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Old 04-25-2008, 05:04 PM   #1
David and Jo-Anna
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Landing gear--is the gear stripped?

Had a problem this evening when I tried to hitch up our rig. While we were extending the landing legs up to the height necessary to back the kingpin into the hitch, the landing gear motor was struggling hard to raise the rig up the last two inches it needed to go. At that point, it blew the 30 amp fuse. After replacing the fuse, I was able to get the rig up high enough by running the motor in short spurts of power. After backing the truck up so the pin went into the hitch, we tried to lower the landing gear, but the gear wouldn't lower. Instead, we got some clicking noise. The square rod that goes to the curb side landing leg didn't move at all.

At that point, I figured I must have stripped the gear by trying to extend the legs too far. I got out the manual crank and slowly retracted the legs, although there initially was considerable resistance before the legs would begin to retract. After the legs were partially retracted, I tried the motor again, and it seemed to work fine, both for retracting and for extending the legs under load.

My question--have I stripped the gear, and am I now experiencing just a temporary recovery before I get a total failure, or is it possible that I merely jammed the gears and they got unjammed when I retracted the legs manually? I stopped running the motor as soon as I heard the clicking sound, so I didn't get any extensive grinding of the gears. Any way for me to check and see what the status of the gears is?

Also, as luck would have it, we just passed the one year anniversary with our rig, so the Montana warranty has expired. Does Lippert have a longer warranty on the landing gear and, if so, would it cover parts and labor for something like this if the gear is stripped?

As always, thanks for your help with this.

David
 
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Old 04-25-2008, 05:41 PM   #2
rogue
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Dave, hopefully John will read and respond to this, as he has taken the landing gear apart. My guess is you probably lowered the landing gear as far as it would go and the gears got stuck. Then they would not retract until you manually got them started. Again my guess is the only way to know if the gears are starting to strip is to pull the landing pad and check the gears at the top of it. Let me know if you need any help (I'm listed under TAP), I live in Grants Pass, about 2 hrs from Crescent City.
Bob
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Old 04-25-2008, 05:54 PM   #3
Crossthread
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David, On the top of each leg is a cap that snaps off. Use a sharp point to lift it off. If theres metal particles in the grease, then I'd bet something is stipped. Get a mirror and a light to look at the condition of the gears.You may also want to check the gears that you can see on the motor. Good luck, Bill
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Old 04-25-2008, 06:13 PM   #4
HamRad
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David,

It sounds like it is what Bob said. I had a similar situation this past August. The gear has operated perfectly since then.

And Lippert does have a longer warranty period.

Dennis
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Old 04-26-2008, 12:39 AM   #5
H. John Kohl
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Lipperts warrenty on the legs is "ONE" year their frame is longer. The legs are made by Venture Mfg. Co., 3636 Dayton Park Dr., Dayton, OH 45414, Tel: 937-233-8792. The slipping noise could be the gears stripping or the slip clutch in the reduction gears. As stated you can inspect the gears at the top of the landing legs by lifting the flat cover. There will be a lot of grease there and you want to replace it if removed. Remove the grease and feel the edge of the two ninety degree gears. If they are pitted as in my pictures then you need to replace them with the kit. I took pictures of the repair and damage.
I hope this helps.
Let us know what you fined.
Cheers,
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Old 04-26-2008, 03:58 AM   #6
HamRad
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John,

Thanks for the clarification on the Lippert warranty.

Dennis
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Old 04-26-2008, 06:17 AM   #7
David and Jo-Anna
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John:

Thanks for the good info and great pictures. Sounds like I may need to dig thru some grease to get a definitive answer as to whether I have a problem. What type of grease do I need to get to replace what's in the landing gear box?
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Old 04-26-2008, 08:05 AM   #8
richfaa
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Xthread,,Shazam....No wonder I am on this forum everyday..I did not have a clue about the snap off caps on the top of the landing gear legs. I ran right out side and popped the caps.Don't know what a "lot of grease" is but mine did not have a lot of grease..they do now. We have not had a problem with the landing gears in 2 years and we use them a lot. Learning from the experience of others we avoid at all cost running them to the limit up or down. John the excellent pictures helped me in knowing what I was greasing..The value of this forum and the collective expertise of the members is unbelievable.
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Old 04-26-2008, 11:48 AM   #9
Mrs. CountryGuy
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We have had some clicking, most recently, this last week on our final run to the stick built. John, those photos are great! Al was mumbling and grumbling and complaining, and I found this thread and suggested he have a look. WOW, he was impressed! Said ya did a fab job.

Now, he needs to get out there and have another look, but, he hurried out of here (sometimes I wonder if he does this on purpose to get out of the job? ) to go visit his mom. OHHH, I will forgive him, it is her 85th birthday week!

Thanks John!

OH, we did not put the legs up too far, but he told me that someone did when they were working on our rig, sighhhhhhh.
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Old 04-26-2008, 12:55 PM   #10
sreigle
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David, I suggest you go to the member list and locate MIMF or MIMF2 and email him with your questions. He knows these things inside out and likely could answer all your questions.
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Old 04-27-2008, 02:02 AM   #11
H. John Kohl
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by David and Jo-Anna

John:

--snip-- What type of grease do I need to get to replace what's in the landing gear box?
I used regular axle grease same stuff used on your front end zert fittings.
Cheers,
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Old 04-27-2008, 02:28 AM   #12
MIMF
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Good Morning , everybody.

David, it doesn't sound to me that you have stripped any gears. It simply sounds like you where running out of 12 volt power those last 2 inches of extending the legs. I think, the clicking you was hearing was the clutc slipping due to low voltage.

Those motors that operate the legs draw 30 amps of power from the battery. Even if you have the shore cord plugged into 110 volt power and the converter is trickle charging the battery, it may not be charging the battery fast enough to provide that much voltage for a 30 amp draw. This is why I have found that I never have any trouble by backing up to the king-pin as close as possible then, go around and plug in the Bargman cable into the recept on the truck. That way, I am now also using 12 volt power from the 2 batteries on the truck, also.

Of course, I have a more unique situation, in that I need somewhere between 50 and 70 amps of power to raise my coach to align the king-pin because, of the pump for the hydraulic legs. The reason I know it takes between 50 and 70 amps is because, the pump use to be protected with a 50 amp auto reset breaker. I have since replace it with a 70 amp manual reset.

Hope this helped a little.

Dale
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Old 04-27-2008, 06:03 AM   #13
David and Jo-Anna
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My thanks to Dale and everyone else for great info and reassurance. I'll go ahead and pop the plastic cap off the landing leg this afternoon to see if I can find anything wrong--hope I don't find any metal filings!!

One new development since I posted this thread Friday night. When I tried to raise the landing gear Saturday morning, the street-side leg came up but the curb-side leg did not. OUCH!! Looked around the front compartment and found that the one inch shear bolt next to the motor had sheared off. I was able to replace it with a spare I had on hand (thanks to John Kohl's warning months ago about carrying spares), and after that the landing gear has worked smoothly with no signs of distress.

So now for the chicken and egg dilemna. Were the problems I was experiencing Friday night due to a failing shear bolt that had not yet worked it's way out? Or was the shear bolt failure a consequence of some other problem? At least I believe the shear bolt was the probable cause of the vibration I was seeing in the motor--I suspect the head of the shear bolt was starting to work its way out and banging against the motor housing as the square bar was rotating. Just sorry I didn't immediately spot the bolt starting to work its way loose.

But if a failing shear bolt was the cause of the problems I was experiencing, what caused it to shear in the first place?
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Old 04-27-2008, 06:47 AM   #14
H. John Kohl
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by David and Jo-Anna

My thanks to Dale and everyone else for great info and reassurance. I'll go ahead and pop the plastic cap off the landing leg this afternoon to see if I can find anything wrong--hope I don't find any metal filings!!

One new development since I posted this thread Friday night. When I tried to raise the landing gear Saturday morning, the street-side leg came up but the curb-side leg did not. OUCH!! Looked around the front compartment and found that the one inch shear bolt next to the motor had sheared off. I was able to replace it with a spare I had on hand (thanks to John Kohl's warning months ago about carrying spares), and after that the landing gear has worked smoothly with no signs of distress.

So now for the chicken and egg dilemna. Were the problems I was experiencing Friday night due to a failing shear bolt that had not yet worked it's way out? Or was the shear bolt failure a consequence of some other problem? At least I believe the shear bolt was the probable cause of the vibration I was seeing in the motor--I suspect the head of the shear bolt was starting to work its way out and banging against the motor housing as the square bar was rotating. Just sorry I didn't immediately spot the bolt starting to work its way loose.

But if a failing shear bolt was the cause of the problems I was experiencing, what caused it to shear in the first place?
Analyzing my situation I think the nut came loose on the shear bolt causing the square leg to bind against the motor blowing a fuse. This may be your situation also. Good luck. Cheers,
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Old 04-27-2008, 06:58 AM   #15
rlwhit
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David, Hope you have no more problems. If you can hold out till you get here I can help you. Have had ours totally apart and now I know what goes on in there in the dark. It is not compilcated.

Good luck

Dick
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Old 04-27-2008, 07:42 AM   #16
sreigle
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by MIMF

Good Morning , everybody.

David, it doesn't sound to me that you have stripped any gears. It simply sounds like you where running out of 12 volt power those last 2 inches of extending the legs. I think, the clicking you was hearing was the clutc slipping due to low voltage.

Those motors that operate the legs draw 30 amps of power from the battery. Even if you have the shore cord plugged into 110 volt power and the converter is trickle charging the battery, it may not be charging the battery fast enough to provide that much voltage for a 30 amp draw. This is why I have found that I never have any trouble by backing up to the king-pin as close as possible then, go around and plug in the Bargman cable into the recept on the truck. That way, I am now also using 12 volt power from the 2 batteries on the truck, also.

Of course, I have a more unique situation, in that I need somewhere between 50 and 70 amps of power to raise my coach to align the king-pin because, of the pump for the hydraulic legs. The reason I know it takes between 50 and 70 amps is because, the pump use to be protected with a 50 amp auto reset breaker. I have since replace it with a 70 amp manual reset.

Hope this helped a little.

Dale
If I may add a comment. Ford requires the engine be running before it will supply 12v through the trailer connection. I guess that keeps it from running down the truck's batteries. I'm not sure about Dodge and GM.

Also, some GM's won't send 12v to the trailer at all until you put a fuse in the empty fuse holder. I think it's in the fuse box. GM guys will know.
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Old 04-27-2008, 05:47 PM   #17
David and Jo-Anna
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Checked the landing gear box this afternoon and saw no signs of any damage to the gears or any metal filings in the grease. Maybe it was all a problem with a broken shear bolt that started banging into the motor housing as the square shaft rotated. Feel like I dodged a bullet on this one.

Dick--thanks for the offer of help. Hope noting bad happens in the next few weeks to require me to take you up on your offer. Look forward to seeing you and Toni in a couple of weeks.
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