LCI Auto Level issue SOLVED - Dutchmen Owners
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Old 10-22-2015, 05:29 PM   #1
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Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: La Center
Posts: 79
Washington
LCI Auto Level issue SOLVED

I posted a reply to my original thread on this, but also wanted to post it here in the general discussion section for more exposure in case it ends up helping someone out.

Background / Issue:

I have an LCI Auto-Level feature on my trailer that kept lifting the axles/tires off the ground when Auto-Leveling the unit. I ended up just manually leveling it constantly since it would do this, and it pissed me off that this "feature" wasn't working correctly. I did a bunch of research on the forums, read through documentation, spoke to dealerships, and even talked to a couple different reps at Lippert with no solution.


Solution:

After speaking with another camper this summer who owned the exact same unit as we do, and explaining our frustration with this issue, he laughed and told me he had been through the same thing, and found a solution!

Now, the LCI Instruction Manual states the procedure as follows: (NOTE #4)


So I would follow these instructions to the letter, and still get the auto-level system lifting the trailer tires off the ground. This is where the fellow camper shined a little light on the situation, and a DUH! That makes total sense solution came.

Instead of following the instructions and dropping all jack inners to the lowest position as instructed, you are only supposed to drop the jack inners to the 10th hole on the left (passenger side) and 12th hole on the right side (drivers side). (NOTE: the reason 10th hole on left and 12th on the right is because the motors aren't mounted evenly for whatever reason, and the right motor is slightly higher so requires two additional holes to be exposed to be at the same length as the left). This allows for the electric motors to extend down a ways before touching the ground (vs only slightly when you extend the inners to their lowest position as instructed) so that when you go to auto-level, they have plenty to pull back up during the auto-level process without taking the tires off the ground. EURICA!

Looking back at this situation, this is such a dumb simple solution that the manufacturer should really explain in their manuals! I mean duh! When you unhook, you have to jack the front of the trailer up in the air to clear the truck, then of course you would want to drop it back down a ways once unhooked to make it closer to level, without having to jack up the rear a ton. Plus after these instructions were shared with me, I noticed that the factory actually wants to you know this (though they don't tell you) because they even paint the inners black up until the 10th hole on the left and 12th hole on the right, leaving the inners above those holes exposed metal. So that implies to me that this is how its supposed to be designed, too bad the instructions don't tell you this.

So I tried this tailgating last weekend and it worked flawlessly! Not only did the unit properly auto-level without taking the tires off the ground, but because my inners weren't dropped down so far the entire trailer sits lower, has more double walled landing gear, and overall was WAY more stable when people were moving around.

So there you go! Hope that helps someone else out!
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5th Wheel: 2013 Denali 262RLX
Pull Vehicle: 2006 Chevy 2500HD Duramax, CCSB
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Old 10-25-2015, 04:57 PM   #2
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Join Date: Jul 2015
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Montana
We have the same auto level system on our Denali. The only time ours ever lifted the tires off the ground it was only the passenger side tires, and after putting my level on the floor realized that the auto level was out of whack because the trailer was too high on the passenger side.
I looked in the manual, figured out how to manually level the trailer, leveled it myself, then saved that as the new "level" setting so the system knows what level is. I haven't had a problem since. I don't do the 10 holes on one side and 12 holes on the other side either.

I have never lowered my legs all the way to the last hole because common sense tells me that they will be more stable if there is still a fair amount of tube left inside the outer, stronger tube.
I drop my landing gear down to the 12th hole on the front both sides which leaves the pads 6 or 8 inches from the ground, then I push the button to ground the front jacks, when the landing gear is down to the ground I manually raise it high enough to get my truck out from under it, then I drop the rear jacks to whatever hole gets them within a couple of inches of the ground, I never count holes on the back and depending on how level the ground is I'm sure they are often different from side to side.
Then I push the auto level button and it nails level perfectly every time. I always check level with my carpenters level.
The way this system works the number of holes you drop your extensions down shouldn't matter but I'm glad you found a method that works for you.
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Old 10-25-2015, 07:37 PM   #3
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Join Date: Feb 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by J&HinMT View Post
We have the same auto level system on our Denali. The only time ours ever lifted the tires off the ground it was only the passenger side tires, and after putting my level on the floor realized that the auto level was out of whack because the trailer was too high on the passenger side.
I looked in the manual, figured out how to manually level the trailer, leveled it myself, then saved that as the new "level" setting so the system knows what level is. I haven't had a problem since. I don't do the 10 holes on one side and 12 holes on the other side either.

I have never lowered my legs all the way to the last hole because common sense tells me that they will be more stable if there is still a fair amount of tube left inside the outer, stronger tube.
I drop my landing gear down to the 12th hole on the front both sides which leaves the pads 6 or 8 inches from the ground, then I push the button to ground the front jacks, when the landing gear is down to the ground I manually raise it high enough to get my truck out from under it, then I drop the rear jacks to whatever hole gets them within a couple of inches of the ground, I never count holes on the back and depending on how level the ground is I'm sure they are often different from side to side.
Then I push the auto level button and it nails level perfectly every time. I always check level with my carpenters level.
The way this system works the number of holes you drop your extensions down shouldn't matter but I'm glad you found a method that works for you.

Yeah common sense does tell you not to extend the inner tubes all the way for more stability, but this being my first RV, and following the instructions to the T because I'm a total new guy, got me into this situation. I didn't always extend them too far, as the auto-level did work for me here and there without lifting the tires off the ground. However, it was the times I didn't use big blocks for the pads to land on that I would let the inner tubes extend further than I should've, again being new and not thinking it through. Now that I've had this trailer and used it a bit, I'm starting to get better at knowing what to do and not to do as far as setup, leveling, etc.
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5th Wheel: 2013 Denali 262RLX
Pull Vehicle: 2006 Chevy 2500HD Duramax, CCSB
Hitch: Reese 16k
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Old 10-25-2015, 07:58 PM   #4
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Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: NW
Posts: 38
Montana
It certainly is a learning curve. We started in 2009 with an older travel trailer we bought cheaply to see if we'd use it enough to be worth having.
We dragged that clunker all over the place until last year. We bought a brand new travel trailer. Nothing but horrible luck and warranty work on that one.
Said to heck with that one back in July and bought our Denali 280lbs 5th and have been much happier. No problems other than minor odds n ends.
Out dealer was a huge letdown on the walkthrough. I had questions about the auto level system and the guy told me he didn't know. Said that he only bothered to teach people how to operate it well enough to hook, and unhook from their truck.
Ticked off, I came home and educated myself on it. Pretty neat system. I love that it will automatically return to the height where you unhooked your truck.
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