Broken Leveling Jacks… 

Our leveling jacks are not working. The system has lost its little bitty mind! 

We have the Lippert Components Level Up 6 Point Automatic Hydraulic Leveling System on our 2015 Grand Design Momentum 385TH. Basically you are supposed to be able to push a button and the camper will level itself. This used to work just fine. 

Recently we’ve been hearing a popping sound and it feels like the front jacks are slipping. We opened the manual and started to diagnose the problem. We checked the hydraulic fluid level. We checked that all the knobs and Allen screws were closed where they were supposed to be closed. Some were open so we closed those. Then we tried to hit the automatic level button. 

The jacks lifted the passenger side of the camper all the way off the ground! I could literally spin all three tires! So we canceled that. Then Allen went through the process of overriding the system to manually level the camper. You have to push a button ten times and then it lets you move the jacks separately however you want. Or, it’s supposed to.

When we try to retract the rear jacks, the front ones come up. When we try to extend the front, all of them extend. If we try to retract or extend the left side, all of them react. The whole thing is wonky and it’s not making any sense! 

Has anyone ever had any issues like this?? It’s so frustrating and now we are living in a camper where doors shut by themselves because we can’t get the thing level! 

The closest Grand Design dealer is 2hrs away in Sacramento. And with Allen working, that makes it a little tough to get over there. 

Grrrr….. 

UPDATE: We got the problem fixed on our own, with phone help from Lippert! Here’s what happened. 

A Little Camper Fixing

It’s kind of nice that Allen has been getting Saturdays off work. That doesn’t happen too often. But it gives us a chance to do more things… So this Saturday we fixed the ladder on the camper and lowered the top bunk in the garage to give us me more storage space. Continue reading

Leaks are the WORST!

Especially in campers. But, you pay a price for living the RV lifestyle… 

Our old camper (2010 Forest River Wildwood) ALWAYS leaked under the bathroom sink where the water first came in. Every time the weather would change, the hoses would shrink and we’d have another puddle. We decided not to get another Forest River. 

We went with Grand Design because we thought it was the highest quality product on the market. Well, it still has the same crappy water hoses with poorly designed hose clamps. 

We noticed a puddle under the camper and started to investigate. Once we got into the big cubby, we found a puddle. We took two walls out that were blocking the water hoses and hot water heater and found the drippy source.  

    
 The hot water hose was leaking. The hose clamps they had on there couldn’t be removed or tightened so we had to cut it off the fitting.  

    
 Then we went to Lowe’s and got some better hose clamps. We thought we had some but we must’ve used them all on the old camper.  

 Allen let me fix it all by myself! It wasn’t hard, just obnoxious… Hopefully it’s fixed for good!  

 I’m glad we caught it when we did, otherwise everything in the cubby would’ve been soaked!