Comments on: Hydraulic or Air Leveling?

By: cadillac air suspension parts

cadillac air suspension parts — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 01:45:45 +0000

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By: Lug_Nut

Lug_Nut — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:51:05 +0000

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.

By: deanne

deanne — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:59:49 +0000

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

By: billk

billk — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:11:10 +0000

One more Pro for Hyd Level is you can change a tire with them. At least with my HWH on an Allegro Bus 42.

By: Lug_Nut

Lug_Nut — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 12:13:15 +0000

Ron, The distinction between the products has been made. Hopefully it will be understood as it was intended. Thank you for your input.

By: Ron

Ron — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 06:22:41 +0000

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.

By: Lug_Nut

Lug_Nut — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:50:20 +0000

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.

By: Ron

Ron — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:46:04 +0000

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.

By: Lug_Nut

Lug_Nut — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:40:39 +0000

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

By: Sherol

Sherol — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:17:16 +0000

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