The Chicken or the Egg - Leveling and Slides Protocol

[artpe54]

I always level first, then deploy the slides.

[marjoa]

Originally Posted by 09 harley

No wonder Forest River has so many warranty problems. They need to rethink the bad advice.

Exactly my thinking.

[MisterT]

my view is that the coach is yours, and you can do with it what you wish - everyone, including the factories and system manufacturers, are going to give you 'advise' on what you SHOULD do, but ultimately it's up to the owner to decide what's best....

I personally don't see that the 'mechanics' of any of these systems cares whether they operate first or last in the process. but, if you think about how the environment where you are parked, you might consider that a slide mechanism, whether hydraulic or electric, would operate more efficiently, smoothly, and with less 'resistance' if gravity is not working against it - ala, level FIRST before deploying slides.

As far as whether to drop Air Bags before deploying slides, I don't see how the effect of the air bags would have anything to do with the slides. They are either aired up, or not, but it should not effect the 'level' of the coach. Having said that, yes, the Levelers will have to travel farther to reach the ground should you not drop the air bags before leveling, therefore your coach will be sitting MUCH HIGHER than if you drop the bags first.

in my experience, in our coach, we do the following:
-drop the air bags, the coach is now as low as possible
-manually level the coach, using only the minimum amount of height needed for each 'leg' to be level on each side, or end
-deploy the slides
...using this method allows our coach to be level first, sit as low to the ground as possible for the least 'rocking' or movement within the coach, have the least amount of 'step down' from the entrance, and gives the slides the most level starting point when deployed or extracted.

some additional notes about things we've learned on our coach:
-retracting the Levelers in the smoothest fashion requires some airing up of the bags, but not completely aired up - this keeps the coach from 'bouncing' down while the levelers are retracted
-manually Leveling the coach allows for a lower overall height versus the automated process - I look at the lighted arrows for the side(s) that need more height, allow those to contact the ground only, then deploy the opposite sides to just touch the ground, then go back to the original side until the arrow disappears. after trying this process several times you get used to how the system works and it's an easy process.

[wildtoad]

Just something to think about. Regardless of before/after, before extending the slides it's a good practice and Newmar's suggestion for full wall slides, to visually check the gap ( what they call the reveal )between the slide and mh wall to make sure the slide won't bind. Sometimes it will be better before leveling, sometimes after depending on how much twisting the mh goes through to get level. Just don't assume just because the unit is level that the box inside a box is square and safe to extend without looking.