LD OEM Levelers June 07, 2003, 08:15:05 pm Yahoo Message Number: 23060There has been a lot of conversation recently about levelers. Thanks for the great info. After renting a few times I think I want them. However one post seemed to imply that LD would install them as an option. I did not think they were an option from LD?? If I am correct and they are not an LD option…any idea why they are not? Other than just another quark of the Mother Ships leaders.Thanks,2004 Wantabe (two many models to make up my mind)Scott F
Re: LD OEM Levelers Reply #1 – June 08, 2003, 01:41:32 pm Yahoo Message Number: 23076QuoteThere has been a lot of conversation recently about levelers . . . one post seemed to imply that LD would install them as an option.Scott, LD does not install the levelers. They order a unique "Lazy Daze" kit from Kwikee that arrives at LD in several boxes, which are packed into the storage compartments of your coach when you pick it up. You then go to a nearby RV service facility, Affordable RV in Ontario, to have the levelers installed. The leveler kit is about $2450 and installation is about $750 and takes a full day. The LD kit consists of two 8" cylinders with 7" folding legs (I presume for the rear) and two 8" cylinders with 5" folding legs (for the front?). My sense is that you can get about 4-5" of travel out of this set-up. I can generally level our VW camper with less "lift," so that seems fine. (You could get more by adding blocks under the jacks, but you do need to leave the wheels on the ground for braking/chocking.) I think the total system probably adds about 250 pounds. There was a lot of discussion recently about the quality of the installation at Affordable RV. At the suggestion of Steve Newton at LD, I called Affordable and spoke with the tech who does this installation. His name is Jerry and he is the only one who does this. He has been doing it for about two years, 1-2 per month, so he has done a fair number of LD installations by now. When we discussed some of the issues that had come up here, Jerry reported that the hydraulic hoses are pre-cut and pre-assembled by the manufacturer and he cannot modify them there. So there is extra hose length to bundle and store somewhere under the coach (the kit comes with two 10' and two 20' hoses). Also, the 8' power cables will not reach from the pump/control unit as installed on the LD to the battery (power is from the truck battery, not the house batteries), so he makes the connection to the starter. Someone mentioned earlier one of these cables having a splice on the end. He said that's how they come. Jerry seemed like a good guy doing his best to make a proper installation and I felt better after talking to him. I didn't get the sense that they have many problems. I have learned the following as well. First, check the Kwikee Web site, which has a lot of good information, including the manuals and a parts list. Go to:http://www.kwikee.com/Check Parts and Downloads. Jerry says he mounts the pump/tank/control unit horizontally on the left (driver's side) chassis rail about a foot aft of the driver's door using the mounting bracket supplied in the kit. The kit also comes with four mounting brackets for the jack cylinders. The brackets are welded to the frame and the cylinders are then bolted to the brackets. A pair of hoses runs from the control unit to each cylinder, for a total of eight hoses (4-10' front and 4-20' rear). There is also some wiring from the control unit to each cylinder, but this is "daisy-chained" from cylinder to cylinder, so really amounts to just one loop of wiring. The control panel is mounted on or in the dash near the steering column. Wiring runs over to the driver's door sill and then under the plastic sill cover toward the rear of the coach, exiting the interior at some point to make a connection to the control unit. The control unit also requires some wiring to the parking brake sensor and to an ignition controlled circuit. Finally, there are heavy-duty power cables from the pump unit to the battery (or, in our case, the starter). It's not rocket science but would be difficult to do without a hoist and welding equipment and there is no doubt that past experience would be helpful. We live in the SF Bay Area and take delivery in late July. Now that I've talked to Jerry I've decided that I'm comfortable with him doing the installation of the jacks at Affordable. He seems like a guy with whom I could discuss any concerns and work something out. I'm considering three options: (1) just having him do it as he normally does, the day after delivery, if our delivery schedule allows, and forgetting about it unless there are problems (this would probably be the smart thing to do); (2) seeing if he could do a partial installation at that time (mounting brackets and perhaps the control panel and related wiring), especially if time is short and we can't afford a full day there, then getting the hoses shortened to match the installation and obtaining longer battery cables as necessary if I want a connection directly to the battery, and returning later to have the installation completed; or (3) taking the kit home with me so that I can check it out and perhaps modify the hoses/cables as necessary and then return for installation later. We want these for convenience while full-timing and I think they will work well.TerryPalo Alto, CA
Re: LD OEM Levelers Reply #2 – June 08, 2003, 02:31:06 pm Yahoo Message Number: 23078QuoteThere has been a lot of conversation recently about levelers . . . one post seemedQuoteto imply that LD would install them as an option.Scott,LD does not install the levelers. They order a unique "Lazy Daze" kit from Kwikee that Quotearrives at LD in several boxes, which are packed into the storage compartments of Quoteyour coach when you pick it up. You then go to a nearby RV service facility, QuoteAffordable RV in Ontario, to have the levelers installed. The leveler kit is about $2450Quoteand installation is about $750 and takes a full day. Terry, Thanks for the very detailed explanation. Now I have it straight and understand the dilemma of install as is or have hoses shortened and possibly replace cables. Nothing is ever easy meaning it would be so nice if LD offered it as an installed option or if Affordable RV ran the hoses down to the local hydraulic hose supplier (every metro area has one) and had them cut to length and fittings attached or was equipped to do it themselves. Or if the LD Kwikee kit was cut to the proper length from the get-go. It is frustrating and time wasting to have to act as a general contractor to get something done that should be simple…..and there is no cost savings!I'll be interested to know what you decide and how it works!Thanks again,Scott FPS Did you ask LD why they dont offer them as an installed option?
Re: LD OEM Levelers Reply #3 – June 08, 2003, 02:31:35 pm Yahoo Message Number: 23079QuoteThere has been a lot of conversation recently about levelers . . . one post seemedQuoteto imply that LD would install them as an option.Scott,LD does not install the levelers. They order a unique "Lazy Daze" kit from Kwikee that Quotearrives at LD in several boxes, which are packed into the storage compartments of Quoteyour coach when you pick it up. You then go to a nearby RV service facility, QuoteAffordable RV in Ontario, to have the levelers installed. The leveler kit is about $2450Quoteand installation is about $750 and takes a full day. Terry, Thanks for the very detailed explanation. Now I have it straight and understand the dilemma of install as is or have hoses shortened and possibly replace cables. Nothing is ever easy meaning it would be so nice if LD offered it as an installed option or if Affordable RV ran the hoses down to the local hydraulic hose supplier (every metro area has one) and had them cut to length and fittings attached or was equipped to do it themselves. Or if the LD Kwikee kit was cut to the proper length from the get-go. It is frustrating and time wasting to have to act as a general contractor to get something done that should be simple…..and there is no cost savings!I'll be interested to know what you decide and how it works!Thanks again,Scott FPS Did you ask LD why they dont offer them as an installed option?
LD OEM Levelers Reply #4 – June 08, 2003, 02:51:35 pm Yahoo Message Number: 23080Scott and Terry, let me put my 2 cents in here on this subject. I'm the person that had trouble with the Kwikee Levelers because Jerry did not wire the power directly to the battery. And I'm the one with the cable that was spliced. The symptom was that the levelers only worked intermittently, usually ok when they were cold but the controller would not turn on once everything got heated up or the weather was hot. At first I changed the splice to a 4 gauge wire as the spliced part was only a 6 gauge. This did not fix the problem. What fixed the problem is that we had a 12.5 foot 4 gauge wire made up and used that to connect from the pump directly to the battery. In removing the original cable that was installed by Jerry there is a tag on the cable that states "warranty may be invalid if this wire is not connected directly to the battery terminal". How they were going to get it to the battery terminal I don't know as it would not reach in its original length. Nevertheless, I would expect a competent RV installation shop to be able to make up a cable if they had to...I got mine at an auto supply and the auto supply connected the terminals as it takes a special tool or a punch to crimp the terminals onto a 4 gauge wire. Now we only did this 2 weeks ago and my son is out with the RV now, but so far there have been no problems. In diagnosing my problem I spoke with Kwikee service more than once....each time the first thing they asked is 'where is the primary power cable to the pump going'? If it is not wired to the battery terminal, they don't want to deal with your problem until you do what they say and that is to make sure the primary power is wired to the battery. I think that Jerry knows what he is doing and the installation looks pretty nice and neat, but he doesn't realize that there is some difference in pulling the power off of the battery or the starter solenoid. The other possible contributing problem was the that routing to the starter solenoid got pretty close to the exhaust system and that may have contributed to things not working when they got hot....I wired the cable to the battery on the left side, away from the exhaust and also put it inside plastic shielding. I think the Kwikee levelers are a good product, but you have to make sure they are installed exactly as the factory prescribes and if the cables are too short then thats a problem in the kit that comes from Kwikee, but don't use the short cable!! The 12 1/2 foot 4 gauge wire with the big lugs on the end and shielding cost about 30-35 bucks but it was well worth the investment since it seemed to solve the problem. (Still have my fingers crossed, but they have never worked this long before without having the problem). Someone needs to make sure that Jerry makes sure the connection is to the battery terminal and not the solenoid. As far as ground goes I did not change that wire, its still wired to a bolt on or near the starter. I don't know if Kwikee specifies that it should go anywhere else but it seems to work where it is at right now.Bob Nunes
[Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: LD OEM Levelers Reply #5 – June 08, 2003, 03:41:40 pm Yahoo Message Number: 23082QuoteThanks Bob, I wonder why Jerry did yours wrong after he has done so many. I wonder if your short/spliced cable was typical. Or a first for him and he made an executive decision on his own to get the job done.I would not be a happy camper if I were you. Your fixes of (follow the mfgs specs and directions) sounds like the solution. Hope all goes well from here.Again.... life would be so easy if LD sold a completed coach.Scott FScott and Terry, let me put my 2 cents in here on this subject. I'm the Quoteperson that had trouble with the Kwikee Levelers because Jerry did not wire
Re: LD OEM Levelers Reply #6 – June 09, 2003, 12:48:05 am Yahoo Message Number: 23099QuoteWhat fixed the problem is that we had a 12.5 foot 4 gauge wire made up and used that to connect from the pump directly to the battery. In removing the original cable that was installed by Jerry there is a tag on the cable that states "warranty may be invalid if this wire is not connected directly to the battery terminal". . . Now we only did this 2 weeks ago and my son is out with the RV now, but so far there have been no problems. . . The other possible contributing problem was the that routing to the starter solenoid got pretty close to the exhaust system and that may have contributed to things not working when they got hot....I wired the cable to the battery on the left side, away from the exhaust and also put it inside plastic shielding.Bob, I'm glad to hear you may have gotten this fixed. Kwikee has longer power cables listed in their parts list. I intend to ask LD to either change the 8' cable they normally order for a longer one or ask that they add a longer one to my order. I'm also going to ask that they order some hydraulic line fittings for use if I decide to have the lines shortened. If LD won't do that then I will order them from somewhere local here. Regarding the exhaust, the Kwikee instructions posted on their Web site talke about keeping everything at least 12" from a heat source and, if that is not possible, adding a heat shield. Good luck with your repair.TerryPalo Alto, CA
[Life With A Lazy Daze RV] Re: LD OEM Levelers Reply #7 – June 09, 2003, 12:54:09 am Yahoo Message Number: 23100Quote I wonder why Jerry did yours wrong after he has done so many. I wonder if your short/spliced cable was typical. My sense when talking to Jerry was that he does what he can with the parts supplied in the LD kit. I don't think the extra hose length is that big a deal, but I'm going to let Steve at LD know about the power cable issue and suggest that he spec a longer power cable sufficient to get it to the battery. For all we know the LD kit may have been spec'd years ago, perhaps before the V-10, when the battery may have been in a different location.
GPS Question Reply #8 – June 09, 2003, 04:52:26 pm Yahoo Message Number: 23118A few years ago, I rented a car that had a permanently-mounted GPS system. It had a bigger screen than the portable units sold today, but it was much smaller than a laptop. Does anyone know if these types of units are still sold, and if so, are there any units they recommend. My eyes aren't quite as good as they used to be, but I'm not crazy about the idea of driving around with a laptop on the dash.Dave Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM).[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: GPS Question Reply #9 – June 10, 2003, 08:08:21 am Yahoo Message Number: 23148You might look at the Navman iCN 630 mentioned by JC
Re: GPS Question Reply #10 – June 10, 2003, 10:17:18 am Yahoo Message Number: 23156QuoteYou might look at the Navman iCN 630 mentioned by JC in message 22999:Quote http://www.navmanusa.com/land/icn630/index.htmlBarry 26.5' RB TX .... It had a bigger screen than the portable units sold today, but it was much smaller than a laptop. Does anyone know if these types of units are still sold, and if so, are there any units they To find info on NAVMAN go to web address www.gpscity.com and NAVMAN is listed under Brand Names. They have a list price of $839.95.
GPS Question Reply #11 – June 15, 2006, 01:24:58 am Yahoo Message Number: 68099Just received my new Summer Camping World catalog, on page 39 was reading about "CoPilot Live Laptop 9 Navigation System"...does anyone in the group know about it?...if so, what do you think about it? Joe 96' Brown MB
Re: GPS Question Reply #12 – June 15, 2006, 11:20:26 am Yahoo Message Number: 68118I recently got a Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS, and love it. It is portable, small, has all the features of many of the other units. The small screen, compared to a laptop, has turned out not to be a big deal. I mostly listen to the driving directions, when needed, anyway. It works fine without an auxillary antenna. It is a snap to move to another vehicle, which is great if you have a tow car. I had considered the laptop, but it is just to big to be comforable and my wife did not want to hold it on her lap.Chris Hunter 26 RBLong Beach, CA
Re: GPS Question Reply #13 – June 15, 2006, 02:03:43 pm Yahoo Message Number: 68129"I recently got a Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS, and love it. It is portable, small, has all the features of many of the other units." Reviewers say the Nuvi 350 is a great little unit for its size, and its small size and portability are certainly attractive...but it lacks a number of features of the industry-leading StreetPilot 2720/2730 GPS navigators. For example, if I tell you that I'm at N 36° 58.231' W 104 23.618', there is no way you can tell the Nuvi to use that as a destination, because it doesn't accept input of lat/lon coordinates. And reviewers say that its screen is not quite as readable as the 2700 series GPS units (though it certainly isn't bad). On the other hand, the Nuvi 350 actually has a superior GPS receiver that locks onto the satellites faster than the 2700 series units. So I'm not saying you shouldn't buy a Nuvi 350--it's probably a good choice for many people. But before you decide, it would pay to read the reviews on the "GPS Information" website (http://gpsinformation.net/>) and carefully compare what the reviewers say about the 350 and the StreetPilot 2720/2730, then decide what features are important to you.Andy BairdSugarite Canyon State Park, NM
Re: GPS Question Reply #14 – June 15, 2006, 11:10:10 pm Yahoo Message Number: 68147You also might want to look at the Garmin 7200. I just bought one this week in preparation for the a trip to the Golden Caravan and Western states. I was sold on the multifunction capabilities of the unit. The 7200 has a 7 inch screen and also has XM radio, weather, and traffic capability. It also has an SD slot and can be used as an MP3 player as well. I also plan to get a rear camera and the unit can also be used as the monitor for that.Garmin has recently reduced prices for the 7200 and I bought mine online for under $1000 plus another couple hundred for the XM radio, traffic/weather antenna. Too soon to say how much I like it, but I'll post a review after our trip to Wyoming.Mike S. 2003 26.5 MB CRV toad
Re: GPS Question Reply #15 – June 16, 2006, 01:26:20 am Yahoo Message Number: 68151I also bought the Nuvi 350, and I was disappointed when I realized that I couldn't enter lat/long coordinates to use for geocaching, and for finding RV parks
Re: Nuvi 350 GPS Reply #16 – June 16, 2006, 12:09:31 pm Yahoo Message Number: 68170"Garmin just last week provided a download that adds [lat/lon input] capability. I am VERY happy with the Nuvi now." That's great news! No wonder Garmin stays ahead of its competion. :-)Andy BairdSugarite Canyon State Park, NM
GPS Question Reply #17 – September 18, 2009, 02:06:15 pm Yahoo Message Number: 105923I am looking for a simple to use (nontechie) GPs for my RV. Does the Nuvi 855 meet my requirments and does it have an external antenna port?. I want voice commands so I do not have to pay a lot of attention to the unit. All sugestions welcome.Lon in Nor CAL 2003 Beigh MB
Re: GPS Question Reply #18 – September 18, 2009, 02:16:21 pm Yahoo Message Number: 105924Quote I am looking for a simple to use (nontechie) GPs for my RV. Does the Nuvi 855 meet my requirments and does it have an external antenna port?. I want voice commands so I do not have to pay a lot of attention to the unit. All sugestions welcome.Lon in Nor CAL 2003 Beigh MB Lon, the 855 does not have antenna port. The question is if you need one with these Nuvi units. Do a archive serch and you will find plenty of info on this unit just discussed a couple of weeks ago. See Andy's message 104804 and others Joe Hamm-San Jose
Re: GPS Question Reply #19 – September 18, 2009, 04:56:18 pm Yahoo Message Number: 105929"...but it lacks a number of features of the industry-leading StreetPilotQuote2720/2730 GPS navigators. For example, if I tell you that I'm at N 36° 58.231' W 104 23.618', there is no way you can tell the Nuvi to use that as a destination, because it doesn't accept input of lat/lon coordinates." I just double checked my NUVI 350 and it does have lat/long capability. Although, I can't say for sure if it came that way or I downloaded an addition. I think it was on it when I got it.Chris
Re: GPS Question Reply #20 – September 18, 2009, 05:38:49 pm Yahoo Message Number: 105931"if I tell you that I'm at N 36° 58.231' W 104 23.618', there is no way you can tell the Nuvi to use that as a destination, because it doesn't accept input of lat/lon coordinates." All the Garmin GPSs I've seen accept lat/lon coordinates, though they don't always make it obvious how to do this. With my old StreetPilot 2610, you had to hold down the PAGE/MARK button to create a new location, then replace the current coordinates with whatever you liked.With the 2720, it's Where To? > Locations > Coordinates.With Nüvi 800 series units, it's Where To? > Coordinates. I'd be very surprised if there's not a way to enter latitude and longitude on any recent-model Garmin GPS.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: GPS Question Reply #21 – September 19, 2009, 12:18:29 pm Yahoo Message Number: 105990Does the Nuvi 855 meet my requirments and does it have an external antenna port?. I want voice commands so I do not have to pay a lot of attention to the unit. All sugestions welcome.Quote Lon in Nor CAL Lon, we have a NUVI 855 and it does have an external antenna port, however, it operates just fine without an external antenna. The voice recognition works better than I expected, and after only using it a couple times so far, it has worked great. Tom Santa Clara, CA
Re: GPS Question Reply #22 – September 19, 2009, 08:24:35 pm Yahoo Message Number: 106002"Does the Nuvi 855 meet my requirments and does it have an external antenna port?" I'll join Tom in endorsing the Nüvi 855. I've been using one for about six months now, and am very happy with it. It does have an antenna port, and I have a Gilsson amplified GPS antenna on the roof, but the 855 works so well on its internal antenna that I've never bothered to plug in the roof antenna. It has never lost the GPS signal. Also like Tom, I've found the 855's voice recognition feature to be surprisingly helpful, although sometimes the background noise is too loud for reliable recognition. It's great to be able to use the GPS without taking my hands off the wheel. One tip (and this probably applies to other Nüvis as well): I've found the British "Daniel" voice to be the most intelligible, probably because of its lower pitch. It's much better than the American "Jack" and "Jill" voices. Here's a link to the Nüvi 855 on Amazon's site, where it's currently selling for $219.99.http://tinyurl.com/o9pgyd>Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: GPS Question Reply #23 – September 19, 2009, 10:37:52 pm Yahoo Message Number: 106007Quote from: Andy I'll join Tom in endorsing the Nüvi 855. Thanks to all for the info. Now I will go look & touch the unit prior to ordering per Andys link.Lon in Nor Cal 2003 Beigh MB
Re: Nüvi 855 Reply #24 – September 21, 2009, 11:18:35 pm Yahoo Message Number: 106044My Nüvi 855 suddenly stopped responding to screen touches today, although it still worked fine in response to spoken commands. Turning it off and on again didn't help. But removing the unit's battery for 30 seconds--equivalent to a hardware reset--cured the problem, and everything is now back to normal. (No loss of data, either.) I've never seen this symptom before, but thought I'd mention it just in case anybody else runs into it.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
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