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dedmiston's avatar
dedmiston
Moderator
Jul 03, 2017

How often do you inspect Level-Up jacks?

I took my trailer back to storage after our last trip and when I got home I noticed one of the foot pads from my 6 point level-up jacks was in the gutter in front of my house. I was lucky it fell off right there at home. The bolt and o-ring were still there, so I figured it would be easy to put back together. I drove back up to the storage lot and tried to put it back together, but I couldn't get the bolt started. The threads must have stripped when it worked itself out. I called Lippert and they told me my choices are to either tap the threads back out or replace the jack. I'll go pick up a tap & die kit and give it a try.

So my question is, how often do you all check the tightness of your foot pads? We've had our fifth wheel for just over a year (out of warranty) and it never crossed my mind to check these foot pads. Is this a common maintenance issue?
  • I have hydraulic front landing gear (rig is prepped for level up) I almost lost one of my pads also, I got the correct tap and a new bolt from fastenal and chased the threads. Lasted about a season and started backing out again so this time I cleaned the threads and used red loctite so far so good. Since you have six i would recommend checking them all. Good luck
  • Had one come off on our way back home from a trip last year. Don't know where or when. Was the type with the pin and retaining wire. Still don't see how it came off. I always check them and it was just fine, and by check I mean walk around and glance at. I still think someone needed one and shopped at my trailer on one of our stops. .
  • GASMAN6674 wrote:
    I have hydraulic front landing gear (rig is prepped for level up) I almost lost one of my pads also, I got the correct tap and a new bolt from fastenal and chased the threads. Lasted about a season and started backing out again so this time I cleaned the threads and used red loctite so far so good. Since you have six i would recommend checking them all. Good luck

    Good idea. Thanks.