Rear Landing Gear Clearance???

[bowler1]

Hi,
I have been asking a lot of questions lately and appreciate the help. I just bought my first 5th wheel.

I have an Open Range 371MBH. After I got it home my wife commented to me on just how low the rear landing gear are when in the fully raised position. I only have about 7 inches of clearance between them and the ground. That seems very low. When I back into my driveway which is a extremely slight incline they are almost touching the ground.

I called my dealer and he said this was normal and that they would never be an issue and that they were not adjustable. They appear to be adjustable since they have multiple mounting holes. They are Lippert Strong Arms.

Shouldn't I have more clearance than this? Is my dealer BSing me when he says they are not adjustable?

thanks
Matt

[laknox]

Campinghoss@51 wrote:

shadows4 wrote:
I have a buddy who just took delivery of an new 5th wheel with the six point leveling system. He was concerned with the clearance of his rear jacks. He had the dealer raise them before accepting delivery. The first time out he ran into a problem. He had to put blocks under the rear stabilizers because they wouldn't lower far enough. Op'er, something to consider.

Good point as well. I have been to a few cg's that site we had was sloped and if jacks had been any higher we would have run out of stroke too.

I have a real issue with the programming logic of the LCI leveling system (assuming it's common between systems), in that it almost always levels =up=, and not down. I had an issue in front of my house when the RR jack ran out of stroke. The L side of my FW was noticeably unweighted, so why doesn't the logic measure the off-level numbers, the strokes and pressures on all jacks, then try =lowering= the entire rig to see if it will level. Hell, I could probably write a programming flow-chart to do this in about 30 minutes. In my case, my rig was off by < 1 degree and the L side had been lifted at least 2".

Lyle

[fj12ryder]

Has the OP been back to clarify how his rear stabilizers work? Or whether he has a leveling system?

[memtb]

As we boondock quite a bit, and experience some pretty irregular terrain....our jacks are pretty high for additional clearance. Carrying 4 large wood blocks in the truck bed....is “standard operating procedure “!

[nayther]

shadows4 wrote:
I have a buddy who just took delivery of an new 5th wheel with the six point leveling system. He was concerned with the clearance of his rear jacks. He had the dealer raise them before accepting delivery. The first time out he ran into a problem. He had to put blocks under the rear stabilizers because they wouldn't lower far enough. Op'er, something to consider.

I'd rather add a block then bend a jack.

[Campinghoss]

shadows4 wrote:
I have a buddy who just took delivery of an new 5th wheel with the six point leveling system. He was concerned with the clearance of his rear jacks. He had the dealer raise them before accepting delivery. The first time out he ran into a problem. He had to put blocks under the rear stabilizers because they wouldn't lower far enough. Op'er, something to consider.

Good point as well. I have been to a few cg's that site we had was sloped and if jacks had been any higher we would have run out of stroke too.

[shadows4]

I have a buddy who just took delivery of an new 5th wheel with the six point leveling system. He was concerned with the clearance of his rear jacks. He had the dealer raise them before accepting delivery. The first time out he ran into a problem. He had to put blocks under the rear stabilizers because they wouldn't lower far enough. Op'er, something to consider.

[Campinghoss]

Mine are about 9.5 inches on the rear. The middle stabilizers are about the same. I never have had a problem. They are so close to the front and rear of the tires it would take a heck of a incline to hit them. I have the 6 point system that accounts for the middle stabilizers.

[laknox]

I've seen a lot of MHs with "fold-away" leveling jacks. Don't know why they don't use something like that on trailers, too. Oh, wait, might cost $10 to do so. 😞

Lyle

[memtb]

The closer to the trailing axle tire...the better. Our rear hydraulic leveler ( foot/base) is approximately 4” from the tire. You would have to drop into a hole or encounter a very steep grade for it to make contact.
If your “must” remain where they are....perhaps a full-length roller across rear frame members, may save the leveler!

[Road_Phantom]

bent one of mine because of the same problem and had to replace it. my new trailer is even worse with little clearance. If I lose these I'm replacing them with finger jacks.

[laknox]

bowler1 wrote:
Hi,
I have been asking a lot of questions lately and appreciate the help. I just bought my first 5th wheel.

I have an Open Range 371MBH. After I got it home my wife commented to me on just how low the rear landing gear are when in the fully raised position. I only have about 7 inches of clearance between them and the ground. That seems very low. When I back into my driveway which is a extremely slight incline they are almost touching the ground.

I called my dealer and he said this was normal and that they would never be an issue and that they were not adjustable. They appear to be adjustable since they have multiple mounting holes. They are Lippert Strong Arms.

Shouldn't I have more clearance than this? Is my dealer BSing me when he says they are not adjustable?

thanks
Matt

OK, from some pics I just checked, it appears that OR has a 4-pt leveling system on that model =and= they've installed JTs on the rear leveling jacks. 2 things to be sure of.

1) make sure the stabilizer arms are unlocked before moving =any= of the jacks or you'll bend or break something. If the JTs aren't loose, it might prevent the jacks from fully retracting.

2) make sure the rear jacks are fully retracted. I made that mistake when I brought my new KZ home and =many= people on here, as well as the KZ forum, caught that and cautioned me to check. On my system, there's about 1/2" of inner tube showing when fully retracted.

Yes, there are probably adjustment holes, but you still need to leave enough clearance on top so you can get a tool in to manually crank the jacks, if necessary. Access for that is on top. Same thought I had.

I will tell you that, compared to my old Komfort, which rode a good 4-5" =lower= than my KZ, even without the JTs locked up, it's so much more stable that I find myself not even worrying too much about the JTs. :B Not that I won't use them, though.

Lyle

[Lwiddis]

“my dealer and he said this was normal and that they would never be an issue”

Still laughing! It’s an issue for all campers. Every time you back up, enter a gas station etc.

[mapguy]

a simple way to visualize the potential for dragging is a string line or laser line from bottom of rear tire to bottom of rear bumper -anything that is below the line is probably at risk.....

[bpounds]

My apologies on the previous reply, because I did not notice your reference to the REAR landing gear. Those are not usually called landing gear. Stabilizers or leveling jacks is what those are called.

It might be good if you could post a photo. You are right to be concerned about them, especially on the rear. I like my jacks to be retracted far enough that if I drag my rear bumper, it is my bumper that will drag and not the jacks getting torn off. However, this does vary by trailer model. And I still suspect that the strong-arms were not installed properly, IF it is the strong-arms that are restricting the jack travel. You should get full jack travel, with or without the strong-arms.