Setting up at the campground.

[EricB]

Our previous camper was a popup, when we get to the campground we would level it then unhook from the tow vehicle. The next step would be to raise the roof, drop the corner stabilizers, and then pull the beds out.
Our new Eagle HT 29.5BHOK I plan on leveling then what? Can we run the slides out before dropping the rear stabilizers or should we run the stabilizers down then put out the slides?

Eric

[Mopar_Earl]

I always run the stabilizers down before putting the slide(s) out on the site. But if I'm not on the site I don't drop them. Like at home or if I stop along the road or parking lot and put the slides out as needed.


Earl

[dalebra]

Originally Posted by EricB

Our previous camper was a popup, when we get to the campground we would level it then unhook from the tow vehicle. The next step would be to raise the roof, drop the corner stabilizers, and then pull the beds out.
Our new Eagle HT 29.5BHOK I plan on leveling then what? Can we run the slides out before dropping the rear stabilizers or should we run the stabilizers down then put out the slides?

Eric

Eric,
For a 5er this is the steps in the order they should be done.

1 - Get your rig in the spot where you like.
2 - Check the level from Left to Right
If it's close leave it. If not you would want to pull out and put a board or use the Johnson Levelers to back up on to raise the low side.
3 - Drop the landing gear so the feet are about 6 inches from the ground.
4 - Extend the landing gear until you just start to see separation from your hitch plate.
5 - Chock your 5er wheels.
6 - Release the lock on your hitch and pull the cord for the lights from your truck.
7 - Pull the truck away from the 5er.
8 - At this point if you have the Ground Control 3.0 leveling system press Auto Level. The unit will level front to back and side to side, then it will lower the rear stabilizers. The system will beep when it is complete.
9 - You should now be level and can extend your slides.

If I missed something I'm sure others will chime in.

[sennister]

Doesn't really matter. I level (side to side), chock the wheels, disconnect the TV, level (front to back), run the stabilizers down then run out the slides and awning.

When doing your left right leveling it is better to have it perfect or leaning a bit to the side where your slides are when they are deployed (since you don't have them on both sides). With the slides out, the weight can tip the trailer a bit and it is better to have water on the slide run away from the camper rather than toward and hope the seals keep it out. Some people know that when they extend the slides it is going to tip the camper so many degrees and build that into leveling it. That is fine but I just don't like it leaning the other way as you can never totally level them.

The big thing is to level front to rear before putting out the stabilizers. If you have to do the front to rear adjustment and the stabilizers are already down you can damage them or the landing gear mechanism. The stabilizers are not designed to support the load of the camper. Just steady it a bit.

[sennister]

Originally Posted by dalebra

Eric,
For a 5er this is the steps in the order they should be done.

1 - Get your rig in the spot where you like.
2 - Check the level from Left to Right
If it's close leave it. If not you would want to pull out and put a board or use the Johnson Levelers to back up on to raise the low side.
3 - Drop the landing gear so the feet are about 6 inches from the ground.
4 - Extend the landing gear until you just start to see separation from your hitch plate.
5 - Chock your 5er wheels.
6 - Release the lock on your hitch and pull the cord for the lights from your truck.
7 - Pull the truck away from the 5er.
8 - At this point if you have the Ground Control 3.0 leveling system press Auto Level. The unit will level front to back and side to side, then it will lower the rear stabilizers. The system will beep when it is complete.
9 - You should now be level and can extend your slides.

If I missed something I'm sure others will chime in.

One thing we found out on my In-Law's Big Horn which uses the same Auto system that Jayco uses is that there is a limit on the slope of a camping spot with the auto leveling systems. We got everything unhooked and hit the autolevel and the system would lower the landing gear and throw an error. After digging into what was going on, it drops the nose until it detects it is too low then it brings it back up to level. Well the landing gear would drop to the ground and we were still +0.5 on the front and it couldn't go lower and error out. We didn't have boards for the wheels as it had never been taken to a spot sloped this far. The camp ground had boards that they loaned us and it was fine but this was a bit of a challenge. So you may still need boards or leveling blocks even with auto systems.

[EricB]

Thanks for the responses. I like having a set routine when setting up and these will be a big help.

Eric

[Mopar_Earl]

Originally Posted by sennister

One thing we found out on my In-Law's Big Horn which uses the same Auto system that Jayco uses is that there is a limit on the slope of a camping spot with the auto leveling systems. We got everything unhooked and hit the autolevel and the system would lower the landing gear and throw an error. After digging into what was going on, it drops the nose until it detects it is too low then it brings it back up to level. Well the landing gear would drop to the ground and we were still +0.5 on the front and it couldn't go lower and error out. We didn't have boards for the wheels as it had never been taken to a spot sloped this far. The camp ground had boards that they loaned us and it was fine but this was a bit of a challenge. So you may still need boards or leveling blocks even with auto systems.

Sounds like you didn't have enough stroke for the landing gear. Need to lower the landing gear 4 or 5 inches and than drop your legs. If it can't dip below level it won't work. Also if you drop your landing gear too much, it could run out of stroke leveling front to rear if the front has to come up a lot. It's best to block all jacks to limit how much they need to stroke. That also helps with stability.


Earl

[Mopar_Earl]

Originally Posted by EricB

Thanks for the responses. I like having a set routine when setting up and these will be a big help.

Eric

Same here, if you don't, you will mess steps and take more time.


Earl

[sennister]

Originally Posted by Mopar_Earl

Sounds like you didn't have enough stroke for the landing gear. Need to lower the landing gear 4 or 5 inches and than drop your legs. If it can't dip below level it won't work. Also if you drop your landing gear too much, it could run out of stroke leveling front to rear if the front has to come up a lot. It's best to block all jacks to limit how much they need to stroke. That also helps with stability.


Earl

Yeah that was the problem. The system couldn't get below 0.0 on the front back level. As you can see it wasn't that we didn't set the landing gear wrong, it was too much slope to overcome. As you can see in the photo we had the landing gear all the way up and the front of the camper was on the ground. By hooking back up and pulling onto some blocks it lifted the wheels high enough so the landing gear could retract enough to get below level and then go through the rest of the steps.

We were actually fine with leaving it the way it was and tried to just level it out first which is why we had the slides out. The front was only 0.5deg high but there wasn't a way that we could find to manually deploy the other stabilizers.

[JFlightRisk]

Somewhere on the list after #1, is make sure the awning will extend all the way, if you're near trees. I'm not sayin' I had a bonehead moment..... in Pennsylvania..... two years ago.......but pulling forward two inches can sometimes save re-hitching, moving, learning new words, and unhooking.

[EricB]

Originally Posted by JFlightRisk

Somewhere on the list after #1, is make sure the awning will extend all the way, if you're near trees. I'm not sayin' I had a bonehead moment..... in Pennsylvania..... two years ago.......but pulling forward two inches can sometimes save re-hitching, moving, learning new words, and unhooking.

Thanks, I probably never would have thought about this until it actually happened. LOL

Eric

[rockaw]

Stabilizers first, then slides

What I normally do, but with some other stuff.

A) Is the trailer where I want, will slides/awning/TV fit in the site?
B) Level left/right. I might have to pull fwd and back onto ramps for to level it.
C) Drop my wheel chocks and put TV in neutral briefly to see if any movement or let it move onto the chocks, nothing like having the trailer move a bit or so as you disconnect the TV.... (make sure you put the TV back in park). if it does move, I recheck the chocks.
D) Disconnect my TV, check level front to back. I use wood under my jack to prevent a long lift with my jack. usually 4x4s, 4x6s crib stack three high with a 2x6 on top, varies with level. Don't just use them on each other, 2 for bottom row, 2 for the next, so my 3 high is actually 6 pieces of wood spread out a bit for a good platform.
E) Stabilizers down, I don't lower them before because most of the weight for the Jayflight is on the tires and jack and I don't want moving my jack putting all the weight onto my sgtabilizers. stabilizers just stabilize, not lift. (it also cautions not to lift the tires with the stabilizers in one of the manuals)
I also have manual stabilizers....if you do, get a battery powered drill with a bit that fits the stabilizer nut, faster and easier than hand cranking.
F) Slide / Awning out. I've been on some sites it's either slide out or awning. In that case my wife likes the slide out.
G) Power, Water, cable, septic lines. Sometimes power/water earlier to get the A/C going or if the wife has to use the bathroom.

[NorthPoint5r]

Originally Posted by dalebra

Eric,

9 - You should now be level and can extend your slides.

If I missed something I'm sure others will chime in.

Yes you did miss some thing

10 - Pat yourself on the back for not screwing up and remove one cold beer from frig.

[Fishermanbb]

As I am new at this I have spent the last few months scouring forums to learn as much as possible. I have created several checklists to help me avoid SOME of the "$%$#!!" moments by learning from others. I have lists for Hitching,Unhitching, Breakdown Outside, and Breakdown inside to help us as we get used to doing this on land (Boaters all our life).

One thing I do not see here that I added to my list for "Arrival" is to test the utilities before pulling in to the spot to make sure they are working. Then, as mentioned, measuring the spot for length and width (Slide/Awning) clearance, looking for branches in the way (Height), and THEN pulling in.

I see no reason to go through the hassle of getting the trailer in position if the utilities aren't working on the site. Perhaps this is understood but I thought I would mention it.

[BrentB]

Fishermanbb makes a good point. Twice in two years I've gone through most of the setup steps, only to find out that there was a problem with the power pedestal. Each time we had to wait several hours for park personnel to correct the problem before we knew for sure if we would be able to stay in the spot.

[BrentB]

Oh, and based on the previous experiences, I would highly recommend an electrical management system if you don't already have one!
Progressive Industries RV Surge and Electrical Protection industry lea

[Fishermanbb]

My plan is to use a Progressive PT50 at the pole and a Hughes Autoformer between the converter and the camper. Double the protection plus voltage boost when needed.

[Mopar_Earl]

Yes, definitely need surge and voltage protection. I learned the hard way. My trailers power system all got fried on a trip when lighting struck a tree near my power pedestal. Trailer was only a few months old. Insurance covered it but they paid out a few grand to repair it. Since than I use surge and voltage protection. I even put small surge protectors on each plug in item.

It was a hot very humid weekend. No AC, no refrigerator. Had to go get a cooler and ice to keep our food in. AC control board and wall thermostat both fried. The fridge control board fried. Lots of other things were fried, too many to list.

Earl

[Bookemdanno]

Originally Posted by BrentB

Fishermanbb makes a good point. Twice in two years I've gone through most of the setup steps, only to find out that there was a problem with the power pedestal. Each time we had to wait several hours for park personnel to correct the problem before we knew for sure if we would be able to stay in the spot.

When summer camping, after leveling side to side, the next step for me is to plug in with EMS and get the A/C going!

[sennister]

Not only check to see if the power works but also check the location of power, water and sewer in relation to where those connections are on your camper and how long your power cord and hoses are as this may dictate where you position your camper. It may mean having to decide what is more important (maybe awning or power), a run to town to get extensions or request a new site if available.

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