Happijac failed while driving down the interstate!

[ChrisnKaty]

We were just driving down the hwy and one our Happijac jacks fell out and was scraping the ground! We pulled over & tied it up, but are very concerned. They are less than two years old. We bought our camper used in May of 2013, it is a 2012 Eagle Cap 1160. I find it ridiculous that this important and vital part of our TC would fail already. This is our third trip using he camper, and previous owners barely used it. Should we replace jacks? repair? Does anyone know what kind of warranty HJ's carry? Thanks!

[Artum_Snowbird]

Can you explain a little more about how we can remove one jack leg?
Pix is really a great idea...

Jim

Most back jack legs will support the whole unit from either side... but I would never trust it unless you have seen your rig supported on only three. I have seen mine that way, and changed out a bent one after supporting the rig on three. Other than that, I would think you should put a support under the fourth corner and lower the rig down until that is engaged, and the other three jacks are actively engaged too.

I have never seen either of my front jacks unload and I doubt they would unload from being totally engaged. There is just too much out front to bear down on both of them.

[bigfootford]

KKELLER14K wrote:
Stand on a ladder and do it with someone holding the leg. I would really like to see a pic of the failed one. They were just three years old when I posted the teardown.

Can you explain a little more about how we can remove one jack leg?
Pix is really a great idea...

Jim

[KKELLER14K]

I would agree to replace all of them or at least look at the others...it doesn't take long, you really wouldn't even need to take the jack off the mount for that matter. Stand on a ladder and do it with someone holding the leg. I would really like to see a pic of the failed one. They were just three years old when I posted the teardown.

[stevenal]

Not mine and not the OP's. I simply pointed to the one posted by KKELLER14K. http://www.rv.net/forums/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/22881036.cfm

Mine looked much worse.

[bigfootford]

stevenal wrote:

Steve, is that your pix or the OP's?

Hope it's yours. OP's jacks are only a year old. Should not have rust like that yet...

Jim

[bigfootford]

HMS Beagle wrote:
I agree with the tech: the roll pin failing while driving (under almost no stress) is highly unusual. Perhaps abuse by previous owner causing a latent crack?

However in the circumstances I disagree with the tech: I would replace the other three. It is pretty easy to do, doesn't cost much, and there is at least a possibility that whatever history led to the failed one was also visited on the other three.

I argree with HMS Beagle... Clean, lube and inspect all of them!

Jim

[bigfootford]

Under normal operation this would never happen. There is mild stress on this pin. The stress is placed on it as the weight of the camper is applied to the jack.
What will cause it is if the jack is binding due to the lubrication drying out and the jack begins to bind. Or if the jack reaches full up and starts hammering.
My jacks really were binding before I took them apart before the procedure was written. I found no wear on that pin... I have performed this procedure 2 times on my front jacks and have as of yet done anything to the rears. 13 years.

So maybe the previous owner actually used a drill to move the binding jacks up and down... Some drills can really put out the torque.

Glad everything survived.


Jim

[HMS_Beagle]

I agree with the tech: the roll pin failing while driving (under almost no stress) is highly unusual. Perhaps abuse by previous owner causing a latent crack?

However in the circumstances I disagree with the tech: I would replace the other three. It is pretty easy to do, doesn't cost much, and there is at least a possibility that whatever history led to the failed one was also visited on the other three.

[stevenal]

[ChrisnKaty]

So here's what happened. The roll pin sheared in half while we were driving. It's only a 1.25" x .25" little bar of steel that holds the jack up. My husband replaced it for 55 cents. That seems crazy to me. Anyway, the HJ tech told us its very rare for a jack to fail while driving. I guess that makes us special. 🙂 we never over extend or over retract the jacks so it must have been the previous owners or a faulty pin in first place. We r thinking about replacing the other three pins, but the HJ tech said he didn't think it was necessary. Don't know if I agree! I have a photo of the broken part but can't figure out how to post it.

[Dome]

I do what MTRhino does, I hook one end of the bunjee cord to the foot of the jack and the other end to the tie down hold point on the camper. Works for me.

[U_F_O_]

I had a roll pin break on my 4600s jack wont move either way. Had reico-titans on a camper I had in the 90s, they had a wire spring on the bottom of the leg that went around the foot to hold them up. Did have a leg come down on the road when didn't bother to put them on.

[wnjj]

HMS Beagle wrote:
If you are concerned about someone messing with the lever, it is easily removed. Its only purpose is to disengage the gear motor if you need to wind the jacks by hand - again a rare event, and you can wind the jacks by hand back driving the gear motor without much additional effort in the event you ever need to.

On the 4600 model jacks, releasing the lever allows you to push the jacks down by stepping on the foot rather than using the slow, noisy motors. I use the levers every time I lower them.

[HMS_Beagle]

RichieC wrote:
You can never tell when parked in a parking lot, or campground, when some jerk kid on a bike might come by and just do a try out - flipping the lever.
Xnorp (RIP) made a clip ring mod to prevent his jack legs from extending.
Its something that the manufacturer should do to.

Funny thing, the original Happijacs on my first 1998 Bigfoot had a spring latch: you wind the leg up completely and two spring loaded buttons inside the leg would engage holes in the outer leg, locking the jack up. When I replaced one of the jacks (rusted up) the holes were still there but no buttons. Now, no holes. So they had that idea once but gave it up.

I will say after using the feature once or twice I quit using it. It was a pain to have to go unlatch these while running each jack down, if you forgot then the gear motor would labor to a halt, can't be good for it.

In practice, the jacks work fine without any latches. It is a very rare event that they come down on their own, this is the first one I've heard about and it was due to a broken part. If you are concerned about someone messing with the lever, it is easily removed. Its only purpose is to disengage the gear motor if you need to wind the jacks by hand - again a rare event, and you can wind the jacks by hand back driving the gear motor without much additional effort in the event you ever need to.

[mcc272]

Regarding the steps on the OP's TC, they are standard Northern Lite steps. I just took delivery of a new NL 10-2 CD SE which was ordered in February and built in May. It had the exact same steps. Would think that you could order them from a Northern Lite dealer.

Jim