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bobbyg123's avatar
bobbyg123
Explorer
Sep 03, 2019

Landing gear question

So after 10+ years of travel trailer ownership, I took delivery of our first 5th wheel on Saturday.

The hitching/unhitching process went pretty smoothly, but I have a question on the landing gear. My F350 isn't lifted, but it has bigger wheels and a fairly tall profile.

During the PDI, the guys at the dealership advised me not to overextend the landing gear past 10-12 holes when unhitching, but that's impossible with my configuration. I'm stacking 5 lynx blocks on each side, and I still have to extend the landing gear pretty far.

It's not a big deal, but it does raise some stability concerns. I'd rather not have the rig balancing like a jenga game if there's another solution. Any thoughts?

16 Replies

  • You definitely can damage the gears by overextending. I had to replace the gears on one leg because of it.
  • Well my link didn’t work. Just look up Andersen block. Looks like a bucket give you 8” to start off with and very stable.
  • Get you a couple of theses. They work great.
    https://andersenhitches.com/Products/3608m--trailer-jack-block.aspx
  • 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

    With the outer legs extended......
    How much can you then drop inner tubes

    I prefer to not have more then 5 holes exposed and use a 6X6 block

    You only need to lift front pin box just high enough to clear the hitch plate (1/8")
    Watch truck bumper----when it stops moving then watch hitch plate
    Stop when Pin Box just lifts off htich plate
    Unlatch/unplug and drive out from under Pin Box
  • You want to run the bigger outer leg out more, and the inner leg with the holes in it, less. I think that is what they were trying to tell you. It's just more stable that way.

    Not everyone agrees with me, but I don't like stacking blocks under my landing gear. It's a topple over waiting to happen. One or two leggo blocks to spread the load is all you need.