Hydraulic or Air Leveling?
There are three popular automatic coach leveling devices found on diesel pusher type coaches, hydraulic, electric and air. Today, though, we will look at only the hydraulic and air systems. Some motor coaches come equipped with air level only or hydraulic only. Others have both as standard or as an available option. We will look at HWH’s hyraulic automatic level and Hadley Air offerings only. Here is how each operates.
The HWH hydraulic automatic leveling system can be manually or fully automatically employed. The keypad allows manual chassis air down activation and manual extension or retraction of the jack rams. The jacks are controlled in four pair choices, both front, both rear, both right side or both left side. Additionally, all can be unloaded and retracted simultaneously at the touch of one button.
To operate automatically, press the “on” button twice. This will cause the red acquisition light on the keypad to start flashing. The coach will first air down, followed briefly by the automatic deployment of the first jack pair. In turn, the other jack pair will lower and adjust. The system will now quickly level the coach and will automatically shut the system down.
The Hadley Automatic Air leveling can not be manually employed. It levels only in the automatic mode. To properly level the coach requires the engine to be operating so that sufficient compressed air can be used as needed. Pressing the “SLS” button followed immediately by the “Set” button will cause the system to initiate the automatic leveling sequence. During this, the forward to back and side to side light indicators will flash orange until they are level, at which time they will turn green and stop flashing. Should the ground be such that the system is unable to complete leveling as the angle is out of range, the light indicator(s) will stop flashing but remain orange. The “Up” and “Down” arrow buttons are not used in the leveling feature. They are used to temporarily adjust the height of the rear or entire coach at or below a speed of 8 MPH or so. This function is not, however, part of our comparison, as generally this is not found on all similar air leveling systems.If you could have either, which would you choose? For comparison purposes, let’s look at the pro’s and con’s of each. We will use HWH hydraulic and Hadley Air as the selected subjects.
Hydraulic (HWH Automatic)
Pro
- Relatively fast set up.
- Solid base with no swaying in wind or walking around within the coach.
- Automatically lowers coach via air prior to hydraulic extension.
- Can be manually operated.
Con
- Can damage asphalt surfaces.
- Can cause rust stains on pad surfaces.
- Can freeze to the ground in cold weather, making it very difficult to spring retract.
Air (Hadley S.A.M. Air level)
Pro
- Leveling friendly to all asphalt or pad surfaces.
- Can operate without issue in freezing temperatures.
Con
- Requires the engine to run during set up (about 2 minutes).
- Coach is not solidly based and is subject to rocking and swaying on occasion.
- May need to recharge air system during extended stays.
- Can not be manually leveled .
My coach happens to be equipped with both HWH and Hadley leveling. I find I use air leveling only for those one night stops, that is, providing we don’t have to use the washer or dryer. The use of the laundry machines, with a slight off center load, can cause substantially more coach dancing than on solid jacks. For destination camping, or extended stays, I always select the hydraulic system. So, if I could only have one, which would it be? Hands down, it would be the hydraulic. In my last coach I had only hydraulic. For those one night stands I merely aired right down to the stops. That worked well, no complaints. But, folks with different camping needs or vastly different environments, may well prefer the air only feature. So, I guess there is no real right answer here. It’s really up to each owner or purchaser to choose which may be best to suit their needs.
Still On The Straight And Level Lug_Nut
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Very informative. Great to hear info from someone that has both systems. I have the older HWH without auto air-down. Not sure I’d want that. Just something else to go wrong. I think I can hit a couple of switches and air down my tag first and the rest second. Sure do like the stability of HWH. Even in my Wanderlodge they keep this heavy beast rock solid. Thanks again for the article.
Our hydralic leveling system panel burned out (possibly a power surge) and we have been unsuccessful in getting it replaced. It was manufactured by IDS systems. Our motor home is a 2001 Beaver Patriot and Monaco Coaches cannot find one and I called the manufacturer and they no longer make or repair them. Does anyone have any ideas? We really miss leveling our coach.
Sherol and Roger
Sherol and Roger, Perhaps you should contact HWH as they may have experienced other users of the IDS system and were able to supply something suitable. Their phone number is 800 321-3494, they are located in Moscoe, Iowa at exit 267 off I80.
Hopefully they can help. They are a great company to deal with.
Peter
This article is rather narrow in scope since it only describes one older model of air leveling. One of the most popular air leveling systems is made by HWH.
Addressing the OP’s “CONS” for air leveling:
1. Engine must be running.
Not true. Most of the HWH air leveling systems have their own auxilary air compressor allowing the coach to be leveled without the engine running. More importantly, the HWH system continuously monitors how level the coach is and will make continuous adjustments as needed such as if the coach is parked on sand and the sand shifts. Lastly, if you do level with the engine running the coach will level about twice as fast as with the on-board compressor and several times faster than a HWH automatic hydraulic leveling system.
2. Coach is not solidly based.
Partially true. While not as solid as ram type hydraulic levelers, air leveling systems are EXTREMELY stable. Air leveling is typically only installed on higher end larger coaches and the system makes the air bags VERY stiff. We cannot tell the difference in stability between our air leveled 36′ 32000 pound Country Coach and our hydraulic leveled 18000 pound Fleetwood Flair Class A.
3. May need to recharge air system.
Not true. I’ve yet to see an HWH air leveling system that did not have it’s own compressor. Recharges itself automatically as needed. On our Country Coach we’ve never heard it run even once after it was initially leveled. If it does, you have a leak that needs to be fixed. Hydraulic systems are also subject to leaks.
4. Cannot be manually leveled.
Not ture. The HWH air leveling system allows automatic as well as manual leveling.
Having owned both types of systems the biggest downside we’ve found on hydraulic systems is that it does not control each jack/ram individually but rather only two at a time (one side at a time). This makes it very difficult to get a good level. On the other hand, the HWH air leveling system allows control of each corner independently and auto leveling happens very quickly and is perfectly level every time. The second issue (as the OP states) is that the rams often sink into the surface.
The biggest downside we’ve found on air systems is they can be a tad “bouncier” but this is largely offset by the larger coach size. As pointed out above, our 32000 pound coach does not bounce any more with air leveling than our 18000 pound coach does with hydraulic levelers. I would not install an air leveling system on a coach less than 25000 pounds.
I think it’s important to fully research topics before listing generalized “pros” and “cons” such as this because wrong information can steer people the wrong way and needlessly cost them money. This blog would be better titled “HWH Hydraulic levelers vs. Hadley Air Levelers”. It does not represent the HWH Air Leveling system at all and in fact is totall wrong in that regard.
Ron, Thank you for your comments. There are other makes in both hydraulic and air level products apart from those I covered. I choose HWH hydraulic and Hadley Air for the article and comparison. The Hadley Air I describe is the SAM type, which is certainly not an old product, in fact is used on the higher end rigs. There are other products and methods out there, which I point out at the outset and clearly name the brand of each to be discussed.
Thanks again for your participation in our comment section.
Lug Nut,
Your article would not be incorrect if it were titled “HWH Hydraulic vs Hadley Air Levelers”. Contrary to your statement about high end coaches using Hadley. I’d be hard pressed to find a hi-line coach that uses that brand let alone one so limited it does not allow manual leveling. Monoco, Country Coach, and many others all use the HWH system. Unless you re-title your article or re-write it to include other brands/models of air levelers your article is misleading. Perhaps it was purposely biased, I don’t know but it doesn’t give people an accurate view of “Hydraulic vs Air Levelers” as the title may suggest. Not trying to be confrontational here but these blogs can be dangerous because they get represented as fact when, in fact, many are not accurate and someone must point out the errors lest the unsuspecting public is mislead into making costly and sometimes dangerous choices. Thanks for writing your blogs but this one misses the mark and I think you should change it.
Ron, The distinction between the products has been made. Hopefully it will be understood as it was intended. Thank you for your input.
One more Pro for Hyd Level is you can change a tire with them. At least with my HWH on an Allegro Bus 42.
I have a rexhall 36 ft. super slide air bus 1995, I have just gone through a break up, my ex has made sure he still (thinks) he has control over me, although his sabotuge has been causing me grief, I LOVE my HWH ,but unfourtunatly when I left my home, & got my rigg to a spot, one of my many problems, that has been un solved, my jacks will not do anything ??? NEVER had a problem before. I have had a friend and fellow RV’er take a look. I was never “allowed” to do any of these things before… does any one have any advise ? The fuses check out fine, nothing “seems” to be wrong ?? After reading the blogs I am un sure ,do I need to have the rigg running ? I can’t remember how it was done in the past. The friend that is helping me now is a “handy man” can do anything, he’s “stumpped” too.
I have no manuel as when I purchased this rigg the guy “ripped me off” I have several thousand $ in it, so strapped for money, & with all the little “things” that have all of a sudden gone wrong or went missing, I’m pretty tapped out.
PLEASE help, I don’t mind getting “dirty” I like work, I just need to know how.
Thank you to you and the fellow RV ers on my “adventure” with all the advise and help.. I will always “pay it forward”.
Also to the people unsure on the HWH I would say yes to them , they were always great for me, hopefully I can figure out my problem, I know it’s not the jacks, something had to have been done to them, they were working fine. Advise on my jacks ??? Thanxs
Well, of course it could be many things, but one of the more common issues that render the jacks unusable is poor, or no, ground. This is due to the fact that many coach builders do not install a ground strap from the frame to the motor assembly. Instead they rely on the mounting bolts to take care of the ground supply. This is not really good as the bolts loosen over time and soon, no ground. To determine if this is your problem, use a set of jumper cables to connect the motor housing to a good ground location on the frame and try it. Failing that, I would advise you contact HWH in Moscoe Iowa. They are great people that are a tremendous help in their onging support. Best of luck.
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