HWH makes leveling jacks for Mercedes Winnebago View and Itasca Navion

[cjshaker]

HWH lists an automatic leveling jack kit for the Mercedes Winnebago View and Itasca Navion:

http://www.hwhcorp.com/HH95314.jpg

Does this kit invalidate the Mercedes chassis warrantee? It appears that someone has this installed on their RV

Comments?

Thank you,
Chris Shaker

[John Canfield]

There is a lot of controversy about if making mods to your chassis, car, truck, etc. will void a warranty.  The people that make or market the aftermarket stuff will swear the manufacturers cannot invalidate your warranty.  I don't know but I can't imagine that the addition of jacks will cause a warranty brouhaha.

Call Mercedes or Winnebago and ask them.

[mrschwarz]

There is a law that says that an auto manufacturer cannot void a warranty if a non OE part is installed unless the part directly contributes to the failure. That being said, you might have a fight on your hands and their lawyers can probably beat up your lawyer(s).

[cjshaker]

I sent email to HWH asking about the warrantee issue today. We'll see what kind of reply I get.

Thank you,
Chris Shaker

[IslandGuy]

Someone from the yahoo Reyo Via group researched this with Mercedes....join the group here:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Reyo-Via/
Mercedes engineering told him installing the levelers would Void the chassis warranty.

[Garyc]

Jim,

I know a couple of View owners who absolutely love their HWH levelers. I believe that if the warranty is voided that it would only apply to the frame ( perhaps the chassis ). I don't think that Mercedes would not fix a blown turbo resonator because of the installation of the jacks.

We can spare the weight, so the plan is to head out to the factory and have them installed. The DW is a school teacher so we have to plan a vacation around her schedule.

Gary & Carol
2011 View J
San Jose Ca

[IslandGuy]

Mercedes engineering told him installing the levelers would Void the chassis warranty.

Gary,
As noted the chassis warranty would be void as stated by Mercedes...
If I could spare the weight I would have them on my View as well!

[John Canfield]

Mercedes is probably afraid of torquing or twisting the frame with leveling jacks.  Safest position for them is to deny warranty claims due to unauthorized modifications to a structural member.

[SargeW]

The protection that is being referred to is the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.  Here is the Wikipedia definition of the act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson%E2%80%93Moss_Warranty_Act  The act is supposed to be consumer protection for getting denied warranty coverage, but it does come down to how loud and long you are willing to scream about an issue. 

Most times consumers will run out of resolve before getting to a favorable decision, and many companies are aware of that fact. And unless you have a bunch of money you don't need to pay a lawyer, it can be a long road. 

[lovervliving]

Don't know about the leveling jacks issue, but one thing I can say is that we've been completely satisfied with HWH.

We went to their headquarters last year because we had had a continuous problem with one of our slides.  The dealer said they fixed it, but they didn't.  Winnebago wouldn't back it (even though the problem had started while we were still under warranty) and finally referred us to HWH...as we were already on the road to the Winnebago factory because we had a scheduled appointment with them.  (It's a long drive from Texas). 

Fortunately, HWH made room for us.  We arrived a day early and they accommodated us.  Not only did they get us in a day early, they identified the problem within minutes and fixed it within 2 hours.  On top of that, they allowed us to hook up at their facility for the night!  Nice experience with everyone at HWH!  \

Can't say enough nice things about them.

[John Canfield]

Welcome!

We also had a very positive experience a HWH three or four years ago.  When the local restaurant was open, HWH would treat their service customers to a lunch.  The pies were to die for.

[lovervliving]

Thanks for the welcome, John.  Darn!  Wish we had been able to experience the pies!!!!