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?

With the top removed, you should be able to see/feel the bevel gears, as they are not far below the covers. I would just take some all purpose grease in my fingers and smear on the bevel gears.Don't you or anyone else run the gear motor, with your fingers anywhere near the gears.From your description, it does sound like the shaft driven leg has some binding going on, causing strain on the motor.Jerry

Does the 'inner leg' (pin one) slide up and down easily inside the driven leg?Yes you can just pop cover off top and lube the bevel gears.Have you measured the voltage going to landing gear motor while it is operating?Voltage drop increases amp draw and slower motor operation.

Old-Biscuit wrote:Does the 'inner leg' (pin one) slide up and down easily inside the driven leg?Yes you can just pop cover off top and lube the bevel gears.Have you measured the voltage going to landing gear motor while it is operating?Voltage drop increases amp draw and slower motor operation.The leg extension (with the holes in it) slides easily in both legs. The driven part of the leg appears to slide easily with no weight on it.I haven't measured the voltage. With the driven leg disconnected, the drive leg alone will raise the coach without much straining. From that, I assumed the motor was working fine. The extra load of the driven leg is what appears to be putting it over the edge.My plan is to lube the bevel gears on both sides. If that doesn't do it, I will remove the driven leg and tear it down. If not repairable, I'll have to decide between replacing just that leg or upgrading to a dual motor setup.

MFL wrote:Don't you or anyone else run the gear motor, with your fingers anywhere near the gears.From your description, it does sound like the shaft driven leg has some binding going on, causing strain on the motor.JerryAgreed on both counts!

Yes you should be able to see/feel & apply grease with your finger to the bevel gears, as they are not far below the covers. Your plan sounds like what I would do. I do like the dual motor set up. Measuring the voltage at the motor while lifting is also a good idea as you may have a bad connection causing voltage drop somewhere between the motor & battery. :)

Lubing bevel gears in landing gear legs | Good Sam Community

Garyl53
Explorer
Aug 23, 2016
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
Explorer
Jul 28, 2016
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
Explorer II
Jul 28, 2016
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
Explorer
Jul 27, 2016
Gary-thanks for the post.
Reminded me that I need to lube mine.
filrupmark
Explorer
Jul 26, 2016
I believe these jacks are assembled dry. Ours started squeaking within 6 months. I greased them and what a difference.
Garyl53
Explorer
Jul 25, 2016
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
Explorer
Jul 25, 2016
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
Explorer
Jul 23, 2016
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
Nomad
Jul 22, 2016
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
Nomad
Jul 22, 2016
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.