Wheels off of the ground after auto leveling

[Hawgwild]

Outside of the slippage by some wheels not being chocked, does it hurt the jacks if the wheels are off the ground after the auto level finishes? They look pretty stout. We have a 2019 Reflection 337RLS (5'r) w/ electric lifting cylinders. We typicaly try it keep them on the ground but sometimes this happens.

If the suspension is "relaxed" during some leveling (wheels not off the ground), the cylinders attached to the frame seem to bear the load of the rig anyway.

[howson]

Check out what happened to Marc and Trish at the National Rally (very applicable to your question). The section you want to watch is from ~9:40 to ~17:00.

[JCR GD]

JFWIW... Out in the desert this happens to me all the time with no ill effects. Once the legs are supporting the weight the trailer, the trailer has no reason to move even without the chock on that side. (As long as legs are on solid ground)

HOWEVER in the video Marc has those "feet" on all of the legs and I believe they don't allow the front legs to slip as they are extended. Since they are on an angle they must slip as they extend. In his case on the video they had to slip all at once (due to "feet" grabbing) so it looked and sounded scary instead of a slow steady slide as the leg extended. I use slip pads on the front now to avoid this sudden slip since it scared me the first time it happened to me. Now a nice easy extension and no sudden slips.

[Hawgwild]

Yes, thanks. I watch KYD every Sunday with DW. While very experienced Marc does make mistakes (like purchasing the F-250, a few season s ago). I will continue doing as always.

[steve&renee]

I use slip pads on the front now to avoid this sudden slip since it scared me the first time it happened to me. Now a nice easy extension and no sudden slips.

What, pray tell, are "slip pads"? Can you provide a pic?

-Steve

[JCR GD]

What, pray tell, are "slip pads"? Can you provide a pic?

-Steve

Smooth surface for feet to slide on as legs are extended. I always use them on firm "grippy" surfaces. I think I got them at CW since I can't find them in my Amazon orders.

(paper towels for scale)

[Second Chance]

I keep several lengths of pressure treated 2 x 12 for "ground tackle" use. Do y'all (yes, "y'all" is in my spell checker) think a couple of 12 x 18 pieces of this oriented laterally would be suitable under the front landing gear on our new Solitude or does it need to be something slicker like plastic?

Rob

[JCR GD]

In my experience the wood can be sticky, especially if its damp.

[JCR GD]

Just for the record, most of the time it’s fine but sometimes with grippy feet and/or grippy ground and a lot of extension thats when things get unhappy.

[Cate&Rob]

Some levelling legs are nearly vertical (usually the electric ones) while others come down at a noticeable angle (usually the hydraulic ones). The slip pads will be more important with the angled (hydraulic) levelling legs.

Rob

[bertschb]

I ordered taller wheel chocks to help with situations similar to this.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[steve&renee]

The slip pads will be more important with the angled (hydraulic) levelling legs.

Rob

I'm somewhat confused by this discussion as it relates to my own experiences. I have the angled hydraulic legs. These levelers don't seem to have nearly as much available stroke as the electric levelers on by SOB rig. So when I'm really out of level to begin with, I've found that I need to use blocks on the levelers that need the most stroke, or else the auto-level will fail due to out-of-stroke.

With blocks on the low points, the auto-level usually succeeds, even if the result is to actually raise the wheels off the ground. But the point is, these blocks (Camco X-Large 44527) are fixed, and I wouldn't want a tower of them to be sliding around.

Seems there are two competing concerns going on in this discussion.

-Steve

[JCR GD]

Chances are your front feet will slide a bit on top of the blocks. The more extension the more sliding should/will occur. No worries, just be aware there needs to be a bit of movement allowed as the front legs extend.