When to extend slides on a Class A Newmar

[Jim]

I’m pretty much in agreement with @Neal as I, too, can level with air or hydraulic. That being said, I don’t think I have ever tried to level with one end 10” higher or lower than the other. Think I would find another spot. I ALWAYS check the reveal no matter what but have never found the slide to be way out of line prior to leveling.

That was 10 degrees, not 10 inches.

 

[thirdtimesacharm]

We full time working in campground across the USA and I have observed it done both ways. Me personally think that if the coach is level there is less strain on the slides especially on a full wall slide.

 

[Jim]

How hard would it be to glue a level to the side of your RV like I did?

Can I just nail it on instead?

 

[team bradfield]

Bought my first RV with slides in 2001, always have leveled first, but what do I know?

 

[J&JD]

That was 10 degrees, not 10 inches.

My bad. Can I blame “old eyes”?

 

[DennisT]

Quick question, Dennis. What if the front (or rear) of the coach is 10* lower than the apposing end?

I think @Neal covered the gaps I left in the information with regard to the frame twist and checking the reveal.

 

[Boat Bum]

My bad. Can I blame “old eyes”?

Blame it on the asterisk, he should have used degree, i.e. 10° (screwin' with you Jim)

RE: "What if the front (or rear) of the coach is 10* lower than the apposing end?"

 

[Boat Bum]

We need to be very careful here as there seems to be polar opposite rules for diesel/air ride vs gas. In the end do what the manufacturer suggests.

 

[DKRITTER]

This our first RV with a Full Wall Slide and we now pull into a park, position our DS where we want it. Get out and hookup all of the utilities then put the slides out and lastly we level the coach.
When the coach is on the air bags there is very little stress on the frame and the slides move with the frame. When you level you easily could be twisting the frame and bring the slides out of alignment.
When we leave we start the motor to fill the airbags and raise the jacks. When the airbags release we bring in the slides and store the utilities. i.e. reverse order

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

I am really curious about this frame twisting theory.
Here is what I am hearing
1) there is no frame twisting when the frame is supported by the axles/wheels/airbags, this is the expected static state that was used when the slides were installed and adjusted.
2) the leveling jacks can cause the frame to twist or distort
Where are the leveling jacks located on the frame in relationship to the axles?
We don’t have a Newmar but a SuperC on a class 8 Freightliner chassis. Our rear jacks are located immediately behind the rear twin screw axles and the front jacks are located a couple feet behind the front axle.
Just wanting to understand the physics involved in regards to the fulcrum point moving when on axles vs jacks on the Newmar Class A coaches. Are jacks positioned differently on Spartan chassis vs FCCC chassis?

 

[Neal]

I think much of this comes from the days before the Star Foundation Newmar went to. Doesn't hurt to be safe but I'll say in 7 years I never saw any change in my reveal (gap).

 

[bpaikman]

Are the jacks attached to the floor (chassis) or the house (box)?, and are the slides attached to the floor (chassis) or the house (box)?

 

[bpaikman]

we had a Winnebago before this Newmar, and there was a button on the leveling panel for letting the air out (can't recall how it was labeled. I'd push that button and hear a distinct wwhooooooosh as the air let out of the bags and I'd feel the coach go down. Then I'd level and then put out the slides I think. We tried it both ways and we never had any trouble. (But we try to get a level site).
The Newmar doesn't have this button and I don't know when the air lets out of the bags but somewhere along the way, in this forum, haha, I got the instructions to put the jacks down first and then slides. I even made a sticker to put on the dash to remind me (pardon the dust - we're in the dusty mountains). you have to touch the photo to see my checklist. I also have the height posted to remind us.

 

[DKRITTER]

Are the jacks attached to the floor (chassis) or the house (box)?, and are the slides attached to the floor (chassis) or the house (box)?

On our Newmar DS the jacks are attached to the frame.

 

[osuallen]

For Newmar, the correct sequence is Park - Slides - Jacks. Opposite for packing up. HOWEVER, if the MH is on a terrible site, the slide reveals may not be good on air. If so, try to adjust the MH position on the site to get the reveals in a suitable position. If this does not improve the situation adequately, then try jacks then slides. These are in order of probable success - Slides first>Reposition>Jacks first. If none of those yields a suitable reveal situation, then move sites, or do not extend the full wall slide. Although it can happen with the smaller slides, the typical culprit is the full wall slide.

The philosophy on this is that on air, there is a lower likelihood of twisting the frame (and therefore the body). Sometimes it does still twist and either a different position or the jacks may counteract that. Sometimes, jacks make it even worse.

Some oldtimers will argue that it is Jacks then slides and that was the case up until the full wall hydraulic slide around 2016. The new hydraulic slide and the new STAR foundation created a whole new way of how the various parts interacted and Newmar had to revise their thinking and their previous set up/take down procedure. If I recall correctly, the tech bulletin retroactively changed the process for earlier models.