legs not extending as much as before - Montana Owners Club

captbanjo · 09-18-2006, 01:06 PM

Has anyone had a problem with their RV legs seeming to not extend as far as they did when new (as in elevating the RV)? I never measured them, but we're almost sure that the legs only extend about a half or two-thirds as much as they once did. To add to this, this weekend I put the front stabalizer in beneath the bedroom portion of the Montana and when we left, I had to hand crank the stabalizer down. When we had set up, it cleared the stablizer just fine without any adjustment. I had to conclude the the RV legs simply didn't go as high three days later. Sounds weird to me but that's what we're seeing...

captbanjo · 09-19-2006, 04:19 AM

Is it possible that low hydraulic fluid could cause this problem?

stiles watson · 09-19-2006, 04:42 AM

I don't think it is a hydrolic problem. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the landing gear is driven by an electric motor.

After about 10,000 miles, my motor went bad (actually the gears wore out) and it was necessary to replace the landing leg drive assembly. My RV shop went to bat for me after determining that the one installed was under sized. He convinced Lippert to upgrade to the larger assembly. All was covered under extended warranty.

LonnieB · 09-19-2006, 05:00 AM

I believe you are correct Stiles. Wayne, I'm sure you already checked but I have to ask, are the landing gear extensions pinned in the same holes they were in when they were last on the ground?

HamRad · 09-19-2006, 06:46 AM

Captbanjo,
I think your's may be the first report of partial working of landing gear. Others have reported complete failure of legs. Of course many reports of legs being damaged and then having problems.

I hope you get it fixed and when you do please let us know what the problem was. I worry constantly about the legs not working. So far no problem but then I read something like this.

Thanks for sharing.

HamRad

stiles watson · 09-19-2006, 09:46 PM

Just another thought, have you tried to extend the legs manually after they seem to be at maximum height from the motor? I have had to use the crank once and it is a bear, but it does lift and lower.

As someone else alluded to, it is important to let the lower portion of the legs drop down by pulling and repositioning the pin. I am not trying to insult your intellegence, but sometimes the simplist things are overlooked.

RC and Samantha · 09-19-2006, 09:58 PM

It happened to us recently. I'll have to ask Dick the details but only one was bad and it caused both of them not to extend very far. We took it to the dealer for repair and just in the nick of time. While they were setting it up there on the lot to wait for a service bay the left leg gave out and the camper went crooked for a minute. The service helper got some kind of thing under it to let the Montana rest on so it was level.

They ended up having to replace the whole left leg/land gear and now all works fine. We have one shinny new leg and one well used leg. The good thing was that our extended warranty kicked in and we only had to pay a $100.00 for a $600.00 repair.

Wayne and Cathy you may still be with in the factory warranty time. We were not.

I think you'd better get it in to service really quickly as it may do what ours did. The trip just before it started to happen we almost did not get hook back up to come home, it was so low. Then home resting on the landing gear, to the dealer and just that fast it did the give out thing.

Patty

captbanjo · 09-20-2006, 02:46 AM

Yes, the pin isn't placed until the legs come completely down to the ground. Can you tell me how to manually crank? I haven't noticed a way of doing that. Finally, has anyone else heard a loud clicking when the legs are fully extended and can't go any further?

captbanjo · 09-20-2006, 02:48 AM

One more weird question: is it possible a low powered battery could cause such a thing? I don't believe we were hooked up to electricity or the truck and I did notice the battery is showing low (a whole other story...I replaced it three months ago).

stiles watson · 09-20-2006, 03:12 AM

Wayne,

You should have been issued a crank handle with your unit. The portal for using it is in the street side propane storage area. Look for a hole about the size of a nickle. Insert the end of the crank handle to engage the lift and turn. This is the way it is on my unit. If you have a newer unit or a different model, location might be different.

Please know I am trying to do this from memory and from Hong Kong so I can't run outside and verify all I am telling you. Hope someone comes along to give unit specific info.

HamRad · 09-20-2006, 06:51 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by captbanjo

Yes, the pin isn't placed until the legs come completely down to the ground. Can you tell me how to manually crank? I haven't noticed a way of doing that. Finally, has anyone else heard a loud clicking when the legs are fully extended and can't go any further?

Captbanjo,
What we do is lower the legs about 6 inches or so first. Then we pull the pin and let the legs drop to the ground / block. Then we finish lowering the legs.

Yes! When you reach the max up or down you will hear the loud clicking sound. That means STOP you have reached the end of the legs! You don't want to be hearing that sound.

For maintenance I spray some WD 40 and or some silicon based stuff on the legs. I also try to spray the motor area and the joints inside.

In our rig (as reported by others) the manual access is in the propane compartment on the street side. You should have a special tool that will allow you to manually adjust the legs. I've heard of some folks making a special tool that will fit a drill. Then they use the drill to manually adjust. You may need a flashlight to find the access hole since all is painted black.

HamRad

HamRad · 09-20-2006, 06:59 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by captbanjo

One more weird question: is it possible a low powered battery could cause such a thing? I don't believe we were hooked up to electricity or the truck and I did notice the battery is showing low (a whole other story...I replaced it three months ago).

Captbanjo,

Yes. A low battery can cause problems with lowering and raising the legs. What we do is plug the electric in first thing and then lower the legs. If boondocking we leave the rig hooked up to the truck. When leaving we leave the electric plugged in until we raise the legs. If you listen you can easily tell the difference the motor makes when running off of battery and when hooked up to electric source.

By the way on our leg next to the control for the legs there is a little sticker that says STOP. It is red and white. We just watch that and hardly ever hear the clicking sound anymore.

Let us know what you find out.

HamRad

captbanjo · 09-25-2006, 02:45 AM

Well, I played around with the legs (should this be rated 'R'?) both on just battery and with electric. I marked them with a felt marker and, clearly, they are not extending up back to the original markings whether or not AC is used. I made an appointment with my dealer for the end of October. I'll be curious to see what the problem is. The technician said it sounded like a gear problem.

Cat320 · 09-25-2006, 04:07 PM

The landing gear system is a combination 12v electric and hydraulic system. So you must have power and hydraulics...is the reservoir full of fluid?

RVWheels · 09-25-2006, 08:18 PM

Cat320,
When did they change to that system? All we've ever seen is the all electric system.

RVWheels

captbanjo · 09-26-2006, 11:19 AM

Yes, the resevoir is full of fluid. It seems that when the legs get to a certain point (which changes from try to try) it starts a clicking noise, as if gears weren't catching properly.

bsmeaton · 09-26-2006, 11:41 AM

I believe mine are just electric - I've never seen a hydraulic system for them.

Patty - scary thought having that think come down by itself - or even on the truck fenders!!

. I hear a clicking every once in a while when extending the legs under load, but I'm becoming a Montychondriac so I've been ignoring it. Now I'm getting curious.

HamRad · 09-26-2006, 12:07 PM

I have a 2002 model 3295 and the legs are electric only. They are not connected to the hydraulic system. But my system is the old DeWalt type. About 2003 they switched to the Lippert system. But all the Lippert systems I've seen are electric only.

Oops! I have to say that I have seen one system that used hydraulics. Gypsy had her rig outfitted with a hydraulic leveling system. It works great.... sure wish I had one.

Perhaps Dale can inform us as to the true identity of the leg extension system.

HamRad

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