More Stuck Camper Jacks

[HadEnough]

Seems to be a common problem with sticking camper jacks.

Two of mine are stuck. Trying to get them unstuck ASAP as they are delaying a trip.

I bought 2 new power heads for the better part of $1000 and that wasn’t even what was wrong! Ugh.

I installed the new heads and still the clicking of the clutches or gears slipping.

So now it’s obvious my legs themselves are stuck.

I bought a drill adapter on Amazon for Rieco Titan jacks for $26 and it was too small. Didn’t fit. Losing a ton of money and time here.

What other ways have you used to link a drill up to Rieco Titan camper jacks? A socket or something?

I want to use a nice, high power drill to get these legs moving and to raise and lower them many times, apply grease, etc.

Thanks!

[Grit_dog]

HadEnough wrote:
ATF worked on one of them!

That’s enough. I have 2 fronts and a back working. Enough to load it up and fix elsewhere after we leave.

Good idea!!! Thank you!

Cringing here at the thought...lol

[HadEnough]

ATF worked on one of them!

That’s enough. I have 2 fronts and a back working. Enough to load it up and fix elsewhere after we leave.

Good idea!!! Thank you!

[HadEnough]

Thanks. That’s not very encouraging that it never worked right again. I’m sorry to hear that.

I will see if they move today after some atf soaking overnight. Otherwise, based on your post, I might be in for 4 new jacks.

JoeChiOhki wrote:
If there was a way to take them off the camper, I'd do what I did with an Atwood that got stuck on me.

I took it off and then drilled a hole in the center of the bottom of the foot and flipped the whole thing upside down and filled it with ATF, plugged the hole and then flipped it back up right to sit.

Once I finally got it broken free with the crank handle after much sitting and fiddling, I emptied the atf and put in a liberal amount of diff oil in it and released it and left it in there.

The jack never worked perfectly again, it still had some issues with the drive mechanism if too much load was put on it (if the jack got ahead of the other it would start to slip/bind until the other jack caught up), but it worked well enough to keep using till I got ahold of a replacement unit and now that one is just a parts jack.

Atwoods unfortunately weren't designed to come apart so I couldn't do a proper disassembly and wire wheel cleaning and bearing replacement and then coating all of the threads in moly.

[JoeChiOhki]

If there was a way to take them off the camper, I'd do what I did with an Atwood that got stuck on me.

I took it off and then drilled a hole in the center of the bottom of the foot and flipped the whole thing upside down and filled it with ATF, plugged the hole and then flipped it back up right to sit.

Once I finally got it broken free with the crank handle after much sitting and fiddling, I emptied the atf and put in a liberal amount of diff oil in it and released it and left it in there.

The jack never worked perfectly again, it still had some issues with the drive mechanism if too much load was put on it (if the jack got ahead of the other it would start to slip/bind until the other jack caught up), but it worked well enough to keep using till I got ahold of a replacement unit and now that one is just a parts jack.

Atwoods unfortunately weren't designed to come apart so I couldn't do a proper disassembly and wire wheel cleaning and bearing replacement and then coating all of the threads in moly.

[Camper_Jeff___K]

The times I've had a stuck jack was because the camper was not going up or down evenly. All four motors seem to run at different speeds I presume due to wire length and I/R loss. The more uneven or tilted the camper becomes, the more tensive rubbing force applied between inner and outer jack tube. Look at the tilt of the camper and try to raise or lower a different jack to level out and relieve rubbing pressure.

[HadEnough]

parker.rowe wrote:

Bedlam wrote:
ATF soaking it overnight has freed things up for me in the past. Marvell Mystery Oil and PB Blaster have also worked after soaking in. Are they over run and jammed or just corroded in place? If corroded, a couple of whacks with wood block from the top and bottom may free the threads.

I second ATF. I have had more luck freeing stuck engines with ATF and PB than motor oil.

Should work similarly with a jack, if it can be unstuck.

Ok, I’ll pick some up this afternoon and dump that down it too.

[parker_rowe]

Bedlam wrote:
ATF soaking it overnight has freed things up for me in the past. Marvell Mystery Oil and PB Blaster have also worked after soaking in. Are they over run and jammed or just corroded in place? If corroded, a couple of whacks with wood block from the top and bottom may free the threads.

I second ATF. I have had more luck freeing stuck engines with ATF and PB than motor oil.

Should work similarly with a jack, if it can be unstuck.

[HadEnough]

RickW wrote:
I have atwood jacks but, I made a back up driver head starting with a deep, 9/16 inch, 12 point, 3/8 inch drive socket. I sawed a groove down the middle wide enough to engage the pins on the jack shaft. I also have a 3/8 inch drive extension that fits in the drill chuck.

Good luck.

That’s a decent idea. Probably would work better than my spade bit. More stable.

[HadEnough]

Bedlam wrote:
ATF soaking it overnight has freed things up for me in the past. Marvell Mystery Oil and PB Blaster have also worked after soaking in. Are they over run and jammed or just corroded in place? If corroded, a couple of whacks with wood block from the top and bottom may free the threads.

They are corroded and stuck into place in the middle of the stroke.

The camper is sitting on the jacks right now and has been for 8 months. They were a little sticky before, but are stuck hard now.

I’ll try some overnight soaks and some whacks.

[RickW]

I have atwood jacks but, I made a back up driver head starting with a deep, 9/16 inch, 12 point, 3/8 inch drive socket. I sawed a groove down the middle wide enough to engage the pins on the jack shaft. I also have a 3/8 inch drive extension that fits in the drill chuck.

Good luck.

[Bedlam]

ATF soaking it overnight has freed things up for me in the past. Marvell Mystery Oil and PB Blaster have also worked after soaking in. Are they over run and jammed or just corroded in place? If corroded, a couple of whacks with wood block from the top and bottom may free the threads.

[HadEnough]

Ok, I was able to mate a drill to the thing that needs to spin at the top of the jack. I broke the tip off a 1 inch spade drill bit and used it like a huge flathead screwdriver.

No good.

The leg won’t budge. I super liquid wrench down it before. In desperation, I dumped a ton of motor oil down it today.

Nothing. 2 legs are completely frozen and won’t budge.

Any other thoughts on how to get them moving again?

[HadEnough]

Sorry. In giving all the details, I may not have been clear on the question:

I would like to spin the part that moves the jack with a drill, instead of using the powerhead, which isn’t moving it.

Does anyone know what I can use to mate a drill to the top of the jack with the power head off?

I ordered this, but it was too small.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005GOPC26?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title#immersive-view_16223004...

[jimh406]

I’ve never had my jacks stick, but they are Atwoods. I’m assuming you tried different lubricants, and they aren’t bent.

There seems to be a lot of possibilities and a few fixes. Try searching google for “rieco titan jacks are stuck” if you haven’t already.

This thread seems to have a lot of ideas. https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29378389.cfm