Levelers for Class C...

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Buscadero

Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2010
Posts
15
Location
South Texas
Hello,

Semi-rookie Rv'er.
Now retrired and going to hit the road.
I have a 2004, 6000 miles Jayco Granite Ridge...so far so good.
Hate the leveling hassel.
Considering auotmatic levelers.
Your opinion ?

Thanks in advance......
004-1.jpg
 
 
Most Class C's use kick down levelers and seem to work very well.  The kick downs work well because of the limited clearance under most class C rigs. Personally I think that adding levelers is some of the best money you can spend.  I have had travel trailers and 5vers, and the block leveling gets old. Since we moved to a MH and fell in love with levelers.  IMHO it is money well spent. 
 
Expensive, but you will love the convenience.

Just to be clear, you are talking about a leveling system, not just powered stabilizer jacks, right? Something like this one from Big Foot (Quadra)
http://www.bigfootleveler.com/levelingsystems/classc.php
 
One of the first things I added to our Winnebago Class C, went with HWH and the joy stick control that is mounted along side the drivers seat.
 
I'm nearly 68 and not really too excited about crawling around under the RV every time we set up.  So, when we went looking for a Class C last year, one of our requirements was jacks - or a super price so we could afford to add them.  It was secondary only to a good floor plan.  As it turned out, we got both.  The floor plan is great and the jacks have made setting up and breaking down a snap.  We seldom stay more than 1 or 2 nights as our traveling is just that, traveling.  Setting up nightly in who knows what weather couldn't be easier and my knees stay clean.  FWIW - we have HWH kick-down jacks.
 
I'll never forget the first time we used leveling jacks.  They had just been installed at Quartzsite and we were on our way home.  Pulled into a parking lot in a pouring rain after dark.  Pressed button and - voila! - we were level!  Didn't have to go outside until it was dry the next morning.  Automatic levelers are worth every penny in my book.  By the way, I recommend Bigfoot because their larger "base" is better in soft soil.  We've had them on two motorhomes.

ArdraF
 
I have hydraulic levelers on my class A, MH.  They are not automatic , in fact, someone told me the auto ones take quite awhile to level the MH.  The advantage is that you don't have to do it yourself.  My wife bought me a leveling device that looks like a star fish and has lights on it.  You put this in the middle of your MH, and watch the red and green lights while leveling it.  When all the lights are green, the MH is level.  The first time I used it it took me less than a minute to level it.  Thumbs up for this device!
 
The auto levelers don't take any longer than the manual ones.  The RV I just traded had manual levelers and the new one is auto. Not much difference.  I have heard that the auto ones can get "confused" in a site that is extremely out of level.  In those instances the panel will just flash and you won't get a green light.  However my manual jacks wouldn't level in the same site either.
 
If the manual levelers take the same time to use as the auto, what's the point other than spending more money for the auto?  Another consideration is the auto levelers have more things to go wrong, and they are probably more expensive to fix.  A friend of mine who sold main frame computers many years ago told me that all the mechanical switches on simple as well as complicated appliance would be replaced by computer controls.  I will agree a lot of things are better, but this is not always the case with some simple appliances which now cost more to fix and are harder to diagnose unless you have special equipment like the Techs.
 
This set-up has a button for both manual and auto.
Brand name is Bullseyetechnlogies.

http://bullseyetechnologiesinc.com/index.php
 
the auto levelers have more things to go wrong

They've been in use a long time and don't have many issues these days.  The same was said of slideouts when they first came on the market.  We know people who had early models and had many problems, but you'll notice today that almost every RV has at least one and sometimes four slides.  The problems are minor compared to the number in use.  Same is true of automatic levelers.

ArdraF
 
sluggermike said:
If the manual levelers take the same time to use as the auto, what's the point other than spending more money for the auto?  Another consideration is the auto levelers have more things to go wrong, and they are probably more expensive to fix.

Mike

I assume you have a manual transmission on your car and a carburuerator since there is less to go wrong. Actually, walking everywhere and writing with a pencil have the least to go wrong, but then you have to use the Post Office :-\ . As Ardra and others have said, the auto levelers have been around quite a while and are relatively trustworthy. On my levelers, I can't get the coach accurately as level manually as with the auto levelers. I can also do some other chores while the levelers are doing theirs. Progress sucks, but the alternatives are worse ;) .
 
If you have ask, you can't afford... but it doesn't stop me from being curious...

Just curious, does anybody have a ballpark figure for what they paid to add automatic levelers to their Class C motorhome?

I'm in a 1994, 28 foot, Tioga Montara. 

Doubtful I could afford them anytime soon, but a guesstimate would be nice. I went all over the websites and can't find a price anywhere. I realize it's all custom installation and so on, but are we talking $100 or $1000 or $10,000 for this fancy convenience?

 
The ones I had installed were      $3500.00
Due to a job that took us away for awhile I was forced to
let my coach set-up too long....near three years.

So in addition to the levelers which is a luxuray item I had to have...
Six new tires    $950.
AC was shot, had a Carrier which you can't get any longer new Dometic 15k BTU  $1000.
New brakes all the way around    $1100. 

It's a 2004 Jayco Granite Ridge with only 6000 miles so to me the money is well spent
and we will be on the road hopefully a few years with this rig.
I suspect I will step up to a class A one day.
 
I've learned a lot on this forum and I hope I've helped others by conveying some of things that I have learned.  I believe the spirit and intent of any forum is solely to help its members and not to promote one's busiess.  It is not to make snide remarks about comments made by its members.  What I'm referring to is the comments made by BenieD about my response.
 
BUSCADERO:  Thank you for sharing your leveler price.  It's always nice to know what I can't afford *giggle*.  Guess I'll stick to my $10 boards.  I'm lucky in one aspect, I have this uncanny ability to pick the right number of boards for which tire and level up the old fashioned way in a matter of minutes. Maybe it's all those years at sea...or angels just keep looking after me.

But I can well imagine how much fun it is to just show up, push a button and be set.  Luckily, many places I have parked were level, but of course many aren't, especially if you end up in weird places like I often do.

sluggermike said:
I've learned a lot on this forum and I hope I've helped others by conveying some of things that I have learned.  I believe the spirit and intent of any forum is solely to help its members and not to promote one's busiess.  It is not to make snide remarks about comments made by its members.  What I'm referring to is the comments made by BenieD about my response.

I tend to agree with you too, Sluggermike... 


BernieD said:
I assume you have a manual transmission on your car and a carburuerator since there is less to go wrong. Actually, walking everywhere and writing with a pencil have the least to go wrong, but then you have to use the Post Office..... Progress sucks, but the alternatives are worse.

I sure don't think progress sucks, nor the alternatives are worse. Not everyone, and certainly not me,  has to have the latest and greatest, the very moment it hits the market.

My last 7 cars all had manual transmissions, and 6 of them had carburetors.  They were definately cheap to run, and cheap to maintain. The last one that didn't have a carburetor, left me stranded, and  cost me a fortune to fix, when some sort of fuel injection sensor went out on the fly.

I sold that car to use the funds for traveling in my motorhome anyhow. No towed toad for me.

I am SO backwards, I still use pencil, paper and the post office. I also walk anywhere I can,  to help with "being green" even though I live in a motorhome. I  use old fashioned boards to level my motorhome, and if it's $3500 to put in automatic levelers, in an old Class C, well I guess that's another "sucky progress" I will live without.  I don't think the "alternative is worse"; $10 for my manual leveling boards.  $3,490 can buy me a whole lot of fuel, to wander around this continent.

I'm just a commoner, working for a living, who happens to live and travel in my modest motorhome and I am forced to stick to a ridiculously tight budget, for the time being,  but somehow I manage to get around a good bit and  have a blast.

I have to yank my steps out by hand and don't even own a TV. My driver's and passenger's windows have knobs to crank them up and down with. I have to turn a key, to lock my doors. There is nothing to push on my key fob to make the motorhome lock or unlock or blink and honk.

I don't have GPS nor backup cameras, and only recently acquired an Atlas (through a gift). Being lost and wandering around, is actually loads of fun. I've found some of the nicest campgrounds, and spectacular vistas,  way off the beaten track, because I got lost and decided to venture out rather than backtrack to where ever I was headed.


I thought having cruise control and a bucket of ice (I make myself),  was major luxuries...

I recently invested in an old fashioned 12volt fan, because I love to have all the windows open and forget the air conditioner whenever possible. 

We are lucky to have so many choices in our lives.
 
If I had know the brakes and AC were gonna tank I may have re-thought the levelers.
But, the wife loves this thing(motorhome) and they should be an asset.
I'm buying an extended warranty Monday in case of any other surprises.

Thanks for all the imput...great information and nary a lack of opinions, glad I stumbled across this forum.
Aug 16th starts a few shake down trips(new verbage found here) here in Texas then off to New Mexico
til this Texas heat subsides.
I'm sure I will have more questions as we travel along.

Thanks everyone and Ya'll stay safe.......
 

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