Forum Discussion

Cougarnewbie's avatar
Cougarnewbie
Explorer
Mar 21, 2017

landing leg out of sync.

Just got the Cougar out of storage. When we hooked up and retracted the landing legs the driver side leg retracted. (where the motor is) The curb side retracted intermittantly, Enough that I could lift the inner tube and bring it home. We had the same problem last year. Went to the dealer thinking we would replace whole leg. They "synchronized" the leg and we went all season. I am thinking of unhooking the crossover and using a cordless drill to equalize both sides. The dealer is 80 miles away and I can do in my drive what they did. Just wondering if anyone has done this. Looking for any suggestions. (( Bevel gear stripped. Going to the shop))
  • I have not done that, but don't know why it wouldn't work. At this point, I would be wondering why this is happening, and be looking for an issue, before it becomes a bigger problem.

    Jerry
  • My question would be how did it get out of sync? Sounds like a drive pin has broken or something is stripped out.
  • I have disconnected the tube to even up the legs due to the bolt coming out. But before you get too involved, you should locate what caused the legs to get out of sync. They are solidly connected and somewhere that connection is no longer working as it should. My guess would be the spur gear operating the screw for the leg.
  • IMO, there's a bevel gear slipping inside the gearbox, causing this. Given the pot metal or plastic they tend to use, you just aren't hearing the gears slipping. Could just be one tooth that's bad and, after a while, the "gap" becomes noticeable.

    Lyle
  • I think the dealer just replaced the shear bolt, and now it is repaired. Not the current question.

    As I read the question, OP is wondering if he can remove the cross-over drive shaft, and go on living with independent level legs.

    And the answer is clearly yes, you could do that. But are you sure you want to? I have often camped where I needed 10 inches of leg travel to level the rig. So I would have to run the legs out to support the trailer while I unhitched from the truck, and then need 10 inches of travel to get level. Would I want to have to go back and forth between left/right legs with a cordless drill, a little at a time on each? Does not sound like a good idea to me.

    What does sound like a better idea is to remove the equalizing drive shaft, and install a second motor on the off side. Then wire in a separate switch. Then you could depress both switches for fast travel, get them down near the ground together, then fine tune your level using the switches. You would also benefit from double the driving power. But cordless drill and running side to side? Nope.
  • Obviously I misunderstood that this was a current issue.

    But I will offer this. There are recent threads about lubricating the leadscrews in your landing gear. You might want to find them and consider doing that maintenance. Unlikely that your dealer will do it.
  • I'm fairly sure the leg that's hanging up has a bad gear. Only way to make sure is by disassembly. You can get by with a bottle jack and wood blocks to compensate for a while.