Just wondering why (via the red sticker by the leveling switches) that I'm suppose to put the slide out before leveling the coach? My better judgement says to level the coach first, then put the silde out! I must admit, I've been breaking the rules and leveling first, then sliding out!! Can someone s-plain why??

In a nut shell when you level the coach there is usually some body torquing that occurs which can create problems with the slides. Our owners manual states it's very important to level after the slides are run out.  Also just the act of running out the slides, will change the level of the coach, but the primary reason is to prevent slide trouble. We always go back to travel mode before running them in also. That is my understanding on this subject anyway.

Randy,
Larry is right about the fact that the act of leveling the coach can torque or twist the coach enough to cause damage when extending the slides if they are not extended before leveling. The subject was discussed in a recent thread. http://forum.bacrallies.com/m-1312849050/

Gerald

I hate to admit it, but even though i run the slides out, then level, I never go to "travel" mode then run them in. I guess I should.

Yes, you should Robert as the coach frame would still be torqued, plus you ALWAYS want the coach to be at full ride height before bring in the slides.

Prior to Monaco having problems, I called Tech Support to ask and confirm (in accordance to the manual) the way to operate the slides.  He said that the coach is put together with full air bags.

He said:

To Level:

Slides out
Dump Air
Level

To get going:

Air up
Bring up jacks
Bring in Slides

Have not had any problems.

When you are in Travel Mode the air bags have the coach body square with the frame, and there is no twist in the body at that point, even if you are leaning one way or another due to unlevel ground.  That means the slide out rooms are also square all-around with their openings in the body.  That is the time to put them out or take them in - when you are in Travel Mode.

If you level the coach on uneven ground, then by definition the leveling action has to twist the body in one way or another.  Moving a square slide through a body opening that isn't square ain't a good idea, and something's gonna get strained needlessly.  And as Larry said, if you get leveled up and then put out slides, the weight of the extended slides will torque the body and throw off your nice neat level.  So you have two very good reasons to burn into your mind the old Monaco adage, "Slides out first and in last".

My wife remembers it better than I do, and catches me on the rare occasion I try to level while I'm still in the driver's seat after parking - an easy thing to do!    So get your co-pilot to memorize the adage too.

-Joel

Good explanation Joel, well said

Thanks everybody..........guess I'd better re-train myself and pay attention to those RED stickers with important instructions

You can still torque the chassis after the slides are out by dumping the air and leveling if your not careful.

Butch

Quoted from Butch Martin

You can still torque the chassis after the slides are out by dumping the air and leveling if your not careful.

That's basically the issue I reported in my recent post.  Is air dumping really necessary? There are always creaks and groans as the chassis drops down; I'm sure those are indicative of the torquing.

Actually, if the spot your on is not flat when you dump the air, you can still torque the chassis when the suspension bottoms.  My coach has the manual hydraulic leveling system with a single leg in front and one behind each rear wheel.  If you allow the front of the coach to pivot on the front leg, the chance of torquing the chassis is minimized.  Unless I know the spot is perfectly flat, or I need the extra leveling capacity, I don't dump my airbags.

Butch

I still contend the owner's manual is only written for the standard hydraulic leveling system and not the optional air leveling system.  If you have the optional air leveling system, I still contend the best method is to level before sliding the slides out, and to make sure the coach is still level before sliding them in.

I didn't realize that in travel mode the frame could not be in a flexed position.  I thought the travel mode was supposed to attempt to keep the body vertical side to side, not front to back.  If true, the chassis could be in a flexed position.

Gil
08 Contessa

Gil,
When the coach is in travel mode, it tries to maintain the proper carrying or standing height (the distance between the axle and the frame) and that has nothing to do with whether or not it is level from side to side or front to rear. If the road surface that the coach is on is sloped 6 degrees, the coach will be 6 degrees off level when it is traveling on that surface.

There is no difference between the time that the slides should be extended and retracted with hydraulic leveling or air leveling. Hydraulic leveling is more rigid than air leveling and because of that it has a strong tendency to torque the coach more than air leveling will. However air leveling will still torque the coach. My coach has both air and hydraulic leveling, and on occasion when air leveled (that I use almost exclusively), my coach will torque so much that if the living room slide were to be retracted without airing-up to travel mode the rear cabinets would scrape the wall and cause considerable damage.

Gerald  

As I stated earlier we have air only leveling and the coach has still torqued the coach enough that I have had trouble opening the storage compartment doors on occasion. As soon as I go back to travel mode they open/close without any trouble. Just confirming what Gerald said.