Landing gear question

Just a note, the drop legs are 31" long and I wouldn't extend them to the last hole, which on mine, is 4" from the end of the leg. If I remember, there are 16 or 17 holes above the foot, depending on what type of foot you have. With that set-up, you're going to have to be careful about how level of a campsite you get. If you get a downhill campsite, you're not going to be able to drop the front enough to get the trailer level, and it's no fun to have to put jacks under the frame and have to reset the frot jacks so you can lower it more, trust me, been there done that. You'll also have to watch the clearance between the trailer and the back of you r truck bed. If you have a sharp downhill, your trailer may contact the truck bed. I had that happen and my truck isn't even lifted. If you have a Ground Control 3.0 Auto-Levelling system, you'll get a fault code if it is out of range.

My legs came with a red line for max extend with the motor....I had to mark a line for the max retract.

laknox wrote:

Since you have autolevel...

Don't know if you meant me, or the OP, but I'm a simple man. No auto-level for me. If the OP has it, he didn't mention it. Maybe that just gives you 6 EOT's to worry about.

Just thought I would add this though - fuses and shear pins aren't the only thing easily damaged. I just replaced this gear box this weekend. The new one is AL, so hopefully it won't just move the damage to another part, like bevel gears for example.

bpounds wrote:
Loaded or not, you risk blowing the fuse at end of travel. So be quick to get off the button. Be prepared with spare fuses. I've blown a few. Then finally replaced it with an auto-reset breaker that fit the existing socket. But you still need to get off that button quick when finding end of travel. Sneak up on it, don't just slam it. Use your hand crank if desired.

I've never reached full extend, even without using blocks. But I've hit end of retract by not paying attention, even though I marked it with paint.

Since you have autolevel, a full retract shouldn't be an issue with "running into the stops" damaging anything. My LCI system fully retracts the jacks "to the stops" automatically and without damage. I've not tried extending them fully to see if the autolevel system will stop them. As for extending, using the manual crank when you get near the end, is probably an excellent idea.

Lyle

Loaded or not, you risk blowing the fuse at end of travel. So be quick to get off the button. Be prepared with spare fuses. I've blown a few. Then finally replaced it with an auto-reset breaker that fit the existing socket. But you still need to get off that button quick when finding end of travel. Sneak up on it, don't just slam it. Use your hand crank if desired.

I've never reached full extend, even without using blocks. But I've hit end of retract by not paying attention, even though I marked it with paint.

dryfly wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
With 5vr still hitched

Raise the Inner tubes up fully
Extend the Outer tubes until you hear then click/clack
Retract then 1" and paint a RED Line -----that is the MAX extension you want to do so you do not damage drive nut/shaft/gears

Are you saying that fully extending the outer legs (without any load on them) until they make a noise, will not damage the gears?

YES .....
W/O a LOAD on them they will chatter...stop when they do
THen RETRACT at least 1" and MARK the outer tube.
THen you can Lift under load to that mark W/O reaching full extend and cause damage

dryfly wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
With 5vr still hitched

Raise the Inner tubes up fully
Extend the Outer tubes until you hear then click/clack
Retract then 1" and paint a RED Line -----that is the MAX extension you want to do so you do not damage drive nut/shaft/gears

Are you saying that fully extending the outer legs (without any load on them) until they make a noise, will not damage the gears?

In my experience, over-running to the point of making noise has caused the fuse to blow and/or the bolt on the crossbar to shear. I suppose you have to find out the limit so you can mark it when totally extended but be ready to repair something if/when you do.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
With 5vr still hitched

Raise the Inner tubes up fully
Extend the Outer tubes until you hear then click/clack
Retract then 1" and paint a RED Line -----that is the MAX extension you want to do so you do not damage drive nut/shaft/gears

Are you saying that fully extending the outer legs (without any load on them) until they make a noise, will not damage the gears?

Ok guys, thanks for the feedback.

To clarify, it sounds you're suggesting that I fully retract and pin the manual locking section of the gear, and then lower the powered landing gear with the motor. Is that right?

During the PDI, I seem to recall the dealer saying to raise the motorized landing gear to the "dust line" when I was hitching up, so I guess I forgot to power them down a ways when I was unhitching.

Maybe you can learn from my mistake on this one - when overextending, I sheared off a bolt in the square tube that runs horizontally through the storage area and transfers power to the passenger side jack (I'm assuming a common setup with one motor on the driver's side). Anyway, the bolt is a planned failure point so you don't break more expensive things. I now carry spare bolts to prevent being stranded somewhere if it ever happens again. Where is also a fuse that can blow when you overextend. Be sure you carry some spares of that as well.