Bigfoot Leveling System Problems

[RECVEH2005]

Over the past 3 years, water has gotten into my two rear jack reservoirs, displacing the hydraulic fluid. It just cost me well over $500 to have them purged and and refilled with fluid.

The repairing facility couldn't tell me how water could have gotten into the reservoirs. I called the manufacturer; they couldn't shed any light on the situation either.

Have any of you folks with a Bigfoot leveling system experienced this problem? Do you have any ideas what could be causing this? Yes, we have hauled our fiver during rainstorms.

Note: There are factory-installed mud flaps behind the rear wheels (and in front of the jack systems) of my fifth-wheel; might they have anything to do with the problem?

Mike

[ljr]

RECVEH2005 wrote:
ljr:

I hope that KRC solved the problem for you. My temporary Gorilla Tape application (which doesn't look too great) seems to have worked OK on our trip to Montana and return this past summer. However, I'm not going to pull my fiver all the way from Tucson to Kansas to have the tank & pump moved. It should have been engineered correctly by Quadra in the first place.

Mike

Mike

I stop at KRC once per year anyway so it was no hardship for me. They told me that the installation instructions from Quadra hadn't changed since my Hitchhiker was built. I wonder what they'll do if somebody shows up wanting a new BF install.

[RECVEH2005]

ljr:

I hope that KRC solved the problem for you. My temporary Gorilla Tape application (which doesn't look too great) seems to have worked OK on our trip to Montana and return this past summer. However, I'm not going to pull my fiver all the way from Tucson to Kansas to have the tank & pump moved. It should have been engineered correctly by Quadra in the first place.

Mike

Mike

[ljr]

ljr wrote:

Bob Vaughn wrote:

ljr wrote:
I just talked to Quadra Tech Support (again). They said they changed their new installs to avoid this problem. The tank and pump are now inside the frame. I have a service appointment coming up NuWa (aka: Kansas RV Center) in Chanute. I'm waiting to hear if they can move mine while I'm there.

What do you do if your frame is enclosed and you have tanks on the inside of the frame?

Good question. Only the front portion of mine around the tanks is fully enclosed. I'm hoping there is room for the move in the rear but I haven't heard from NuWa yet.

I'm talking to Eric at Quadra/Bigfoot Technical Support and Daryl at the Kansas RV Center Service Department.

I just left KRC. They found room INSIDE my tank enclosure for the pump/tank assemblies. I think (hope) my problems are over. If you have the facilities to make custom hoses and modify the belly enclosure it doesn't seem like a big job. I don't. KRC does.

[ljr]

I have an appointment at KRC next month to move my pump/tank assemblies back and inside the frame with longer hoses. I'll post when it's done and everything works (or doesn't).

[RECVEH2005]

Before leaving for Montana for the summer, I applied Gorilla Tape to the openings in the rear jack enclosures. When I get home in September, I'll remove the enclosures to check if I solved the problem. As I said previously in this thread; good idea, poor execution.

Mike

[ljr]

Bob Vaughn wrote:

ljr wrote:
I just talked to Quadra Tech Support (again). They said they changed their new installs to avoid this problem. The tank and pump are now inside the frame. I have a service appointment coming up NuWa (aka: Kansas RV Center) in Chanute. I'm waiting to hear if they can move mine while I'm there.

What do you do if your frame is enclosed and you have tanks on the inside of the frame?

Good question. Only the front portion of mine around the tanks is fully enclosed. I'm hoping there is room for the move in the rear but I haven't heard from NuWa yet.

I'm talking to Eric at Quadra/Bigfoot Technical Support and Daryl at the Kansas RV Center Service Department.

[Bob_Vaughn]

ljr wrote:
I just talked to Quadra Tech Support (again). They said they changed their new installs to avoid this problem. The tank and pump are now inside the frame. I have a service appointment coming up NuWa (aka: Kansas RV Center) in Chanute. I'm waiting to hear if they can move mine while I'm there.

What do you do if your frame is enclosed and you have tanks on the inside of the frame?

[ljr]

I just talked to Quadra Tech Support (again). They said they changed their new installs to avoid this problem. The tank and pump are now inside the frame. I have a service appointment coming up NuWa (aka: Kansas RV Center) in Chanute. I'm waiting to hear if they can move mine while I'm there.

[ljr]

RECVEH2005 wrote:
ljr:

Before we travel next month, I will try to wrap some plastic grocery bags or something similar (as suggested earlier) around the rear enclosures.

Mike

I plan on trying something like that too.

I have a first rate sheet metal shop nearby. If I can come up with an idea for a better cover, I'm sure they can make it.

[RECVEH2005]

ljr:

Before we travel next month, I will try to wrap some plastic grocery bags or something similar (as suggested earlier) around the rear enclosures.

Mike

[ljr]

RECVEH2005 wrote:
I'm the original poster.

I want to say again that the Bigfoot system is in most ways excellent. However, not having the rear jack mechanism enclosures designed to keep water out is a major flaw. The factory representative wasn't able to offer a fix. As I said earlier, on a future fifth wheel, I will look for a different system.

Mike

I agree completely. Though Quadra has always tried to be helpful when I've asked for advice on repairs, they have never offered any hope at all for a permanent fix.

[RECVEH2005]

I'm the original poster.

I want to say again that the Bigfoot system is in most ways excellent. However, not having the rear jack mechanism enclosures designed to keep water out is a major flaw. The factory representative wasn't able to offer a fix. As I said earlier, on a future fifth wheel, I will look for a different system.

Mike

[ljr]

jnharley wrote:
We just had this problem too (after seeing and responding to this thread). One of our rear levelers would not deploy and the reservoir contained pink fluid. We were able to fix it ourselves with a few parts-a funnel with a long tube and a manual pump used to remove oil from outboard motors. We called Quadra a couple of times for advice because we also needed to purge air from the hydraulic lines since we removed and drained them. It was a easy but messy repair and with the reusable pump and funnel plus the ATF fluid and shop supplies we spent about $75. We had to flush the reservoir about 4 times to get out all the contaminated fluid. It really is helpful if you have a person assisting you.

What I have done several times is to remove the reservoir entirely. That makes it much easier to clean out. There are 2 large Allen screws on the inside of the bracket that hold the pump in place. If you remove them it gives you enough play to get the reservoir out and expose the in and out screens. I've always found that the screens needed cleaned too. I do that with alcohol and let it air dry.

As you probably know, it's important not to overfill the reservoir or it will overflow when you raise the jack.

[jnharley]

By the way, because of this thread, we knew exactly what the issue was. We had never seen or heard of anyone before having this problem with their Big Foot system. And Quadra was very helpful. We even called their after hours person who was very pleasant and helpful.