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Old 05-03-2021, 09:30 AM   #1
DutchmenSport
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Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Anderson
Posts: 2,533
M.O.C. #22835
Raising Lippert 6 Point Electric Jacks

My Montana High Country 375FL has the electric 6 point Lippert self-leveling jack system. We've had ownership of this camper for about 2.5 years now and I have an ongoing problem with the rear jacks .... they drag the ground.

Shortly after purchasing our Montana, I lost one of the foot pads because it drug on the ground. Replacement for the pad was over $50.00 (yikes), and I decided at that point to always remove all 6 pads when traveling. OK, I know this is a pain, but at least I've never lost another pad since.

But a second problem. Although removing the pads gives me about a half inch higher clearance from the ground, the rear jacks STILL drag. And when they drag on asphalt or concrete, the posts get bent up, and then the pads will not go back on. I have to beat and grid off the burr that the dragging creates on the bottom of the post.

After, over 2 years, I've been studying this problem out, and I see no reason why the rear two jacks can't be raised about 5 inches higher. There are adequate holes on the Jack frame and there is clearance at the tops of the jacks to go that high.

The only draw back I see, is, if one of the rear jacks had failure, it might be hard to manually retract them, as there's no room at the top to insert a drill bit then. But, this is a trade off I'm willing to go.

My concern is, if I raise the 2 rear jacks as far up as they will go and re-bolt them in place, will this affect the self-leveling system at all. I do know, I'll have to block the rear jacks a bit higher. I have found that on level ground, my rear jacks work well if they can reach the ground. If on a hill and they have to go below that level point (extend farther down), they stroke out pretty fast. So, when parking, I always make sure I have blocks under the rear jacks that are actually a taller clearance than the tires on the ground. I've never stroked out again doing this.

So, I'll need to add another block, 4 - 5 inches (for level ground), a lot more for when the rear is high on a hill, and maybe nothing when the rear is low to the ground (on a sloped incline).

So my question? If moving the jacks higher, as long as I build up a bsase 4-5 inches taller, will I have any issues with the jacks, the auto level, or anything. Or should they work like they always have? No noticeable difference, as long as they don't extend and stroke out?
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2019 Montana High Country 375FL
2014 Chevy Silverado Duramax, 6.6L Dually
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