How much lift is "too high" with HWH jacks?

Bruce

How much lift is "too high" with HWH jacks?

« on: September 13, 2013, 06:47:24 pm »

My question is how to interpret the HWH Operator's Manual statement that says "REMEMBER, if lifted too high, the vehicle may roll forward or backward off the jacks." How do I determine what is "too high"? And, do the HWH jacks automatically stop extending when a maximum is reached?

Here is our situation:
For the second time this month we're in a campsite that slopes away quite a bit on the front right side of our coach. This site is all on dirt, near to a stream running in front of us. Other than the slope, we like this site and don't want to move to another for the week that we'll be here. So, we've managed to minimize the slope by moving the coach around a few feet, driving the right front tire up on 3 1/2" of blocks, placing 3 1/2" of pads under the HWH jack at that corner, and extending the HWH jack as much as I'm sure is safe. The entry steps are a bit high off of the ground, so we've put a small portable step on the ground to help us climb up. We're almost level now, but still have a little slope to the front right.

I'm tempted to extend the jacks a bit more, but don't want to push my luck before seeking help. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

--Bruce

Logged

dickreid1

163
All 48 States, boarder Provinces and Maritimes
OwnPC: Yes
NewUsed: New
PurchDate: Feb. 2012
Model: 2910
ModelYear: 2012
Slide: Yes
Location: IA

Re: How much lift is "too high" with HWH jacks?

« Reply #1 on: September 13, 2013, 07:43:41 pm »

Bruce,

The very first time I used my HWH levelers, the tires and chocks skidded and the rig fell backwards. Later visiting the HWH plant I found that they design with this problem in mind. My levelers we fine only needing some adjustment as to level sensing.

They pointed out that the emergency brakes are on the rear duals. Lifting the rear causes a coresponding reduction of weight on the tires that may end by, as I found, falling off. If a camp site is more than a few inches low in the rear, I will use blocks under the tires and the same amount under the jacks. Also, I now have four of the Harbor Freight solid rubber chocks. These are serious business. They get hammered in whenever there is any concern about lifting with the HWH jacks.

As to the front wheels the HWH guys say you can safely raise the front wheels entirely off the ground. Since then we do it routinely. I even add blocks in front if the levelers max out before getting level. Marge still frets about tires being in the air so I beat some blocks under the tires mostly for effect. We also use a folding step in those high situations.

Dick

Logged

Bruce

Re: How much lift is "too high" with HWH jacks?

« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2013, 05:14:16 pm »

Dick,
Thank you for sharing your experience with the jacks--nice to hear info from HWH. I'll now feel more secure in raising the front end.
Another question:
Do you use leveling bubbles to estimate how much you'll need to lift? If so, where do you mount them?
Best regards,
Bruce

Logged

Sparky

334
OwnPC: Yes
NewUsed: Used
PurchDate: 12/12
Model: 2350 Ford
ModelYear: 2008
Slide: No
Location: Houston, Texas

Re: How much lift is "too high" with HWH jacks?

« Reply #3 on: September 21, 2013, 08:56:03 pm »

Bruce good topic I have also been interested n this subject, wish you would have put it in the general discussion,,, probably would have gotten more replies, but no problem,,

I noticed that the lifts I saw on a 2552 last week actually fold up when not in use,,, looked neat,,

Bruce, when your using your lifts,, are you doing automatic??? It would seem to me if you did it manually you would not get as much lift..again just asking I have never used the ones on our unit, but want to learn..

I also note they have a tire lift?? I guess it is used when you store the unit to lessen the weight on the tires,,,,but curious if others use this on their units when in storage,
Sparky

Logged

Bruce

Re: How much lift is "too high" with HWH jacks?

« Reply #4 on: September 22, 2013, 01:14:07 am »

Sparky,

I'm happy to hear that you have interest in this topic.

I use the jacks as described in the hwh owners manual, which I would describe as manual. We first extend all four jacks (unfold them), then extend the jacks on the low wheels until the coach is level. Once we are level, extend the remaining jacks until they touch the ground.

As I mentioned in the original post, sometime the coach is too far off level to start with and we run out of safe (too much) jack extension before we reach level. How much is "too much" was my original question.

When I want more lift than I feel is safe with the jacks, I've been driving up on some leveling blocks before extending the hwh jacks. We need to put additional blocks on the ground under the jacks before starting to extend them.

I'm not aware of any automatic procedure with these jacks and had never thought about taking some weight off of the tires by extending the jacks while the coach is in storage. Maybe someone else has some opinions on this.

Bruce

Logged

Sparky

334
OwnPC: Yes
NewUsed: Used
PurchDate: 12/12
Model: 2350 Ford
ModelYear: 2008
Slide: No
Location: Houston, Texas

Re: How much lift is "too high" with HWH jacks?

« Reply #5 on: September 22, 2013, 10:20:00 am »

Bruce
good post I have a 2008 PC the jacks are 625 series.... again trying to learn system.... I can do automatic or manual,,, I like the way you do yours, manually,,,, the lifts I have are not foldable though,,, wish they were,, would love to have that extra 4 to 6 inches of clearance,, helps on the driveways... haha... maybe a few others will post so we can get some other thoughts,,, not sure about leaving the jacks down for storage,,, may put too much pressure on the valves for such an extended period (????),, probably not fun to manually have to release those valves to retract the jacks if there is a problem,,
the jacks were on the unit when purchased to be honest I would have not done it,,, the shorter units are a little easier to park and also we normally 85%, do RV parks so most of the time they are pretty level.. how ever someone paid a couple of grand to put them on the unit and might as well use them hehe
sparky

Logged

Bruce

Re: How much lift is "too high" with HWH jacks?

« Reply #6 on: September 22, 2013, 11:37:01 pm »

Sparky,
Like you, most of our stays are in RV parks with fairly level sites. This week we are staying at Premier RV Resort in Redding, Ca and our site is almost perfectly level. We still put down the jacks just to stabilize the coach especially when using the patio door. Only takes a few minutes to put them down and it's good to give them regular exercise.
Bruce

Logged

2 Frazzled

1434
OwnPC: Yes
NewUsed: New
PurchDate: May 2013
Model: 2552
ModelYear: 2013
Slide: Yes
IntColor: Sunlit & Cherry
ExtColor: Sunlit
Location: On the road full time (prev. Maryland)

Re: How much lift is "too high" with HWH jacks?

« Reply #7 on: September 23, 2013, 08:44:06 am »

Our jacks fold back up and I don't know what your configuration is, but I don't think folding jacks buy you more clearance. We were in a state park with parking bumpers at the back of the pad and distant electric posts behind us so we were trying to back up as far as we could. Luckily I looked under the coach before it was too late and realized those jacks were NOT going to clear that bumper. I have no idea what it would do to knock them forward when they are in the raised position but I figure it would cost a lot of money to fix that one. The folded jacks hang down a good bit so you have to watch that.

Logged

John, Holly, and sometimes Chloe.
Travel Blog: Spiritofthewoods.net

Sparky

334
OwnPC: Yes
NewUsed: Used
PurchDate: 12/12
Model: 2350 Ford
ModelYear: 2008
Slide: No
Location: Houston, Texas

Re: How much lift is "too high" with HWH jacks?

« Reply #8 on: September 23, 2013, 09:02:05 am »

Bruce unless I looked at that 2551 differently,,, it had folding jacks... they still allow a lot more clearance than mind do... you are right about at least exercising the jacks which I need to do since I have not operated them at all yet, (scared they want work and get stuck down haha)... going to play with the Beast tomorrow... (it's in storage) I might try to play with is some manually just to see what happens. I love talking to people when I'm at the parks.... might want to talk to some of the people that have jacks and get some input,,, love to know about using the jacks when unit is in storage and taking the weight off the tires,,, talk at you later
sparky

Logged

pyrthkr

Re: How much lift is "too high" with HWH jacks?

« Reply #9 on: September 28, 2013, 02:45:36 pm »

We use a float "bubble" to assist w/determining "level" w/ or w/o deploying the jacks; but the REAL determiner is when my beautiful bride does the refrigerator door test - if it swings one way or the other when supposedly "level" its back to the adjustment stage.

Yes Dear

Logged