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Old 08-07-2012, 02:03 PM   #1
scott
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Leveling While Hitched?

A couple of weeks ago we were on the road, it was somewhat late, and we decided to stop for the night. It was hot, so we decided we wanted electrical hookups so we could run the AC. So we found an RV park nearby and fortunately they had a space. When we got to the spot, I found that it was somewhat unlevel, nose down.

I had not planned on unhitching, since we were leaving again fairly early the next day. Since I’ve heard you shouldn’t put the slide-outs out when the rig is unlevel, I leveled side to side, and then started putting the landing gear down to level the unit front to back. Since it was nose down I had to run it for a while, when it occurred to me that I may be lifting the truck up by the kingpin as I was lifting the nose of the Monty up. Not knowing if this could damage the rig; I unhitched and leveled as I usually do.

But this raised a question that I just had to ask you experts out there. Would it hurt the rig to lift the truck up by the kingpin with the landing gear to level it hitched? Intuitively this doesn’t seem to me to be a good idea, but maybe the frame and hitch can handle it? I don’t know. What do you all think?

Thanks in advance,
Scott
 
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Old 08-07-2012, 02:59 PM   #2
H. John Kohl
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I will lift the nose to the position of unhooking. If I had to go higher I would pull the latch and just raise in place with out the truck hitched. This would cause a pin high hooking up situation so be very careful hooking back up.

I too feel it is not smart to try and raise the truck. You are putting force on a pin that is designed for down ward pressure not lifting.

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Old 08-07-2012, 03:15 PM   #3
c214dick
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x2 what John said
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Old 08-07-2012, 03:43 PM   #4
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X3 what John said, plus, my truck weighs around 21/2 tons. How much of that you would be lifting is a good question, but my guess would be that the landing gear and motor aren't made to lift a whole lot more than the weight of the front end of the Monty.
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Old 08-07-2012, 03:49 PM   #5
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Scott if you only need to come up a few inch's you could drive the truck up on blocks. Other wise I would also unlock the pin and watch closely when hooking back up.
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Old 08-07-2012, 04:13 PM   #6
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I was in this very situation in a state park in Maryland in June. I did raise the pin as much as I could, just watching to see that I was not raising the truck. I did get enough "lift" that we could spend the night--not fully level, but enough. Certainly took all the weight off the truck and that meant several inches of difference.
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Old 08-07-2012, 04:52 PM   #7
tbhd2
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If you have one of the single jaw self closing hitches, like a Reese Signature or Pull-Rite you can't raise the kingpin out or drop it back into the hitch. It will damage the "trigger" that closes the jaw
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Old 08-07-2012, 05:39 PM   #8
scott
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Good point tbhd2, I have the pull-rite super glide with a single jaw.

Thanks,
Scott
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Old 08-08-2012, 04:04 AM   #9
Lee F.
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I just put boards under the rear wheels of the truck to raise the front end of the 5er. I've raised it up to 6" with boards and then picked up another inch or so by using the landing gear to take the weight off the truck.
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Old 08-08-2012, 06:30 AM   #10
scott
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Thanks for all the advice everyone. In the future, I think I’ll use the blocks under the truck wheels like Drifty1 and Lee F suggested.
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Old 08-08-2012, 08:14 AM   #11
richfaa
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On a overnight stays we normally do not unhitch.On those very few occasions were we to far nose down we just open the hitch and raise the camper stright up till we are level then all we have to do is bring it stright back down and we are hitched.It is not a big deal and does not happen very often..
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Old 08-08-2012, 09:16 AM   #12
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As a rule of thumb if I am dropping the front landing gear I will open the jaws on the hitch. Also keep in mind if you have Level-Up you will have to unhitch and pull the truck forward if you are using the auto-level since the auto-level will drop the pin first to make sure the truck is still not under the pin.
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Old 08-08-2012, 09:53 AM   #13
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Just open the jaws and raise the rig. In the morning, just lower the rig, right back into the hitch, so long as you do not move the truck.
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Old 08-08-2012, 12:55 PM   #14
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Same here never raise the 5er whit the jaws closed.
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Old 08-08-2012, 02:31 PM   #15
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I know it goes without saying, however, I will say it anyway: Be sure to RELOCK the hitch after you lower the trailer back onto the hitch.....
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Old 08-10-2012, 08:42 PM   #16
Artemus Gordon
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I was on a slight down hill slope in front of my house. I put the landing gear down just to support the rig while parked and unpacking. When I went to retract front landing gear, my 6 pt leveling system would not allow me to bring front gear up. Controler said it was too low! Did not have back gear down only front. Note never moved anything just put gear to ground. I ended up having to put 25 lbs more air in truck airbags to lift truck and bring landing gear off the ground. Then the system let me raise gear! Without air bags I would have had to jack up the truck. Therefore I don't leave Fiver hooked up when I park it or put gear down. Read that it's a safety feature. I am concerned that it could happen again so I keep rig level and only deploy gear, when truck is going to be pulled away!
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