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First attempt to auto level our 2021 Reflection 340RDS

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  • First attempt to auto level our 2021 Reflection 340RDS

    Picked up our brand new 2021 Reflection 340RDS yesterday. Upon arrival home we are storing it in our son-in-law's building. I previously owned a Jayco 5th wheel with a LCI auto leveling system so I have experience with auto leveling.

    Using the touch panel on the outside of the unit (which is new to me), I followed instructions that I had read.

    1) Turned system on by touching both up & down arrows.
    2) Set front jacks down to about 4" from floor
    3) Released hitch lever and used arrow to drop front jacks to floor.
    4) Continued to raise front end until weight off of hitch and pulled my truck away
    5) Pushed "Auto Level" to start leveling and the following happened.

    Front end started adjusting to level, rear jacks lowered and the leveling process started. It seemed to be taking a longer time to level and asked my wife what was happening on right side of unit as it was appearing to me that perhaps the right wheels were coming off floor! She said she thought so and I went to view myself and they were indeed off the floor (the auto leveling was still running at this time). I quickly moved back to other side to abort the process, but wasn't sue how to stop it from front touch pad. i went to the control panel inside my storage area to attempt to stop process. Not being familiar with this newer touch panel it took me about 30 seconds to stop the leveling process. At this time, with the wheels still of the floor, I also noticed the right front jack had also some off the floor about 2 inches which was rather alarming (something similar had happened on my Jayco last summer). I was able to get the interior touch pad to manual mode and I lowered the right front jack back onto the floor and then retracted both rear jacks.

    I then manually adjusted the unit to level, using a hand level and lowering the front jacks manually.

    This is where I'm at now!

    Any suggestions????

    My plan is to contact LCI tomorrow for their support, and ask why this happened on my first attempt.

    I'm guessing that perhaps I will have to hook back up to my truck, and do a zero point reset, but not for sure, exactly how to do it (hitched or unhitched to my truck)

    Also need to find out how to QUICKLY abort the leveling process if this happens again.

    I don't feel comfortable trying to use the auto level again until I get some answers!

    Any help would be appreciated!

  • #2
    Is the area where you had the RV parked level? If you were inside a building, I would guess it was. It's not uncommon to have wheels come off the ground when auto-leveling on a pad that isn't level and that is no big deal. We used to park our RV in our driveway and although it looked pretty flat, it wasn't. When we auto-leveled, it would raise the tires off the ground on one side.

    If I were you, I'd do a zero point calibration (read the manual for instructions on how to do this). I always do this with a new RV. Then, before you start another auto-level, make sure the nose of the RV is higher than the rear. You should always start auto-level with the nose high.
    Brian & Kellie
    2020 Grand Design Solitude 310GK-R, FBP, MORryde IS, 1,460w solar and 540ah BBGC3
    2020 Ford F-350 Platinum SRW PSD Tremor, 60g TF fuel tank, Hensley BD3-F air bag hitch

    Previous setups:
    2019 Grand Design Solitude 373FB-R, 2019 Ford F-350 Platinum DRW Powerstroke, Hensley BD5 air bag hitch
    2016 Grand Design Reflection 318RST, 2016 GMC 3500 Denali SRW Duramax, Hensley BD3 air bag hitch

    Comment


    • #3
      When using Auto Level please make sure the truck is no where in the vicinity of the RV. As Brian has noted above the nose must be higher than level for the Auto Level to do its thing. It is possible that it would need re-zeroed. Another thing to keep an eye on is the stroke limit of the jacks. In most places I have found that about 6" of blocking under all of the jacks will keep the stroke limit under control. Being as you have some past experience with this system it will help you figure out what it is doing. The front control is mainly for attaching to truck to be able to see the hitch and pin at the same time. I would use the controller in the pass thru for the Auto Level function. There is a remote available that I have purchased for our unit and it is well worth it in my opinion.
      Congrats on the new 340RDS , we really like that floor plan and have thought about it for an upgrade.

      Brian
      Brian & Michelle
      2018 Reflection 29RS
      2022 Chevy 3500HD

      Comment


      • #4
        Thanks for the replies so far!

        Although I didn't personally check the building to see how level it is, the building is only 2 years old and my son-in-law's best friend is the contractor who built it, so it's got to be pretty level! I will double check it though!

        I do have experience with the ground control auto leveling system from the 2016 Jayco we had, and I am aware that you need to have the camper as level as possible before attempting to auto level. I did experience the wheels coming off the ground when camping on an unlevel site with that Jayco.

        I have used blocking at times on the Jayco when a camp site wasn't very level.

        I was just surprised that this would happen on a brand new unit. When we were going over this new camper before leaving the dealer, they did briefly explain the auto leveling system, but when I told them I had experience from using with my Jayco it was just brief. If I buy a new unit again sometime in the future, I'll be sure to have them actually run through and show me the system works!

        Perhaps they never did a zero point, as I assume every dealer would do. I'll be talking with them tomorrow.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by TomO View Post
          Perhaps they never did a zero point, as I assume every dealer would do.
          I would assume none of them do this!
          Brian & Kellie
          2020 Grand Design Solitude 310GK-R, FBP, MORryde IS, 1,460w solar and 540ah BBGC3
          2020 Ford F-350 Platinum SRW PSD Tremor, 60g TF fuel tank, Hensley BD3-F air bag hitch

          Previous setups:
          2019 Grand Design Solitude 373FB-R, 2019 Ford F-350 Platinum DRW Powerstroke, Hensley BD5 air bag hitch
          2016 Grand Design Reflection 318RST, 2016 GMC 3500 Denali SRW Duramax, Hensley BD3 air bag hitch

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by TomO View Post
            ...I am aware that you need to have the camper as level as possible before attempting to auto level.
            As Brian noted, the camper must be nose high before attempting to auto level. LCI's purpose for this is to try and ensure the RV is disconnected from the tow vehicle prior to initializing the auto-level sequence.

            There are multiple resources (including videos) on LCI's website that may be helpful: https://support.lci1.com/leveling-and-stabilization/

            Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.

            2017 Ford F-350 DRW, '19 315RLTSPlus

            Comment


            • #7
              Thanks for the replies so far!

              Although I didn't personally check the building to see how level it is, the building is only 2 years old and my son-in-law's best friend is the contractor who built it, so it's got to be pretty level! I will double check it though!

              I do have experience with the ground control auto leveling system from the 2016 Jayco we had, and I am aware that you need to have the camper as level as possible before attempting to auto level. I did experience the wheels coming off the ground when camping on an unlevel site with that Jayco.

              I have used blocking at times on the Jayco when a camp site wasn't very level.

              I was just surprised that this would happen on a brand new unit. When we were going over this new camper before leaving the dealer, they did briefly explain the auto leveling system, but when I told them I had experience from using with my Jayco it was just brief. If I buy a new unit again sometime in the future, I'll be sure to have them actually run through and show me the system works!

              Perhaps they never did a zero point, as I assume every dealer would do. I'll be talking with them tomorrow.

              Comment


              • #8
                The front of the camper was above level when I attempted to auto level.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Talked with RY dealer and Lippert customer service and both suggest resetting zero point, which as what everyone thought!

                  Comment

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