Happijac lubrication

bigfootford wrote:
I had a couple of degree outward tilt to the passenger front jack....and about a 1 deg on the front drivers....

Think about this....If you raise the camper way up you will begin to notice a bit of binding of the jacks....and if you lower the camper all the way down It will really bind. This is really a serious issue, especially if you have more than 1 deg tilt in any direction. You will not notice any issue if you never lower the camper way down....
Jim

I'm glad you brought this subject up. After watching how the jacks work during raising and lower, it's obvious that there is considerable stress on the legs, unless the legs are extended and retracted at exactly the same rate. From my experience that never happens, they always travel at different rates. So, what you've got are four (mostly) perpendicular posts attached to a "box". When the legs travel at different speeds, or have different extension lengths in relation to the "box", they will "crab". For instance, if you raise only the front two legs, the feet of these two legs will try to move forward since the front of the "box" is rising and moving the vertical plane to the rear at the top, and to the front at the bottom. If you notice that when you position the "box" on the truck bed and lower it, the legs will often shift and relax into an unrestrained position, indicating that there was stress on the legs. Conclusion: have any significant difference in uniformity of leg extension will cause stress on the legs and that stress will be transferred to the "box". I always try (usually unsuccessfully) to raise / lower the legs at the same rate and same amount.