Auto-leveling inactive

[Falcon]

I tried to use auto level on an incline upwards toward the front of the unit. The first thing was the front Jacks retracted all the way and then the process stopped. After that auto level would not work none of the Jacks will move in manual mode the unit is stuck on the ground. Help

[Mikendebbie]

I am no expert - but first question is have you replaced the OEM auto-resetting 50 amp circuit breaker with 80 amp circuit breaker? Do a forum search for “80 amp circuit breaker”...lots of threads and easy job to swap out for $35 or so.

[FloridaFiver]

I am not an expert either, but the first action in the auto level system sequence is an attempt to lower the nose of a he trailer some a nose low attitude of the camper before before the system levels out the camper

On a site where the ground slopes down and away from the nose of your camper is is not always possible for the system get the nose low enough before the cylinders reach full retract. This puts the be auto level system into error and it just stops attempting to level out the camper


When this is the case I put the system control into manual mode and level the camper using the controls in manual mode


Hope this helps

[shorthauler]

If the front of the rig won’t come down far enough the leveling system will not work. This is an issue L.C.I. Needs to address. The display should tell the operator that the front is too high for the leveling system to work. If you can’t do anything in manual mode there is a good chance you might have toasted the motor. The motors are small and can overheat if you try too many times, I know from experience.

Ralph + Nadine
2020 3120 Legacy

[Falcon]

Update: The thermal breaker was thrown, reset that and the hydraulics work. Still can't level because of the slope but it frustrating that the rear jacks will not move in manual mode. They will not operate no way no how.

[shorthauler]

Do the slide outs still work?

[dhuhn]

you might want to try rebooting your control panel. just get behind it and unplug for 30 sec and plug in. see if this fixes your problem.

[gjennings]

This happened to me just last month and my hydraulic pump ended up burning up so be very careful. And you all are right LCI should change the display to read front to high or something like that as the only message I got was front jacks grounding so I was thinking I had a grounding issue not level issue.

[jeffba]

Need t raise the wheels when that happens. one or more 2x8s on both sides

[Rondo]

Pat-- I have to side with dhuhn and unplug the power to the unit in the back of it for 30 seconds to a full minute and let it reset itself when you plug it back in. Also you don't say just how much of a rise you have on the slope. If there is to much rise the front jacks cannot retract far enough to activate the self-leveling process. Can you raise the front level-ups now that you have reset the thermal breaker? If you cannot get this to work, my suggestion is to call Lippert (LCI) Customer Service and talk to them. They have one of the best Customer Service sections I've ever worked with. It may be a problem this weekend since it is a Holiday weekend but give them a call to see if they have anyone on the Service desk this weekend. If not, come Monday if you are still having the problem, call them. I had a problem just after we got our latest Monte and I called them and they walked me through a total diagnostic over the phone and we got it working after about an hour of diagnostics. Great Customer Service Department.

[Falcon]

Rondo: I don't know the exact slope but it's too much for the auto-level. I dont know why the breaker tripped, I didn't run it like crazy and etoverload it. I punched auto-level once, it dropped to the ground and it was done. When reset, the slides and jacks worked, except for the rear jacks, they wouldn't work in manual at all.

[ChuckS]

Your issue with rear leveler jacks not coming down is easy to TS.. there are 3 solenoids that control fluid..one on 1 front leg cylinder and then ONE for the mid and rear left side and ONE for mid and rear right side...

The odds of both solenoids being bad is not likely. I’d locate control module in front cargo compartment and disconnect the single RED wire that is plugged into it...this provides power to front and rear sensor as well as control panel

Wait a minute and then reconnect removed red power wire...on Lippert level up panel go into manual mode and now try either left or right side levelers in manual mode...they should work

The mid and rear levelers on each side operate in tandem via shared hyd lines...

[richfaa]

My guess is that because of the slope of the incline the system can not determine that the front is higher than the back which it has to be to level correctly.

[beeje]

I corrected this issue years ago. Don't use the auto level feature. I can manually level it faster and lower by the manual setting.

[mhs4771]

To be quite honest, the Lippert Software for the Level needs to be refined/tweaked.
During Auto Level the ODS (Driver's Side) jacks go down first and raise the unit slightly, EVEN if that side is already higher than the opposite side. As a result when the DS (Passenger Side) jacks go down they must lift that side to match the opposite.
If you use the manual function, if you're smart and you must be to be on this site, you would start with the lowest side first.
I think enough work was put into the software to get it half-*ss working and quit.

[DutchmenSport]

I learned the hard way too about slopes in my 41.5 foot long behemoth. The first time the front was sloped downhill and the jacks would not raise high enough to level and then the auto level errored out, I knew there had to be a another way. Not on that trip, but I knew what I needed.

Then shortly there after, we were in Kentucky and the front was sloped upward, which means the front jacks had to lower to get level. Again, the slope was too much and the jacks couldn't go down far enough.

My previous travel trailer was 35.5 feet long and the stablizer jacks were at each end of the trailer. Sometimes that meant lots of lumber to build a foundation the jacks could even reach when the camper was level. But to get level, if nose low (down hill slope in front) meant putting lumber under the tongue jack as high as possible, then crank the tongue jack as high as it would go. Still not high enough? Block up the A-frame in this position. Lower the tongue jack (retract, and now you can put more lumber under the tongue jack and crank upward even higher until the trailer was level. (we've been in some real challenging camp sites).

Well, with the 5er, if the front is sloped down hill, the landing gear might not extend far enough. There's only about 6 inches clearance between the bottom of the landing gear and the ground when hitched. The most you can drop the extensions is about 6 inches. And that may not be enough to raise the front high enough to get a level front to back. LCI will stroke out before the front is high enough. What to do?

I purchased a set of jack stands that will fit under the frame when the landing gear is extended. Not all the way to stroke out though. So, I can raise the front, put the jacks under the frame (both sides), retract the jacks, and put more lumber, or extend the manual slide extensions farther, then raise the front more and can remove the floor jacks. Desperate times call for desperate measures. And yes, i did this only once in the last 20 months of owning this Montana.

When the opposite is true, the slope is upward in the front and the front won't lower enough to be level, the option available is to stack lumber under the tires, making the entire camper higher, allowing the front landing gear to lower the front to level.

I had to play around with the extreme angles (as if on a slope) in my driveway to figure how much of a slope I can get away with, without additional aid (floor jacks, lumber under the tires).

But one thing is certain, with my history of ending up in very unlevel sites, I always carry the lumber and the jacks with us. Because we never get the same campsite twice, even in the same State Park, .... you just never know what the slope really is, until you get there.

I also now, always try to level the 5er as much as possible manually by placing lumber under the tires (left to right), and manually raise or lower the front as much as possible to level .... BEFORE hitting the auto level button. if the trailer is slopped to much, side-to-side, or front-to-back, LCI auto level will simply not work. I've continued to draw upon my experience with my previous travel trailers and manually level as much as possible. It's really the only way, as LCI won't auto level if the trailer is on too much tilt.

[Ram Montana High Country]

Originally Posted by DutchmenSport

I learned the hard way too about slopes in my 41.5 foot long behemoth. The first time the front was sloped downhill and the jacks would not raise high enough to level and then the auto level errored out, I knew there had to be a another way. Not on that trip, but I knew what I needed.

Then shortly there after, we were in Kentucky and the front was sloped upward, which means the front jacks had to lower to get level. Again, the slope was too much and the jacks couldn't go down far enough.

My previous travel trailer was 35.5 feet long and the stablizer jacks were at each end of the trailer. Sometimes that meant lots of lumber to build a foundation the jacks could even reach when the camper was level. But to get level, if nose low (down hill slope in front) meant putting lumber under the tongue jack as high as possible, then crank the tongue jack as high as it would go. Still not high enough? Block up the A-frame in this position. Lower the tongue jack (retract, and now you can put more lumber under the tongue jack and crank upward even higher until the trailer was level. (we've been in some real challenging camp sites).

Well, with the 5er, if the front is sloped down hill, the landing gear might not extend far enough. There's only about 6 inches clearance between the bottom of the landing gear and the ground when hitched. The most you can drop the extensions is about 6 inches. And that may not be enough to raise the front high enough to get a level front to back. LCI will stroke out before the front is high enough. What to do?

I purchased a set of jack stands that will fit under the frame when the landing gear is extended. Not all the way to stroke out though. So, I can raise the front, put the jacks under the frame (both sides), retract the jacks, and put more lumber, or extend the manual slide extensions farther, then raise the front more and can remove the floor jacks. Desperate times call for desperate measures. And yes, i did this only once in the last 20 months of owning this Montana.

When the opposite is true, the slope is upward in the front and the front won't lower enough to be level, the option available is to stack lumber under the tires, making the entire camper higher, allowing the front landing gear to lower the front to level.

I had to play around with the extreme angles (as if on a slope) in my driveway to figure how much of a slope I can get away with, without additional aid (floor jacks, lumber under the tires).

But one thing is certain, with my history of ending up in very unlevel sites, I always carry the lumber and the jacks with us. Because we never get the same campsite twice, even in the same State Park, .... you just never know what the slope really is, until you get there.

I also now, always try to level the 5er as much as possible manually by placing lumber under the tires (left to right), and manually raise or lower the front as much as possible to level .... BEFORE hitting the auto level button. if the trailer is slopped to much, side-to-side, or front-to-back, LCI auto level will simply not work. I've continued to draw upon my experience with my previous travel trailers and manually level as much as possible. It's really the only way, as LCI won't auto level if the trailer is on too much tilt.

Amen on LCI can't handle it - MHC hate unlevel worse

[Falcon]

Everyone has been helpful with this issue here. I have learned a lot since my original post. Disgusted that I had to "fool" the software into thinking it was in a different position than it actually was. I took another person's advice here and called the friendly customer service rep at Lippert. He was defensive from the word hello. You could just tell he has been beat to death with this subject for a long time. He said it dips the front gear initially, searching for level. If this were true, it would stop at level. I've had it drop six inches past whatever it thinks is level, only to immediately go right back up the same 6 inches to level out. It is actually looking for some top secret figure below level that none of us are allowed to know. Then he tells me that everyone should know that the auto level only works if you are on level ground. Let that sink in. I asked him if he had actually heard the words he just let out. What added a super frustrating factor to my experience was that nothing would work in manual mode. I was mad enough to chew nails. No idea why that happened, just one time, manual mode works fine now. Two nights ago, I manually leveled it in under a minute while leaving it hooked to the truck. Fantastic experience. The next morning I just pulled in the slides, hit auto retract and hit the road. Last night, I was nose low. I piled some blocks under the front Jack's and hit auto level, worked just fine. I simply needed to learn the quirks and specifics about the jacks and now feel I have a good handle on the situation. Until the next surprise.

[Theunz]

I have just resigned myself to the fact that the auto-level is like my wife... absolutely wonderful 90* of the time and stubborn as a mule the other 10*