Lubing bevel gears in landing gear legs

[Njmurvin]

I believe my landing gear are the standard Lippert type. I have the single motor system. The landing gear motor sounds like it's working way too hard to lift the front of the trailer. I have already drilled holes just above the first leg support bracket on each side and injected white lithium grease onto the leadscrew. While still on the truck, I ran the gear up and down several times and things quieted down significantly with no load on the gear. With the load of the trailer, it is definitely improved after lubing (doesn't stop and trip the breaker or break the shaft bolt). However, I think it's still moaning and groaning more than it should and the motor seems to be straining an awful lot. Before I bite the bullet and install a dual motor system (Bulldog, etc.), I thought I would try to lube the bevel gears at the tops of the legs. Can I just pry the top caps of the legs off with a screwdriver and squirt some lube down from the top?

FWIW, when the bolt had sheared off on the shaft going to the trail leg, I was able to easily raise the trailer using just the lead leg (fairly quiet with little strain on the motor). Doesn't this suggest there's an issue in the trail leg?

[Garyl53]

I was able to pry the tops off the legs and was able to apply additional grease to the gears. I also was able to spray a small amount of Lithium grease inside the legs. The result of this is quite good and the sound from the mechanisms working is quite a bit quieter and sounds very smooth. Thanks for the tip on this.

[rjsurfer]

Garyl53 wrote:
Thanks for the tips. I will check this out this week.
I also noticed the gear box was very loose. Assume this is normal.

Normal, motor/gear assembly floats a bit.

Ron W

[B_O__Plenty]

Njmurvin wrote:

Garyl53 wrote:
I am fighting the same issue on my Lippert landing gear. I was searching for zerks or access points just yesterday but I found none. Please let us know how you make out with his issue. It wasn't obvious how you could pry the top off the legs but I will take another look.
Thanks

Caps were simple to pry off. I put my fingers in there and there was already a hefty amount of grease on the bevel gears. I squirted some more lithium spray lube onto the leadscrew through the holes I had drilled. The jacks still creak and moan on the way up but the strain on the motor is vastly reduced. I will use it this way for a while and monitor closely. I did notice that the gearbox reducer on the drive leg seems a bit loose. The motor is tight against the gearbox, but the gearbox has a bit of play in it where it attaches to the leg and there is some movement when you first push the button and torque is applied. Is this normal?

Normal for the gearbox to move around.

B.O.

[soje]

Gary-thanks for the post.
Reminded me that I need to lube mine.

[filrupmark]

I believe these jacks are assembled dry. Ours started squeaking within 6 months. I greased them and what a difference.

[Garyl53]

Thanks for the tips. I will check this out this week.
I also noticed the gear box was very loose. Assume this is normal.

[Njmurvin]

Garyl53 wrote:
I am fighting the same issue on my Lippert landing gear. I was searching for zerks or access points just yesterday but I found none. Please let us know how you make out with his issue. It wasn't obvious how you could pry the top off the legs but I will take another look.
Thanks

Caps were simple to pry off. I put my fingers in there and there was already a hefty amount of grease on the bevel gears. I squirted some more lithium spray lube onto the leadscrew through the holes I had drilled. The jacks still creak and moan on the way up but the strain on the motor is vastly reduced. I will use it this way for a while and monitor closely. I did notice that the gearbox reducer on the drive leg seems a bit loose. The motor is tight against the gearbox, but the gearbox has a bit of play in it where it attaches to the leg and there is some movement when you first push the button and torque is applied. Is this normal?

[aruba5er]

I removed the covers, placed cardboard and oil dry by the legs and dumped in a qt of sae 90 gear lube. quited right down. so a little clean up. big deal.

[bpounds]

Mine is cranking really well after I did all that lube a while back. And on our trip last weekend it got a workout, because of the out-of-level site. Had to run the legs nearly full travel. And did it twice, because I still wasn't happy with the position. Oh well, cranked well and saved battery juice too due to the reduced friction.

The one thing left that I would like to get to is lubing the gears in the gearmotor itself. I just haven't done the research to see what I will be dealing with. Want to make sure it is not oil lubed before I open it up, but I believe it is simply a pinion gear reduction. Won't surprise me if those gears are nylon.

[bpounds]

If it is like mine, there is a simple sheet metal cap snapped into the top of the leg, which just keeps dust out of the gears. A small screwdriver will pop the covers out. You can sorta see the edge of it in the first pic below.

Also, while you are greasing your bevel gears, get some grease where the shafts rotate through the legs. A good penetrating chain and cable spray is better for that, because it will wick into the bronze bearings. Ask for a motorcycle chain spray lube. You can see one point of several where I applied it in the second pic below. Heavier grease is appropriate for the bevel gear teeth.

[Garyl53]

I am fighting the same issue on my Lippert landing gear. I was searching for zerks or access points just yesterday but I found none. Please let us know how you make out with his issue. It wasn't obvious how you could pry the top off the legs but I will take another look.
Thanks

[fj12ryder]

The zerks don't really make much sense since they won't get grease onto the screw. Unless you pump enough grease in there to build up on the top of the inner leg, it will just clump up on the inside of the leg. Spray grease is a much better solution.

IMO these single motor systems just don't have the power to work very well with the heavier 5th wheel/toyhaulers.

[Njmurvin]

filrupmark wrote:
Our Lippert landing gear has two zerks within 6 inches from the top on both sides.

The new ones appear to have zerks. Mine definitely has no holes whatsoever for lubing the leadscrew. I had to drill a 3/8" hole about 8" down from the top of the tube. I did this on both legs and squirted quite a bit of white lithium grease into the hole using the straw and pointing it up and down in the hole. Then I ran the gear up and down a few times with no load on it (trailer on truck). That process spreads the lube onto the leadscrew. But I don't think lube makes it to the bevel gears when you do this. That's why I want to lube them from the top.

[filrupmark]

Our Lippert landing gear has two zerks within 6 inches from the top on both sides.