Forum Discussion

gb76087's avatar
gb76087
Explorer
Feb 06, 2021

Electric Jacks Lubricant

What is everyone using to lube their electric jacks? Mine tend to bind/stick after sitting for a couple of months.
  • dcmac214 wrote:
    NO! Not WD-40! 1st it's not a lubricant. More important, it'll dry and turn sticky in the process, collecting dust, dirt and whatever, leaving you with a mess to clean off. My go-to is dry silicone spray.


    You're right about WD-40, which is always among the recommendations each time this subject comes up. The "WD" in WD-40 stands for "water displacement"; it was never intended as a lubricant, although it's widely MIS-used for that.

    Not to hi-jack the OP's thread, but our coach has HWH hydraulic jacks installed from the factory, and HWH's position on lubricating their jacks is "DON'T". Just keep 'em clean. Any build-up of any kind of lubricant on the moving parts of the jacks is a dirt-magnet, and the grit on the jacks can destroy the seals over time. HWH says if jacks need repeated lubrication to get them to retract, there's likely to be a problem somewhere - weak retraction springs, etc.
  • My brake is bad on left rear jack. I did a google search on 3010001428(brake kit) and didn't get any hits. Anybody know of a source for a replacement?
  • Dry silicone is what BigFoot Levelers recommends. I spray the jacks with the silicone and wipe them clean and respray again with a light film and leave it like that.
  • I think most of you guys are talking about hydraulic jacks. The OP was asking about electric jacks. Big difference.
  • C20 wrote:
    Wipe them down with Windex and the spray them with WD40 about once a year and they will work perfect


    NO! Not WD-40! 1st it's not a lubricant. More important, it'll dry and turn sticky in the process, collecting dust, dirt and whatever, leaving you with a mess to clean off. My go-to is dry silicone spray.
  • Wipe them down with Windex and the spray them with WD40 about once a year and they will work perfect
  • joelc's avatar
    joelc
    Explorer III
    If you have cylinder like pistons use silicone spray.
  • I have electric jacks on my 2007 Discovery and they were nothing but trouble.The problem was the brakes we getting corroded on the jacks. Power gear had a updated seal kit which I installed. After installing the seal kit and cycling the jack every 30 days I have zero problems.
  • Based on the year I assume they're Atwood Level Legs? If so, there really isn't much you can do without disassembling them. The gearsets are grease lubed, as is the screw part, to some degree.