Landing gear hard to raise under load

Question

Hello, I'm new to RVing and don't know what to expect from landing gears and I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with mine. I know electrically there is a problem that seems to be with the motor, it goes when it wants to and I know it's getting power. What I don't understand is why is it so hard to hand crank under load. I broke the plastic gearbox tab while trying to crank it up. Without a load it freely goes up and down. I thought maybe there was too much weight because maybe the trailer was trying to pivot on the third axle back and because I have 265 instead of 245 tires that the truck calls for. But I found that I can easily jack up the truck and trailer with the little worm drive jack the truck came with then lower the trailer onto the extended landing pads. So, I'm not sure how easily these are supposed to crank up by hand. And if it's supposed to be easy does it mean the gears set is the problem or do I need new legs too?

md_procouple · Answer

I just had to replace the Left landing gear on my 5'er, due bto a stripped worm gear inside the leg. I found that replacing it was not that big of a deal. If you need the plastic gear box, that also is not a big deal. You can buy them direct from Lippert or get them from E-Trailer, (Stromberg/Carlson Brand). It shouldn't take more than 2 hours to replace both parts. To make it easier to do,  Mount the camper on the truck as if moving, (Make sure its locked on to the truck, you should then have room to remove the landing gear etc. and replace with the new stuff. There is  good video on how to do it on You tube ....www.Love Your Rv ....  Good Luck and Happy Camping !!

donn0128 · Answer

You need to figure out what brand landing gear you have.  Most are driven by a single motor, but can easily be converted to dual motor

stefonius · Answer

I struggled with this exact same problem.  It turned out to be voltage drop due to the 15 feet of 10 gauge wire that fed power to the motor after going through the switch.  I installed a 50 amp reversing relay, powered by 4 gauge wire directly to the power block that feeds the slideout pump.  Now the run from relay to pump is less than 3 feet of 10 gauge, and it no longer struggles and stalls under load.

fj12ryder · Answer

It sounds like you have a triple axle, knowing what you have makes it easier to try and help.

I put the Bulldog Dual Motor System on my triple axle toyhauler, and it made all the difference. Mine had gotten so bad it barely would raise the toyhauler at all. Just too weak of a system for the weight of the trailer.

njmurvin · Answer

I had a similar issue and was ready to purchase a dual motor setup. Then I read a post describing the process to lubricate the worm gears in the legs. I drilled a 3/8" hole in each leg (taking care not to contact the worm gear with the drill bit). Then I sprayed lithium grease inside the tubes while running the legs up and down (no load with trailer on truck). It still makes a bit of noise under stress but lifts the trailer without breaking a sweat or the sacrificial bolt on the follow (non-motorized) leg. I just use some electrical tape to cover the hole to keep dust out. You can also lube the bevel gears at the top of the legs but mine were already sufficiently lubed. Just pop off the caps from tops of the legs to gain access to the bevel gears to check them.

Link to thread discussing this

Forum Discussion

Landing gear hard to raise under load

7 Replies

About Fifth Wheel Group

Related Content

Raising Trailer

raising ride height

Help raising 5th wheel landing jacks

Raising our 5er

Landing Gear won't raise or lower.