atwood jack repair

[sleekcrafter]

Is there a repair thread for Atwood camper jacks? I have one that's problematic, and needs to come apart for lube or repair. For the price of replacements, I think it's worth a shot at repair. If there is a thread I would like to read up on it a little. Thanks!

[Barton_Family]

Thanks for the reply. With the help of a friend, we got the thing apart. Very carefully using my vehicle winch and a tree, a couple of lengths of chain, and quite a bit of safety gear...we pulled and tapped with a rubber mallet, pulled and tapped, pulled and tapped, then POP, the leg slid out. What We found was that the leg had swollen at the bottom and the seam where the anti-spin indention is located had swelled and split slightly. While I could have that welded and know it would hold....what we next found was even more interesting. The shaft was loose in the leg. After removing the retaining pins and sliding the ball screw shaft out, I turned the leg upside down and tapped it on the driveway several times. I bet we got at least two cups worth of debris, most of it metal, out of that leg. Upon further examination of the ball screw device, we found that several of the bearings were simply gone, some had fallen out and we found them in the debris pile and those that were still in place were rusty and various sizes. Clearly worn out. I'm trying to see if I can get just that part of the mechanism but I suspect if I want the leg to work properly, $325.00 plus shipping of a new leg is going to be involved.

[kohldad]

Free spining sounds like the main shaft is dropping down allowing the roll pin to drop out of the bottom gear. Or the roll pin snapped which is unlikely.

On one of my older jacks, I had to add an extra washer below the main shaft roll bin to get it to maintain the correct height. This was was caused by a slightly bowed jack which required a decent force to raise it.

A jamming of the gears will be caused when the main gear drops down allowing the teeth to hit the teeth of the side gear instead of meshing with them. This is caused by the upper bearing being worn. A large flat washer under this bearing can help alleviate this issue.

Just remember when playing with making minor adjustments to correct wear, that the main shaft moves vertically a small amount as a load is put on the jack or you are trying to retract the jack.

[Barton_Family]

I know this thread is a little old but it looks like it might be useful to me as well. My 1994 Lance (the jacks were added later by the second owner) has had one jack lock up. It won't go up or down. The motor seems okay. I took the motor off and tried it without the load of the leg and every thing seems to work okay. I cannot move the jack with the crank handle either. It just turns with very little resistance. I guess the jack could be broken inside. Anyone else have this kind of issue with the Atwoods?

Thanks!

[sleekcrafter]

thanks for taking the time to post up photos. I've done a lot of work with my TC, and the jacks are one of the few remaining items to deal with. lubing the upper gears and motor repairs were easy enough, but never found the time to get into the jack it's self. I have time to now to get this handled, and thanks to your input some insight to whats ahead.

[kohldad]

I'll fix the pic when I get a chance, but notice that the two bushings above the cross pin are labeled wrong. They are brass bushings, not nylon.

Fantastic!! Thanks for all the hard work!

You welcome, glad it helps some.

[KANSASBOB]

kohldad wrote:
Add some pics and update the steps. If something isn't clear or you need another pics, let me know. This was a bent jack beyond repair that I took apart just to know how to do it.

Yes, a bearing distributor may be able to match it up. Shame that I forgot about using them, they have matched numerous bearings in the past when I was growing up on the farm.

Fantastic!! :B Thanks for all the hard work!

[kohldad]

Add some pics and update the steps. If something isn't clear or you need another pics, let me know. This was a bent jack beyond repair that I took apart just to know how to do it.

Yes, a bearing distributor may be able to match it up. Shame that I forgot about using them, they have matched numerous bearings in the past when I was growing up on the farm.

[Kidoo]

For the thrust bearings, on the happijac, I went to an industrial bearing shop and they had the bearings in stock, maybe grainger would have something too. I doubt that Atwood would have a special bearing made for them but you never know!

[sleekcrafter]

This is the kind of info Im looking for, a few pictures would be great!

[KANSASBOB]

54suds wrote:
op asked about Atwood camper jacks

Right.......... but some info on a similar jack seemed better than no info at all. Some of what went on with the Happijac should be useful when diving into an Atwood. :C

[kohldad]

Very simple to do and is as straight forward as it looks with one minor exception. The top pinch marks were a pain to ply out. Wish I had taken a picture when doing that one step.

This is the best I can remember, but have all the parts laid out on my bench. I can take a picture if needed. Had planned on doing it, but got involved in other projeccts.

Did notice that the main bearing is a custom Atwood piece. Quick look did not reveal any non-Atwood numbers and it did not seem like it would be easy to substitue. Since Atwood considers the jacks non-user repairable, not sure if they will sell the bearing to individuals.

The small parts you will end up with.


1) Crank jack to full extension. This will make seperating the inner and outer tube much easier later in dissassembly.

2) Remove cover

3) Remove roll pin from cross shaft that is located in cross shaft gear



4) Using a small nail, re-secure the gear to cross shaft. Rotate gears to make roll pin in lower gear accessible. It may be necessary to remove cross pin, reset upper gear and re-install.

5) Remove upper gear and cross shaft

6) Remove lower gear

7) remove lower roll pin, washer, split washer, and nylon bushing.



😎 Seperate inner tube from outer tube.

This should be sufficient to service all components.



However, some may wish to remove the screw rod from the inner tube.

9) drive small chiesel between crimp and collar

10) holding the inner tube, use the screw rod and pull towards the chiesel and crimp. This should easily pry the crimp outwards.

11) remove small chiesel and replace with large chiesel repeat step 10.

12) repeat step 9 thru 11 on the crimp on opposite side.

13) once the crimps are removed as much as possible, use a hammer against the washer at the top of the screw rod to knock it out of the inner tube.

[54suds]

op asked about Atwood camper jacks

[Kidoo]

KANSASBOB wrote:
Found It!

Click Me

I am working on my happijac with the use of this thread. Mine where rusted, bearings torn, o ring totally destroyed.

It was not a hard job, just remerber which way things go in and take picture. The worst for me was removing rust, it's very time consuming.

Good luck with your's

[KANSASBOB]

Found It!

Click Me