Landing Gear Malfunction

[ronnilu]

Well I guess this is a new one (for me). I checked the more recent threads on landing gear problems & find that most involve either a bad fuse or wiring that affects the motor. Mine of course has to be different. When hooking up the Montana I heard some loud clacking noise when raising the front to a proper hitch height. I went ahead & hooked up, moved the RV over, then a whole lot of clacking when raising the front to get unhitched, accompanied by no more movement. I know this same noise occurs when the front is raised up so high it hits its upward limit, however this was just at the height of the normal hitching, and I had at least 6" before being at max. extension. I was able to use the manual crank to lift enough to get unhitched, but am not exicited about having to do it often. Naturally we are scheduled to leave day after tomorrow on a family vacation with our three adult sons & their families. I have a call in to our local dealer but can't get the service tech to call me back. His usual call-back time is 4:55P (five minutes prior to closing). I did find some metal filings on a cross piece below the landing gear motor. Am thinking there will be some kind of stripped gear in there. Don't think it is in the motor because the gear works on the retract cycle. I haven't tried to go back up to the hitch height but suspect when I do I will get up to that height ok & then run into the same clacking & no raising. Maybe a tooth/cog in the landing gear leg is gone. Don't know yet. Anybody else ever have a gear or tooth strip out? Yes, we are still under warranty but that won't help for our pending trip. mike