Landing gear/jack problem

[dryfly]

One landing gear on my 5th wheel has began to make a terrible noise. Sounds as though it is binding when lowering or raising the trailer, and is coming from one of the 2 1/2" square tubes located inside the storage compartment.

I pulled the top cover from the tube and apparently the two gears are in good condition and are turning. In fact, I believe the assembly is still raising and lowering the trailer, but the binding sound is so severe I hesitate to do this because something is going to give.

I have worked on just about everything on a trailer but not these assemblies. Any idea where I might find a diagram of whats inside the square tube? From a little searching, these legs may not be re-buildable but may require replacement of the entire leg.

Any help or ideas appreciated.

[bpounds]

Roger10378 wrote:
Look at this on Utube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emcOISsW2PA&t=20s

I can't believe that guy thinks he needs that much grease. He's just going to end up with a mess.

This guy has a better idea, IF you want to remove the legs. Myself, I drilled a couple of holes and lube without any disassembly.

Landing Gear Lube

The first few minutes of this one is a pretty good idea too.

Landing Gear Lube 2

[laknox]

dryfly wrote:
One landing gear on my 5th wheel has began to make a terrible noise. Sounds as though it is binding when lowering or raising the trailer, and is coming from one of the 2 1/2" square tubes located inside the storage compartment.

I pulled the top cover from the tube and apparently the two gears are in good condition and are turning. In fact, I believe the assembly is still raising and lowering the trailer, but the binding sound is so severe I hesitate to do this because something is going to give.

I have worked on just about everything on a trailer but not these assemblies. Any idea where I might find a diagram of whats inside the square tube? From a little searching, these legs may not be re-buildable but may require replacement of the entire leg.

Any help or ideas appreciated.

First, make sure the leg isn't bent. Frankly, if it is, you'd likely have the noise go away both above and below the bend. If it's straight, then try lubing the jack screw. Most jacks seem not to have zerks, though they'll likely have =some= lube, or =should= have. If the jack screw appears dry or doesn't seem to have much lube on it, then grease away! :B OTOH, given that a jack leg doesn't cost all that much, might be a whole lot easier to just replace the leg with a new one, take apart the old one to see what's wrong and, if it's OK, put it on the shelf as a spare. One thing that I =really= like about my KZ having the auto-level is that each front jack has its own motor, which makes raising and lowering about 3x faster, at least! :B

Lyle

[filrupmark]

Try greasing them. Mine has 2 zerks each. Ours started squeeking real loud only after 5 or 6 trips. Greased them and they have been fine for 3 years now.

[dryfly]

I should have known to look on YouTube first. My mistake as there is always all kind of good info on there.

Yes it may be bent, but here is the kicker. I extended my landing gear all the way up and down while winterizing my trailer. I lower the front end all the way down to drain water lines. This means I am using a part of the internal threaded rod that I seldom ever use in normal lowering or raising of the trailer.

Second, I am guilty of having never properly maintained (lubricating) the rods. So I think what may be the case for me is the part of the threaded rod I am encountering that is making the noise has corroded and may be binding on the nut.

I could get real lucky and be able to lubricate the rod and get it working again by using the technique in the video suggested in the post above.

Now to go to work on it. Thanks for the help!!

[Veebyes]

You may have bent the leg. There is not much inside besides the telescoping leg. Been there. Replaced that. No need to replace motor.

You might be better off replacing the whole unit. They are not expensive. Should not be hard to remove either. Either leave on the truck while doing work or transfer weight on leg side to blocks & bottle jack to frame.

If your bevel gear is OK from the original keep it as spare. Sooner or later it will be needed.

[Roger10378]

Look at this on Utube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emcOISsW2PA&t=20s

[dryfly]

sjturbo wrote:
I'm not an expert by any means. I had the same binding issue. Mine was my fault. The inside consisted of a captive nut that the threaded rod moves up and down through. If the rod, or the square tubing gets tweaked, (even a slight bend), it will start to bind. That results in an increased load on the motor and drawing more amperage and blowing the fuse. Worse is the stress it puts on the threaded rod. That can result in the rod breaking,(which mine did) with very dangerous results. I would not hesitate to replace the leg!! Those legs are lifting a lot of weight!! I increased my weight by going from 1 70lb battery to 4 63lb batteries. Hope this helps!

That is exactly how I pictured the inside mechanism to be. I still have not found a drawing to substantiate the exact configuration though. I was hoping that I could take it apart and replace the rod or lubricate it where it goes through a captured nut. May not be possible.

Probably calling Lippert might be a start.

[sjturbo]

I'm not an expert by any means. I had the same binding issue. Mine was my fault. The inside consisted of a captive nut that the threaded rod moves up and down through. If the rod, or the square tubing gets tweaked, (even a slight bend), it will start to bind. That results in an increased load on the motor and drawing more amperage and blowing the fuse. Worse is the stress it puts on the threaded rod. That can result in the rod breaking,(which mine did) with very dangerous results. I would not hesitate to replace the leg!! Those legs are lifting a lot of weight!! I increased my weight by going from 1 70lb battery to 4 63lb batteries. Hope this helps!

[agesilaus]

Have you seen this page? Not much there but it looks like two pinon gears.

Ah way down the page is a drawing.

Hope this helps some.

BK