How do you level your coach?

[cmillsap]

(04-22-2017 16:22)davidbrady Wrote:  I'd like to hear about the differences in the converters. I know many of the converters built an automatic leveling system on top of Prevost's Level-Low. Vantare has their system, but I rarely use it. I find that in many cases I don't like how the automatic system proceeds. For instance, I'd rather raise the low side than lower the high side. It has to do with keeping the coach off the bump stops if at all possible, and keeping a minimum amount of pressure within the air bags. So, I almost always level manually using the level-low controls. I also find that the coach can be quite out of level and there's no impact on the slide actuation. In fact, after having extended the slides the coach usually leans noticeably to the driver's side. I like it that way. Even though the rooftops of the Vantare slides are pitched resembling a gable, I don't mind a little more slope to drain rainwater away from the coach.

How do you level your coach?

David,
As you know, being a previous owner of a Wanderlodge equipped with slides, the HWH hydraulic slide controls incorporated a sequence to level the coach using the hydraulic jacks first before the slide would extend or retract. As I understand it, the reason was that there was little tolerance between the slide body and the wall opening which demanded the chassis be level and square before operating the slide. It was a pain to follow the instructions to operate the slide as it could be confusing and easily mis-followed causing the slide operation to malfunction.

Apparently, being perfectly level before operating the slide is not a prerequisite with a Prevost manufactured slide. I don’t know if slides manufacture by other makers such as Valid and (I think) Vantare which were fitted to the Prevost chassis requires any chassis leveling before operating the slides.

On my XL2, the slide’s operating circuit requires that the level-low be off before the slide will function. So, if I were to level the bus before extending the slide then after returning the level low to the off position so the slide would operate, the bus would immediately start to return to road (travel) height negating any leveling I had previously done.

So, my leveling procedure is to first not to park on any RV spaces that look to be more than a few inches off level. Then I extend the slide and proceed to use the Level-Low to level the bus if needed. Once the slide is out, the chassis always leans enough to cause the bubble to be off center but not enough for the floor to be unlevel enough to be uncomfortable. If it’s leaning too much, I will raise the driver’s slide just a little. I am almost always able to raise that side to get it level enough without having to lower the passenger’s side. I never dump the air or allow the bus to sit on the bump stops. Last time I was at Prevost, I had them fix all the air leaks. Now I think the bus will stay up for weeks.