Hydraulic vs Electric Landing Gear

One thing I noticed with the Jayco is that each of the six jacks has its own separate motor. This could be an asset if one breaks. The front ones are accessible through the propane doors so working on them should be easy.

My .02

My 2003 Cardinal had electric landing gear.
my 2013 Cedar Creek has Hydraulic 6 point level up.

I would never go back to electric.



C.B.

C.B. wrote:
My .02

My 2003 Cardinal had electric landing gear.
my 2013 Cedar Creek has Hydraulic 6 point level up.

I would never go back to electric.



C.B.

Same here, we had an '08 Montana Mountaineer and an '11 Montana both with electric landing gear. Our '15 MS has the 6 point level up system, love the hydraulic system.

Dan

yep, my automatic hydraulic system was great, until it wasn't.
bumpy

Bumpyroad wrote:
yep, my automatic hydraulic system was great, until it wasn't.
bumpy

Hydraulic is great until it starts to leak or a solenoid sticks. Just look at tractors and backhoes or any hydraulic system. After a while the cylinders start to leak down. And they are better cylinders than what comes on RV's. I'll stick with electric.
I know of a case where one of the front hydraulic jacks failed on a fiver. Guess what, both cylinders are tied together. The front end went from level to sitting on the ground. While trying to get it level the frig was still running. That was the end of the cooling unit for the frig.

My dealer guy says hydraulic are better but also more expensive.

Racine96 wrote:
My dealer guy says hydraulic are better but also more expensive.

more expensive, that means the dealer makes more $$ if he sells them?
bumpy

The thread heading says landing gear then asks about 6 point leveling system. Which is it? Many older electric landing gear had one motor/gearbox for the landing gear while the new leveling systems use individual motor/gearbox for each jack.

My auto level system is electric and works great. The length of time for it to level depends on how far off it is when I push the auto level button. Sometimes it seems it takes a bit for the computer to figure out what is what and then soft dirt will make it rethink also. On concrete or hard surface usually by the time I get the power cord out and hooked up it is done leveling. Soft dirt or way out of level I may beat it.

I never have to worry about leak down of the hydraulics, no oil leaks, no stuck valves, no bad hose ends or hoses and since usually only one jack operates once jacks hit the ground I'm gonna guess less load on the battery at any one time.

I've just had mine a year and only used it maybe 15-20 times but it makes me smile every time I push the auto level button then remove the power cord and water hose to do my part while it does it's magic. Ultimately either system should work well, buy the trailer you really want and take the system it comes with. You will smile either way.

Bumpyroad wrote:
yep, my automatic hydraulic system was great, until it wasn't.
bumpy

And so it would be with electric until it isn't, they are all great when they are working properly. If you have issues with any I'm sure its a pain though I do believe a hyd cylinder would be cheaper to replace if necessary than an electric one. Plus the hyd is much faster!

j2catfish wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

j2catfish wrote:
Had both, really like hydraulic better. My old electric front jacks were over loaded from the factory so I bought a second motor and wired it so that the front jacks could be controlled by themselves. (Removed the cross over bar).

WAS THIS an electric jack issue or a construction/design issue?
bumpy

I'd say a design problem, but I could have overloaded the front compartment. Some people have been known to do that! The original motor might have been marginal because the problem went away when I added the second motor and gear box. YMMV.
Catfish

World of difference... front landing gear on one motor or leveling system. The only thing in common is electric.

Electric system... computer computes and sends power directly to individual jacks. Pro: less to go wrong? Con: mice?
Hydraulic system... computer computes and send signal to solenoids to operate pump and valves to send hydraulic fluid to individual jacks. Pro: More robust? Cons: mice?