Self levelling systems

[Wools]

Had ours fitted by Glide-rite, Hampshire in 2016. Approx £3800. 50 kgs. Good system, well fitted. The decision to fit them was taken because of a very windy week spent in Cornwall just after we bought the van. We woke in the night thinking we were sea sick.
Our van is Mercedes 5 tonne chassis, and seems to roll about bit more than some. Would not be without them now as they stabilise the van very well when deployed. We can stay on pitches other do not like because we put some wooden blocks under the feet and level the van. As others have said, there is an equation to be worked out between cost x payload x benefits.

 

[bilM]

Got my levelling system fitted not long after I got the van also got air suspension fitted at the same time. As I remember it took about 3 days as he had to drop my grey water tank cut a bit out and re weld it. Sap did a first class job.

 

[Two on Tour]

Got my levelling system fitted not long after I got the van also got air suspension fitted at the same time. As I remember it took about 3 days as he had to drop my grey water tank cut a bit out and re weld it. Sap

Did you have it fitted July 2017 ?

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

We've had our E&P system for a year now (SAP Doncaster) and it's proved its worth over and over. None more so than during a visit to Maryport in Cumbria in September. The wind was a steady 55mph and gusting over 70mph with horizontal rain!.
It was the first time out in our van in such conditions. As we sat in the van for half an hour waiting for the rain to pass, the van was getting buffeted severely and we were having second thoughts about staying for two nights. We would have stayed at home had we not paid for our trip weeks before!
Once the rain stopped we hooked up and deployed the levelling system. The effect was immediate. Absolutely rock steady. The gale never relented till the next afternoon. We slept well disturbed only by the not unpleasant clunking of the lanyards on the yachts in the marina.
It's nice to have all the water drain from the shower tray and kitchen sink, but best of all, not to fall out with the Mrs while trying to drive onto the ramps!!!

 

[TR5]

I've not had it fitted - yet, but the other benefits I see, and don't think they have been mentioned yet, are, added security from being towed away, and taking the load off the tyres when stood for given periods.
My van hasn't been used for a while, as we have a daughter that has had very major spinal surgery, and cannot be left until fit to fend for herself, and I do worry about the static weight on the tyres. I do move the van a few inches periodically, but have to remove other security items to do so - which is a pain in itself.
I will certainly think hard about fitting self-levelling, when we get back to using the van regularly.

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[manda3000gt]

Your RV levelling system must be pretty shit in the first place if you need the LevelMatePRO to get it right.

It is the system that came fitted as standard not some overpriced factory option or expensive aftermarket system, four individual legs strong enough to lift the whole unit off the ground,
When using the LevelMate it displays down to adjustments of 0.25” and once level has been set in the initial setup each and every time after within seconds when all four corners hit ‘0’ I know I’m in the exact same horizontal position stable and level before I even leave the drivers seat, Over a years use out in the ’field’ has proved it to be easy accurate and reliable,
for £150 direct from the US a bargain.

 

[robert groves]

After buying my 91 Trek, i discovered that it had leveling jacks built in (not mentioned in the sales description)...tried them....Perfik !...I now travel with a few packing 'Tree-Slices' (as my children call them),stored in a side locker with the various paraphernalia for wheel changing. A Godsend for changing tyres as the wheels can be completely lifted off the ground !, yes, sometimes they do get a bit 'Sticky' on the return, but a have a small scissor jack which can be used to push the jack back up into it's slot

 

[robert groves]

I've not had it fitted - yet, but the other benefits I see, and don't think they have been mentioned yet, are, added security from being towed away, and taking the load off the tyres when stood for given periods.
My van hasn't been used for a while, as we have a daughter that has had very major spinal surgery, and cannot be left until fit to fend for herself, and I do worry about the static weight on the tyres. I do move the van a few inches periodically, but have to remove other security items to do so - which is a pain in itself.
I will certainly think hard about fitting self-levelling, when we get back to using the van regularly.

My thoughts as well....and when staying in a 'dodgy' area, i always lower the jacks just enough to prevent the unit from being driven away by opportunist thieves....I have fitted a small locking bar around the jack levers to help prevent theft and also accidental lowering by dog/wife/children knocking the levers while I am clambering underneath

 

[Two on Tour]

It is the system that came fitted as standard not some overpriced factory option or expensive aftermarket system, four individual legs strong enough to lift the whole unit off the ground,
When using the LevelMate it displays down to adjustments of 0.25” and once level has been set in the initial setup each and every time after within seconds when all four corners hit ‘0’ I know I’m in the exact same horizontal position stable and level before I even leave the drivers seat, Over a years use out in the ’field’ has proved it to be easy accurate and reliable,
for £150 direct from the US a bargain.

If yours came as standard factory fit then you have paid for them in the price of you rig have you not ? as I don't imagine they buy them and give them away.

Yes with ours you can lift the whole van off the ground if require as each jack on our van rated at 2 tonnes with the van weighing below 4 tonnes.
Wheel changing becomes a doddle, as you can manually adjust the van height until you roll the wheel on and off, no lifting and struggling to get it located on the dowels.

I hit the button on my remote from where ever I want within the range of the remote and it levels first time every no adjusting to get it right.
We also have a mode on the system that tilts the van over to drain of the grey waste faster.

The E&P jacks are hydraulic in the down and up operation so never get stuck in boggy ground as the sprung loaded or swing up types can do.

Overpriced is a matter of opinion as I think people paying over a £1000 for a mobile phone are round the bend when we paid a little over £100 for ours and the do the same thing.

 

[DJT]

Jacks are also a great anti theft device, when I park mine up at our store I always jack so the front 2 wheels are off the ground then disable the system so nobody can drive it away in a hurry.

Not so sure about the anti theft device side of having levellers.
We have E&P levelling jacks fitted by Mick at SAP Doncaster and they are a must have for us.But as a built in safety feature the jacks automatically raise when you start the vehicle and release the handbrake! I am assuming anyone wanting to Nick the van would be doing that.
DJT

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[Ditcha]

Not so sure about the anti theft device side of having levellers.
We have E&P levelling jacks fitted by Mick at SAP Doncaster and they are a must have for us.But as a built in safety feature the jacks automatically raise when you start the vehicle and release the handbrake! I am assuming anyone wanting to Nick the van would be doing that.
DJT

Not if you disable them from doing so

 

[Peppadog]

Yes, I thought they could somehow be locked when in use, but you are correct. I intend to seek a way to isolate mine.
Good visual deterrent though!

 

[Peppadog]

Not if you disable them from doing so

Ah perfect. How Ditcha

 

[Two on Tour]

Not so sure about the anti theft device side of having levellers.
We have E&P levelling jacks fitted by Mick at SAP Doncaster and they are a must have for us.But as a built in safety feature the jacks automatically raise when you start the vehicle and release the handbrake! I am assuming anyone wanting to Nick the van would be doing that.
DJT

Thieves on the whole will look for the easy quick option or something they are familiar with or know how to and my take on that is that a potential thief would look a a van in the air on jacks and think WTF and how do I get it down because unlike you and I they are not armed with the knowledge that releasing the handbrake raises the jacks and as such would move on to the next poor sods van.
Our van when it's up on the top of the jacks is a sod to climb into anyway.

 

[Ditcha]

Ah perfect. How Ditcha

Pull the hidden fuse that you have placed in a special place or a switch cutting the feed.

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[DJT]

Not if you disable them from doing so

I agree.Let me know how as I cannot see anything in the manual.?

 

[Ditcha]

I agree.Let me know how as I cannot see anything in the manual.?

There isn't anything in the manual I have added it in myself, basically just cutting the live feed to the pump, can't really go into detail as everyone on here will know my secret hidey place.

 

[DJT]

Pull the hidden fuse that you have placed in a special place or a switch cutting the feed.

Just seen your reply.
cheers?
DJT

 

[Two on Tour]

There isn't anything in the manual I have added it in myself, basically just cutting the live feed to the pump, can't really go into detail as everyone on here will know my secret hidey place.

You will have Mick at SAP pulling out what little hair he has left if he knows what you have done.

 

[Ditcha]

You will have Mick at SAP pulling out what little hair he has left if he knows what you have done.

Makes me wonder why they don,t build something into them for this reason, might be a approval thing

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[Two on Tour]

Makes me wonder why they don,t build something into them for this reason, might be a approval thing

I spoke to Mick about overriding the handbrake feature for anti theft when they fitted ours and it's a safety thing in case the driven wheels are still in contact with the ground when on the jacks.
If you did not have the handbrake raising the jacks and were to forget to raise them and drive off with the driven wheels in contact with the ground it would rip the jacks off and do substantial damage the van chassis.

 

[Gagneur]

Was a real benefit to the French chap who got stuck in the aire we were on in France. Pressed a button up he went, I shoved stuff under his wheel, he dropped, then drove forward, repeat, then on to the road. Would have been a bugger of a job without them.

but too costly for my old bus.

We carry a couple of waffle boards on the floor of our garage. They have got us out of mud several times. Cost about £50.

 

[GROMIT69]

We went to Mick and his team at SAP and had different front springs fitted to the front and E&P levellers fitted on our ih van and would not be without them now , as a wise man once said there are no shops in heaven,so no point taking it with you , we also looked at the MA-VE system but so many bad reports and complaints

 

[bilM]

Did you have it fitted July 2017 ?

No I got mine done in 2018 I think.

 

[Two on Tour]

No I got mine done in 2018 I think.

I asked as SAP were doing the very same thing to a grey waste tank while fitting the same setup as you while I was having our levellers fitted.

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[Ditcha]

I spoke to Mick about overriding the handbrake feature for anti theft when they fitted ours and it's a safety thing in case the driven wheels are still in contact with the ground when on the jacks.
If you did not have the handbrake raising the jacks and were to forget to raise them and drive off with the driven wheels in contact with the ground it would rip the jacks off and do substantial damage the van chassis.

I only use this "feature" when in storage and the front wheels are always off the ground so no chance of pulling away no matter how hard I try .

 

[Hettie's Crew]

Prompted by a post tonight what’s the consensus on these after market self levelling systems ? I’m not keen on carrying the extra weight TBH but thought I would ask

Two years ago I went through a long period of ‘research’ on levellers and checked out all the available systems. I spent ages talking to Mick on the SAP stall at one of the shows, going back several times to ask yet more questions to the other staff too. We were there for the weekend, Mick was only there for a short while due to being busy back at the workshop. Materials, weight, operation systems, location of components, servicing etc were all discussed at length. I did hours of inter web searching for reviews and reports, plus of course Funsters opinions.
Our biggest decision was, unsurprisingly, spending that much. We had just had rear air assist fitted at AS Suspension in Warrington after a similar amount of research, so had the opportunity to badger Phil and Cath there with all the same questions regarding the HPC system.
It came down to E&P fitted at SAP or HPC by AS, we discounted the others after negative reports.
We went for the HPC system due to the more modern operating system, fewer components, lighter weight and AS’s excellent service, though I’m sure SAP‘s service would be on par.
Would not be without them now, and I’m sure spending all that money makes people say that anyway but we wouldn’t hesitate having them on another van if we changed.
Phil did an excellent job of ensuring we lost no storage space at all by sitting the pump in a suspended box, there are no other components except the jacks and pipes. At the time the E&P required a further ‘brain box’ to be located somewhere.
We highly recommend AS at Warrington and use our jacks every time we pitch, level or not due to the stability.

 

[Jewellbags]

Two years ago I went through a long period of ‘research’ on levellers and checked out all the available systems. I spent ages talking to Mick on the SAP stall at one of the shows, going back several times to ask yet more questions to the other staff too. We were there for the weekend, Mick was only there for a short while due to being busy back at the workshop. Materials, weight, operation systems, location of components, servicing etc were all discussed at length. I did hours of inter web searching for reviews and reports, plus of course Funsters opinions.
Our biggest decision was, unsurprisingly, spending that much. We had just had rear air assist fitted at AS Suspension in Warrington after a similar amount of research, so had the opportunity to badger Phil and Cath there with all the same questions regarding the HPC system.
It came down to E&P fitted at SAP or HPC by AS, we discounted the others after negative reports.
We went for the HPC system due to the more modern operating system, lighter weight and AS’s excellent service, though I’m sure SAP‘s service would be on par.
Would not be without them now, and I’m sure spending all that money makes people say that anyway but we wouldn’t hesitate having them on on another van if we changed.
Phil did an excellent job of ensuring we lost no storage space at all by sitting the pump in a suspended box, there are no other components except the jacks and pipes. At the time the E&P required a further ‘brain box’ to be located somewhere.
We highly recommend AS at Warrington and use our jacks every time we pitch, level or not due to the stability.

Thanks for that much appreciate s

 

[Spawn_e_git]

Thieves on the whole will look for the easy quick option or something they are familiar with or know how to and my take on that is that a potential thief would look a a van in the air on jacks and think WTF and how do I get it down because unlike you and I they are not armed with the knowledge that releasing the handbrake raises the jacks and as such would move on to the next poor sods van.
Our van when it's up on the top of the jacks is a sod to climb into anyway.

I think you are underestimating the intelligence of people who steal to order.

They know exactly what they are after and what is needed to get hold of it.

Example at my local C&MHC storage they stole a Hobby caravan (no prizes for guessing who)...
They cut through the fence and locks then bypassed the barriers.
The caravan had a good quality hitch lock but that did not matter as they brought their own complete A-frame to match the caravan and swapped them.

Cordless angle grinders have changed the game and anyone with any knowledge of hydraulics would know all you need to to do is release the oil pressure by cutting the pipe to the ram or defeating the valve system and the system would retract or be free to be unbolted in a matter of minutes.

They will also be 100% aware that there is an extra £1.5k that can be sold on eBay if the van is stripped down for parts.

 

[Chris-n-Leeka]

Two years ago I went through a long period of ‘research’ on levellers and checked out all the available systems. I spent ages talking to Mick on the SAP stall at one of the shows, going back several times to ask yet more questions to the other staff too. We were there for the weekend, Mick was only there for a short while due to being busy back at the workshop. Materials, weight, operation systems, location of components, servicing etc were all discussed at length. I did hours of inter web searching for reviews and reports, plus of course Funsters opinions.
Our biggest decision was, unsurprisingly, spending that much. We had just had rear air assist fitted at AS Suspension in Warrington after a similar amount of research, so had the opportunity to badger Phil and Cath there with all the same questions regarding the HPC system.
It came down to E&P fitted at SAP or HPC by AS, we discounted the others after negative reports.
We went for the HPC system due to the more modern operating system, fewer components, lighter weight and AS’s excellent service, though I’m sure SAP‘s service would be on par.
Would not be without them now, and I’m sure spending all that money makes people say that anyway but we wouldn’t hesitate having them on another van if we changed.
Phil did an excellent job of ensuring we lost no storage space at all by sitting the pump in a suspended box, there are no other components except the jacks and pipes. At the time the E&P required a further ‘brain box’ to be located somewhere.
We highly recommend AS at Warrington and use our jacks every time we pitch, level or not due to the stability.

Nice to read - 10 days and counting before Phil fits semi air and the HPC levelling onto ours ???

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