New Itasca on Ford chassis creaks and groans at night.

[olburro]

My 2014 Itasca Sunova on a 22,000 lb. Ford Chassis creaks and groans at night. It seems to happen late in the evening when the outside temperature cools down. I am thinking it is something in the suspension that is contracting. It makes a loud thump noise and sometimes you can feel the motorhome shudder.

Has anyone experienced this problem? Any solutions?

[hoopers]

Yea, it is probably the LCI hydraulic jacks. Common issue. Not necessarily an easy fix. Some fix easy, others don't. My bighorn 5th wheel had it real bad, and I added all sort of recommended fixes...it got better, but didn't fix it 100%. My current Winnie doesn't seem to even have the issue. Go figure.

[BillMFl]

Mine was making the same noise when the jacks were close to full extension. Simple solution was if a site was very unlevel I use some blocking so the jacks don't have to fully extend. Buy one pt 2x8 and cut it into short pieces. Bingo, noise went away.

[Ductape]

Thank you for posting the outcome, people often don't.

Happy traveling!

[olburro]

The Jack manufacturer recommended partially replacing the fluid with hydraulic fluid with "anti-stickage" properties. Now there's a new word for you.

I ended up using Maxima fork oil, one of their recommended oils. That turned out to be Harley Davidson shock oil, and it worked.

Thanks for the help from all of you.

[njtony]

if you have the lpi leveling system there is a additive you can add to the system to stop noise. go to their web site.lippet.com . there is more info there.

[DSDP_Don]

There was a previous post where several were adding an additive to the jack oil to stop something similar to your issue. I looked for the post, but couldn't find it.

You might also locate your hydraulic jacks and check the manual release valves. These are valves on your hydraulic pump that allow you to manually release the pressure on each jack so that they'll retract in case of a failure. If one of those is loose, it could be allowing one of the jacks to bleed back.

Locate the valves, (usually "T" handles) and snug them. Don't over tighten them as they are needle valves.

[John_Wayne]

Mine did the same thing it was the trans oil in the jacks as the oil cooled down after a day on the road. Talked to Power Gear there answer was to drain and refill with Mercon V synthetic fluid. Problem solved.

[janstey58]

My 2009 Bounder MH does that same, I just assumed it was heating/cooling of the chassis or slides.

[Ductape]

Could be stabilizer jack leaking down. Test by leaving jacks up one night.

[midnightsadie]

call ghost busters,LOL but your right its the metal contracting.