There are three popular automatic coach leveling devices found on diesel pusher type coaches, hydraulic, electric and air. Today, though, we will look at only the hydraulic and air systems. Some motor coaches come equipped with air level only or hydraulic only. Others have both as standard or as an available option. We will look at HWH’s hyraulic automatic level and Hadley Air offerings only. Here is how each operates.
The HWH hydraulic automatic leveling system can be manually or fully automatically employed. The keypad allows manual chassis air down activation and manual extension or retraction of the jack rams. The jacks are controlled in four pair choices, both front, both rear, both right side or both left side. Additionally, all can be unloaded and retracted simultaneously at the touch of one button.
To operate automatically, press the “on” button twice. This will cause the red acquisition light on the keypad to start flashing. The coach will first air down, followed briefly by the automatic deployment of the first jack pair. In turn, the other jack pair will lower and adjust. The system will now quickly level the coach and will automatically shut the system down.
The Hadley Automatic Air leveling can not be manually employed. It levels only in the automatic mode. To properly level the coach requires the engine to be operating so that sufficient compressed air can be used as needed. Pressing the “SLS” button followed immediately by the “Set” button will cause the system to initiate the automatic leveling sequence. During this, the forward to back and side to side light indicators will flash orange until they are level, at which time they will turn green and stop flashing. Should the ground be such that the system is unable to complete leveling as the angle is out of range, the light indicator(s) will stop flashing but remain orange. The “Up” and “Down” arrow buttons are not used in the leveling feature. They are used to temporarily adjust the height of the rear or entire coach at or below a speed of 8 MPH or so. This function is not, however, part of our comparison, as generally this is not found on all similar air leveling systems.If you could have either, which would you choose? For comparison purposes, let’s look at the pro’s and con’s of each. We will use HWH hydraulic and Hadley Air as the selected subjects.
Hydraulic (HWH Automatic)
Pro
- Relatively fast set up.
- Solid base with no swaying in wind or walking around within the coach.
- Automatically lowers coach via air prior to hydraulic extension.
- Can be manually operated.
Con
- Can damage asphalt surfaces.
- Can cause rust stains on pad surfaces.
- Can freeze to the ground in cold weather, making it very difficult to spring retract.
Air (Hadley S.A.M. Air level)
Pro
- Leveling friendly to all asphalt or pad surfaces.
- Can operate without issue in freezing temperatures.
Con
- Requires the engine to run during set up (about 2 minutes).
- Coach is not solidly based and is subject to rocking and swaying on occasion.
- May need to recharge air system during extended stays.
- Can not be manually leveled .
My coach happens to be equipped with both HWH and Hadley leveling. I find I use air leveling only for those one night stops, that is, providing we don’t have to use the washer or dryer. The use of the laundry machines, with a slight off center load, can cause substantially more coach dancing than on solid jacks. For destination camping, or extended stays, I always select the hydraulic system. So, if I could only have one, which would it be? Hands down, it would be the hydraulic. In my last coach I had only hydraulic. For those one night stands I merely aired right down to the stops. That worked well, no complaints. But, folks with different camping needs or vastly different environments, may well prefer the air only feature. So, I guess there is no real right answer here. It’s really up to each owner or purchaser to choose which may be best to suit their needs.
Still On The Straight And Level Lug_Nut