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Old 06-25-2009, 10:19 AM   #1
akf15e
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Landing gear - arrrggghhh!

What a trip! Pulled into Boone, NC on the first leg of an 8 day, 3 stop trip. Went to lower landing gear - moved 1/4 inch then nada! No power to the remote panel for slides, gear, etc.

So I figure - must be a breaker or fuse, right? I seem to remember something from the MOC forum about a fuse in the front storage compartment.... thought it was a 30 amp fuse, but can only find a 15 amp and it's not blown. Check all of the inside fuses - all OK. What to do?

Luckily it was still business hours on a weekday so I call my dealer, 400 miles to the East, for suggestions. Very Helpful!! Hawley's of Fayetteville talks me to the correct fuse near the battery and it was indeed blown. Too bad I didn't have any mini 30 amps with me. Good thing KOA stocks such things!

All is well until this AM when I pack up to go to Gatlinburg. Left gear retracts fine, right one seems to be connected to nothing - completely "free plays" up and down. I also seem to remember reading about this issue on MOC. I call the dealer who sends me to Keystone, who sends me to Lippert, who says it's probably a shear pin, gear spline, or something that I can't fix myself.

Soooo...we tie up and wire the gear to the frame and head to gatlinburg, where I figure I have a better chance of finding RV related help. I just arrived, found a dealer who does mobile work and will come to me, but says the most likely parts involved will have to be ordered and will not be here before I have to depart in 3 days.

Anyway, I am here, on a fairly level site thankfully, still hooked to truck. Good news - we were traveling wiht my parents who are parked next to me, so we have the use of their TV to see the sights the next 3 days. Then back to home to get this fixed.

Needless to say I'm a bit unhappy right now! Not going to bash Keystone over this, even though both the fuse and the shear pin seem to be a known issue. This is my 8th season in a Keystone 5er and the first time I've been hung out like this. Still disappointing though. The tough part is listening to my parents (die hard Forest River fans) giving me crap about my brand new rig breaking down!
 
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Old 06-25-2009, 11:25 AM   #2
harleyrider
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Butch & Sharon

Yeah that sucks.I too would have been upset-who wouldn`t!!!!!Ya just have to look at the bright side,its all up hill from here(crossing fingers)And you were lucky you had the parents next to you guys.

John
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Old 06-25-2009, 12:07 PM   #3
NCFischers
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Butch & Sharon,
Sorry to hear about your problem. We hope that you can get it fixed fast and get back on the road.
Jim & Vickie
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Old 06-26-2009, 03:06 AM   #4
capn chris
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Butch and Sharon,
Check the shear pin on the square connecter shaft in the front basement. It runs from the landing gear motor to the curbside landing gear mechanism. If the motor is working the street side and the shaft is turning, I'd guess that's it?! I think it's a 1 1/2" long 1/4x20 bolt. I sheared one last fall on the way to the Rally. Any hardware store should have them. In the meantime, an allen wrench in there will work. Make sure the two legs are even before inserting the bolt. Good luck.
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Old 06-26-2009, 03:35 AM   #5
8e3k0
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That really takes the fun out of life. My friend with a brand new Cardinal just had that happen, where a shear pin on one side sheared. So we don't want to point fingers at any one model as the landing gear is used by many manufactures. He was lucky enough to find one at a hardware store and install. He got the front legs out of time when he installed the new pin and had to start all over again. He was not impressed with that first weekend out and a new rig. Ellis
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Old 06-26-2009, 11:05 AM   #6
Art-n-Marge
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I wonder who has had a rig where nothing went wrong within the first few times of usage. As these rigs get fancier and more complicated the odds of more things going wrong increases. The only thing I have not had "infant mortality" with is a tent, but you won't catch DW and I in one any more.

My rig lost its fridge within the second month on our second outing! I was not happy that I only had the rig about eight weeks and it spent the next 7 weeks in the shop. Others have reported other failures of differing nature. Some of these are products not designed by the RV Manufacturer, but I think I have heard there are fewer caused by actual manufacturer defects.

For those who are unfamiliar with the term "infant mortality" PLEASE do NOT take it literally. It is a term used in Engineering or Manufacturing for any product or part of a product that breaks within the first few months (typically 90 days) of usage. When a product is designed one hopes a product is engineered with longevity in mind and if there is an event of "infant mortality", these are considered highly detrimental to a business because the cost to remedy eats away expected profits. This is different than defects under warranty because the product/subproduct is used for some time prior to failure.

Just some thoughts regarding comments on new rigs and things breaking so soon.
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Old 06-26-2009, 11:28 AM   #7
8e3k0
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Very different than our 3 new 09 Fords that are used daily and not one defect or failure of any item in 6+ months since taking delivery.
Maybe I am just lucky on these vehicles. Can you imagine replacing fuses, rehanging wires, hoses, replacing new tires, aligning etc. on a new vehicle! Wow this could be interesting if we were to compare. We still love our Monty!!
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Old 06-26-2009, 12:51 PM   #8
akf15e
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Well after a nice day in Gatlinburg, I decided to kill some time and some beer and take apart my gear. Found the splines to be in fine condition. Found 2 broken off little metal "nubs" (1/8 inch long max) that must have been connected to the vertical drive shaft for the landing gear and engaged the horizontal spline. Very fragile looking little pieces. See no way to fix that here. I'm fairly certain the whole shaft will need replacing. Looking at how fragile those "nubs" are makes me wonder how long until the other side fails.

By the way, the gears appeared to be very well greased, so that didn't seem to contribute to the failure.

Thanks for the suggestions and support.
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Old 06-26-2009, 03:22 PM   #9
HamRad
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Butch and Sharon,

Another member has taken apart his gears and replaced them. He posted some excellent pictures of the whole process. Check out the member H. John Kohl. You can do a search to see if you can find his excellent posts on this subject. Of course since you should still be under warranty the dealer should be the one to do the fix.

Good luck and keep us informed as to how the process goes.

HamRad
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Old 06-26-2009, 04:35 PM   #10
Britney 10
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Link to H.John Kohl's landing leg fix.

http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/i...ler%20repairs/
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Old 06-29-2009, 04:02 PM   #11
Fire1
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Welcome to the raise the gear to high club.
My inlaws were nice enough to move my rig several months ago ad did not know about not raising the gear all the way and sheared the pin in both landing legs.
When we took the apart we found the sheared pin and a very dry set of gears.
Since then we have made a "red line" on the gear to help us remember to not raise the gear to high.
In case anyone cares the mini fuse holder for the landing gear will take a normal size fuse with a bit of extra help and they are easier to find in most stores.. Oh yes we used the shear pins from an ouboard motor and they took a bit of filing as they were a bit long but the are better suited than the steel pins installed as OEM.
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Old 07-02-2009, 06:16 AM   #12
deerrahn
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With the constant changing of design of these units, it is no wonder there are so manyproblems. Not enough time of use on them to figure out what the prolems are. When the design changes again, it is like they forget everything and start from scratch. We learned about the LG fuse about the 3-4th time we used it. Now we don't raise it up quite as far. So far. the Man up there is looking out for us. Have A Good Day
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Old 07-15-2009, 06:43 AM   #13
rving2us
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Sorry to hear about your troubles with your landing gear. We were out in Oregon and Washington states a few years ago cranking our landing gear down until a fellow MOCer came to our rescue and gave us the info on the in-line fuse. Good thing to know, huh?

We are busted again only this time we are in South Dakota east bound from another trip to the west coast only this time our trailer is doing OK but our TV has blown its transmission. We are currently waiting on another one to come in and watching the repair bills continuing to climb $$$. However, the "Corn Palace" is in Mitchell so we have that to look forward too. We have been here a couple of times before only not this long.

Good luck and safe travel. Jon and Mary
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Old 07-16-2009, 07:56 AM   #14
sreigle
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Jon and Mary, if you have yet more time to kill, the falls in Sioux Falls are definitely worth a see. There are supposed to be more than 1000 waterfalls in the park although many of them are very small. It's still a nice place to visit. Also, the ravine Jesse James is supposed to have jumped his horse over when escaping from the posse after the Great Northfield, MN Bank Robbery is north of Sioux Falls and worth a visit. If you need any other places to see, click the envelope icon above this post and email me. I'll point you to some things we visited when there. They're on our website so you can see what there is to see.
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Old 07-17-2009, 05:46 AM   #15
akf15e
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Since this was bumped already...had to cancela 4 day trip to the beach. Unit is still in the shop. Awaiting a new landing gear, even though only the shear pin broke. I had other things to get fixed, so I took it in vs. fixing the pin myself. Now it's been 2 weeks and counting. I have a week at OBX beginning in a week, so it had better be ready!! Seems quite ridiculous that a $50K rig can become useless due to teh failure of 50 cent pieces of metal! Rant over...
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