CAMPING THE KIWI WAY

I was talked into fitting auto levellers to our 2018 Fiat Ducato Jayco Conquest motorhome in 2019 after having some extra large water tanks installed.

I thought this would be the answer to the plastic drive up ramps many use. At Waihi Beach we had a bad experience with these plastic ramps which meant I had to saw one in half to get unstuck, but that wasn’t the main reason for ‘investing’ in a set of MA-VE levellers.

For those who own and drive a motorhome built on a Fiat Ducato chassis, there are very real dangers of touching the brakes and accelerator at the same time which can cause thousands of dollars in clutch/gearbox repairs.

So, we booked in to have the system installed and on collection found that the ‘verbal quote’ of $8,000 was underestimated and came out closer to $12,000. Oh well, we’re committed now, so pay up and shut up.

We were told at the time that certification was not required, but more on this later.

We were away camping at Rerewhakaaitu, out from Rotorua, for a week long camp and on leaving our levellers gave off a warning buzz which I ignored only to find that on driving forward the front drivers side foot hadn’t retracted and we were ploughing up the field!! I had to press the ‘up’ button several times to get the foot up, but was concerned that this should not be happening.

On another occasion, we needed a tyre repaired and I happily told the tyre shop they didn’t need a jack as I could raise the motorhome off the ground for them. I did this and lo and behold the drivers rear jack was on a 30 degree angle!! That’s not supposed to happen. So off back to the installer who spent the day building a special frame to support the rear jacks!! I thought, surely this is a warranty issue, but no, another charge of $1,500.

Over the next couple of years we just had the odd niggle with one of the feet not retracting and I had by this stage, found a ‘specialist Ma-ve installer’ in Taupo and he did some maintenance and adjusted pressures on the pumps.

Now, after a total of about 8 COF’s, I was informed that we did indeed need certification, so I contacted the installer who palmed me off to the importers in Auckland who promised to get in touch, but never did.

I made contact with the Taupo specialist who arranged a certifier to inspect, only to find that the rear set was causing chassis damage and would not comply. Bugger.

Thankfully the specialist had a solution so he booked us in and undertook proper installation and has arranged for the certification, but there’s another bill coming!!

Is it all worth it? Well, yes, but make sure your installer knows what they are doing. It is very expensive, but so are clutch repairs.

There are plenty of advantages in having hydraulic lifters, like tyre changes, emptying tanks and getting level quickly. n more: ckw.nz/levellers

Ed: Check that your particular levellers can be used for tyre-changing, or for people working underneath the vehicle. Many require the use of axle stands for safety.