. They work great and I'm glad I installed them myself.
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Old 03-14-2015, 04:54 AM   #49
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Every RV should cone with automatic jacks. They make RVing soooo much more enjoyable. I wouldn't buy an RV without auto leveling jacks.
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Old 03-14-2015, 08:56 AM   #50
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I installed equalizer jacks on my Hurricane 31D about a year ago. I had the brackets welded on by a local welder that didn't mind welding in the vicinity of the fuel tank. I paid the welder about $300 as I remeber. I bolted the jacks on myself and ran the hydrolic lines. I mounted the pump and reservoir in a storage bin between the battery box and the generator on the drivers side of the coach. I use the jacks every time we park even if it is fairly level just to stabilize the coach. They work great and I'm glad I installed them myself.
They certainly can be done by yourself, and in many cases, it is a job better done. And you can fix it as you know where everything is.

I usually do things myself, but in this case, I didn't have anyplace to do the installation. I do have a welder that I bought last year, but I don't have the skills (yet) to do such a job.

But with the discount they were offering on the installation, it was not a hard choice to make.
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Old 03-14-2015, 09:00 AM   #51
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Every RV should cone with automatic jacks. They make RVing soooo much more enjoyable. I wouldn't buy an RV without auto leveling jacks.
I agree with that after buying a motorhome without them. The oddball thing is that almost every kind of trailer, fifth wheel, or motorhome has them except for most Class B's and Class C's and the really small Class As.

I don't know why this segment of the market is left out. I suppose the thought is that these coaches tend to be on the go more, visiting a different place every day, so perhaps they would not need them.

But I think it is more-so that they are just being cheap. I'll also concede that it may be impossible to find enough room to install them in the smaller motorhomes, with everything else in the way.

And I'll never buy another one without them - or at least having them installed by the dealer prior to delivery.
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Old 03-14-2015, 09:29 AM   #52
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I suspect its a weight thing...... secondary, after the cheap thing of course.....
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Old 03-14-2015, 05:46 PM   #53
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Jack Install

In my case, we found a class A motorhome at a good price that we really liked but it didn't have leveling jacks. I'm not afraid to roll up my sleeves and get a little dirty so we bought it with the intention of installing the jacks later. I negotiated with Camping World about making the jacks part of the deal but I really didn't like what they were offering so I decided to take the project on myself. I'm glad I did. The welding is the only tricky part. If you hire the welding out, the rest is a piece of cake that can be done just about anywhere. The jacks just bolt on to the mounts (that come with the kit) and then you run the hydraulic lines, mount the pump, level sensor, and control panel. There is nothing complicated about the install. I was a little concerned because my jacks ended up not being perfectly perpendicular with the frame. I'm a little OCD that way. After talking to an Equalizer engineer I found that they don't expect the jacks to be exactly perpendicular because when you level a coach on irregular ground, it won't be perpendicular to the ground.
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Old 03-14-2015, 06:16 PM   #54
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Now if only the jacks were hooked to the suspension, I would have a low-rider RV...
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Old 03-14-2015, 10:36 PM   #55
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Hydraulic pump installation

Here is my Equalizer Jack installation
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Old 03-14-2015, 10:55 PM   #56
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Equalizer Jack install

Here is my Equalizer Jack installation

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Old 03-14-2015, 11:11 PM   #57
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Stick with the HWH brand!
Would not recommend Lippert. Cheap material. I have a new ACE 29.2 in the shop now because the left rear leveling shaft bent. It is aluminum shaft I hear. And Thor may not cover it on warranty. Sucks
Good luck
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Old 03-14-2015, 11:29 PM   #58
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Than Lipperts warranty should cover it. Hope you are not dealing with CW
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Old 03-15-2015, 08:45 PM   #59
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One issue I just came across with my system is that the range of the transmitter is not very far. There are dead spots all around the coach. The installers did say they could not put the receiver where they normally do as it would interfere with the slide out.

So they put it under the driver's seat with extra cable so that if I wanted to move the receiver I could. This might have to be done.

I can run the jacks inside the coach without any problem, or if I aim the transmitter high around windows. But there is too much metal I think around the receiver to get a good signal.

One other thing I will do is try another battery in the transmitter. That might help.

Otherwise I'll have to relocate it.

I don't know why the installers just didn't locate it on the passenger side to begin with. My suspicion is they did not realize there was a slideout where they wanted to install the receiver until they had already routed the box.

So for now, being inside works for me (or having to hold the remote at window level). I might move it at some point, but it is not a priority right now. I'll try a new battery in the transmitter first - it might just be an issue of a weak battery.

The batteries are 23A, and while I did find one at Menard's, it only had two years left on the "best before" date. I think these batteries set around a long time before they are eventually sold.

Which raises a red flag - 23A is not all that common, so I need to make sure to keep a spare or two in the RV.

Also, my driveway is steeper than I thought. Leveling the coach on the driveway resulted in the front tires off the ground. Kind of spooky seeing the coach that far in the air.
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Old 03-15-2015, 10:01 PM   #60
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I was looking through some of the documentation for my jacks, and in the install manual, I ran across this:

"The cylinders can be bolted to the frame using the supplied hardware, or they can be bolted to a weld-on bracket that is also supplied with the system."

However, I might call the factory to confirm if there are any limitations or issues if you plan on bolting on the brackets.
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