Over the past 3 years, water has gotten into my two rear jack reservoirs, displacing the hydraulic fluid. It just cost me well over $500 to have them purged and and refilled with fluid.The repairing facility couldn't tell me how water could have gotten into the reservoirs. I called the manufacturer; they couldn't shed any light on the situation either. Have any of you folks with a Bigfoot leveling system experienced this problem? Do you have any ideas what could be causing this? Yes, we have hauled our fiver during rainstorms.Note: There are factory-installed mud flaps behind the rear wheels (and in front of the jack systems) of my fifth-wheel; might they have anything to do with the problem? Mike

We have the same brand with the same mud flaps and have not had any issues with our BigFoot and water intrusion. Are you a member of the NuWa forum? Someone there might be able to shed light on your problem.

No problems on our 2011 with the same stuff.

No problems here either but I would give the reservoir a check as it is only plastic. Purging is easy and only uses Dexron III transmission fluid, I would learn to do it myself.

The water can only get in between the reservoir and the pump housing or the vent hole in the fill cap. There is an O ring but the plastic res often distorts oil out and water in. I have resorted to wrapping with Walmart bags. Havent checked this trip.

We've not had any problems with our 2011 rig and we put lots of miles on each year. We toured the factory when our fiver was being built and I saw that they (Carriage-Cameo) assembled all the parts for the Big Foot system. Is it possible that HitchHiker could have also done the assembly? Check with them to see if they had any problems.

Bigfoot Leveling System Problems | Good Sam Community

ljr
Nomad
Oct 01, 2016
RECVEH2005 wrote:
ljr:

I hope that KRC solved the problem for you. My temporary Gorilla Tape application (which doesn't look too great) seems to have worked OK on our trip to Montana and return this past summer. However, I'm not going to pull my fiver all the way from Tucson to Kansas to have the tank & pump moved. It should have been engineered correctly by Quadra in the first place.

Mike

Mike

I stop at KRC once per year anyway so it was no hardship for me. They told me that the installation instructions from Quadra hadn't changed since my Hitchhiker was built. I wonder what they'll do if somebody shows up wanting a new BF install.
RECVEH2005
Explorer
Oct 01, 2016
ljr:

I hope that KRC solved the problem for you. My temporary Gorilla Tape application (which doesn't look too great) seems to have worked OK on our trip to Montana and return this past summer. However, I'm not going to pull my fiver all the way from Tucson to Kansas to have the tank & pump moved. It should have been engineered correctly by Quadra in the first place.

Mike

Mike
ljr
Nomad
Sep 28, 2016
ljr wrote:
Bob Vaughn wrote:
ljr wrote:
I just talked to Quadra Tech Support (again). They said they changed their new installs to avoid this problem. The tank and pump are now inside the frame. I have a service appointment coming up NuWa (aka: Kansas RV Center) in Chanute. I'm waiting to hear if they can move mine while I'm there.

What do you do if your frame is enclosed and you have tanks on the inside of the frame?

Good question. Only the front portion of mine around the tanks is fully enclosed. I'm hoping there is room for the move in the rear but I haven't heard from NuWa yet.

I'm talking to Eric at Quadra/Bigfoot Technical Support and Daryl at the Kansas RV Center Service Department.

I just left KRC. They found room INSIDE my tank enclosure for the pump/tank assemblies. I think (hope) my problems are over. If you have the facilities to make custom hoses and modify the belly enclosure it doesn't seem like a big job. I don't. KRC does.
ljr
Nomad
Aug 29, 2016
I have an appointment at KRC next month to move my pump/tank assemblies back and inside the frame with longer hoses. I'll post when it's done and everything works (or doesn't).
RECVEH2005
Explorer
Aug 28, 2016
Before leaving for Montana for the summer, I applied Gorilla Tape to the openings in the rear jack enclosures. When I get home in September, I'll remove the enclosures to check if I solved the problem. As I said previously in this thread; good idea, poor execution.

Mike
ljr
Nomad
Aug 27, 2016
Bob Vaughn wrote:
ljr wrote:
I just talked to Quadra Tech Support (again). They said they changed their new installs to avoid this problem. The tank and pump are now inside the frame. I have a service appointment coming up NuWa (aka: Kansas RV Center) in Chanute. I'm waiting to hear if they can move mine while I'm there.

What do you do if your frame is enclosed and you have tanks on the inside of the frame?

Good question. Only the front portion of mine around the tanks is fully enclosed. I'm hoping there is room for the move in the rear but I haven't heard from NuWa yet.

I'm talking to Eric at Quadra/Bigfoot Technical Support and Daryl at the Kansas RV Center Service Department.
Bob_Vaughn
Explorer
Aug 27, 2016
ljr wrote:
I just talked to Quadra Tech Support (again). They said they changed their new installs to avoid this problem. The tank and pump are now inside the frame. I have a service appointment coming up NuWa (aka: Kansas RV Center) in Chanute. I'm waiting to hear if they can move mine while I'm there.

What do you do if your frame is enclosed and you have tanks on the inside of the frame?
ljr
Nomad
Aug 26, 2016
I just talked to Quadra Tech Support (again). They said they changed their new installs to avoid this problem. The tank and pump are now inside the frame. I have a service appointment coming up NuWa (aka: Kansas RV Center) in Chanute. I'm waiting to hear if they can move mine while I'm there.
ljr
Nomad
Jun 16, 2016
RECVEH2005 wrote:
ljr:

Before we travel next month, I will try to wrap some plastic grocery bags or something similar (as suggested earlier) around the rear enclosures.

Mike

I plan on trying something like that too.

I have a first rate sheet metal shop nearby. If I can come up with an idea for a better cover, I'm sure they can make it.
RECVEH2005
Explorer
Jun 16, 2016
ljr:

Before we travel next month, I will try to wrap some plastic grocery bags or something similar (as suggested earlier) around the rear enclosures.

Mike

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