Hwh leveling system.

[Joel Ashley]

Much perhaps to HWH’s chagrin, that’s what we were instructed during walk-thru at BCS... “slides out first and in last”.

[Fred Brooks]

    One more thought while we are talking about gigantic openings in the sides of our coaches is this: If you have an issue and the coach needs to be towed, NEVER let a tow truck lift your coach off the ground from the front. ALWAYS have it "flat bedded" to its destination. Not always a convenient decision but worth the wait to have one show up. 40 to 45 foot coaches with 4 slides have 4 big openings and it doesn't take much to tweak the geometry between the box and the chassis. A "low boy" flat bed is what you ask for to keep your grief to a minimum.
   Happy trails, Fred

[Dennis Belfils]

So let me get this straight. The Service Manager @ HWH is saying to level first, then run the slides out, but the "General Consensus" is saying the opposite?

[Roy C Tyler]

Dennis, I had my MH parked beside my house and leveled.  One day I decided to check something and I needed to move the living room slide in.  I thought, "it is level, it should not be any problem." I moved the slide in without starting the engine to raise it up to ride height. It caught the mirror on the wall between the kitchen and the bathroom. It bent the brackets and broke the bottom of the mirror.  I now ALWAYS raise it up to ride height before moving the slides in or out.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Dennis,
It is not consensus but Monaco and SMC before them due to the reasons noted previously in this thread. But, it's your coach and $ so you are free to listen to whomever you wish.
Steve

[Stan Simpson]

So let me get this straight. The Service Manager @ HWH is saying to level first, then run the slides out, but the "General Consensus" is saying the opposite?

Dennis,
That is exactly what he told me. I choose to do as instructed in the owner's manual for my coach.

[Jerry Emert]

When I first bought my coach I did not have a manual.  I did what seemed right and leveled first before putting slides out.  My driver's side slide always rubbed the trim on the top of the slide and it was coming loose.  I asked about it either here or another forum and was promptly told to read the manual and follow it!  Then the nicer folks explained it as Fred Brookes did above.  It has never rubbed when at ride height, only when level. 

[Dennis Belfils]

Thank You Stan. As always, we greatly appreciate the knowledge you & this forum provides. We have always leveled first, then slides out, mainly due to the P. O. telling us that's how he did it, & also our slides do not operate with the ignition on & the manual recommends the engine be running while leveling. We want to do what's best, so we will adjust accordingly. On another note, did the HWH manager say anything about resets of the system. We have to do ours too often. Once again, Thanx

[Stan Simpson]

On another note, did the HWH manager say anything about resets of the system. We have to do ours too often. Once again, Thanx

Dennis,
I told him my procedure for hitting the emergency stop when leveling. And then hitting the reset to bring it to ride height when we air up to go. He said that was an okay practice.

[Joel Ashley]

Dennis, instinct at least for me has always been that once parked I go straight for the leveling panel.  Fortunately I have a monitoring system called Lee for a back up.  One thing that for some reason really stuck with her during our BCS walk-through was the “slides out first and in last” part, driven home by the “instructor” and reinforced by other staff later.  So every time I try to start leveling before getting out of the drivers seat, my back-up system sounds off!

Back ups are a good thing to have 😉.

Joel

[Richard Davis]

I have an '06 Monterey that I have owned for two years (air leveling only).  I did not have the advantage of having someone tell me the proper order of slide operation and leveling.  I had to learn the hard way (experience is a hard task master).  The first time I set up in a campground, I leveled first and then put the slides out (seemingly no problems).  However, when I got ready to leave, I brought the slides in before I aired up in travel mode.  I heard a bit of a crunch just as the large living room slide came all the way in (the one with the storage bays attached to the bottom of it).  There was evidently enough of a twist in the coach body that the front bay door caught on the side of the coach as the slide came in.  The plastic slam latch could not hold the pressure and was therefor destroyed (thankfully, that was the only thing destroyed).  Ever since that experience, I have extended the front two slides while still aired up in travel mode and retracted them only after airing up in travel mode.  No more problems.  The two rear bedroom slides have a totally different configuration and it would make no difference for those two.

I thoroughly enjoy learning from this forum and only wish I had found it sooner so I could have avoided some of those bad experiences.

Richard

[Dennis Belfils]

Thanx Richard. So, no problems with the rear slides going out last & in first?

[Richard Davis]

Dennis

The rear (bedroom) slides are not in a position to be impacted by frame twisting while leveling.  There position in relation to the rear axle holds them rather rigid.  The front slides on the Monterey (particularly the drivers side) have significant potential for twisting.  Add that to the close tolerances of the slide opening (particularly the bay doors underneath) and you have the potential for impact.  So, it becomes critical on the front slides that they be opened and closed with as little frame twisting as possible (up on air in travel mode).  When you are in travel mode, the front air bags are controlled by a single air source.  Effectively the front axle is allowed to float without undue twisting of the body.  When you invoke the HWH air leveling controller, the front axle has independent air source for each side creating the potential for body twisting.  If you had a ride height system that was plumbed differently (some mfgs are), then you would have a different routine for leveling.  That is why there is significant confusion as to what routine to follow. 

Richard