Lifting Jacks problem - Montana Owners Club

Jimongee · 08-28-2021, 09:27 AM

We have a 2006 30 ft 5th wheel. We have a single 12 volt deep cycle battery which passed a load test as good and is fully charged. But regardless of that our jacks really struggle trying to lift the trailer. They start making a terrible chattering and ratcheting noise and fail to lift the trailer. At that point I have to use the manual hand crank simultaneously with extend button depressed. Thus far we have replaced the lift motor and lubricated jack post threads and lift leg slides. Still the problem exists. Have any of you Montana owners experienced this situation? Does anyone have any suggestions to fix existing system? Thanks for your help. Ii

DutchmenSport · 08-28-2021, 05:15 PM

I don't think the "electric" jacks were ever designed to actually "lift" the camper. They were made to level and stabilize. But if levling means lifting a tire off the ground, it probably never will happen. If you need to lift a tire off the ground, you really need to put boards or lego-blocks or a ramp or something under the tires to get the trailer as close to level side to side. (East-West).

That ratcheting sound you are hearing are the gears jumping cogs and that's how they get broken.

The jacks will lift the trailer enough to make it level, but those jacks were never designed to lift the tires off the ground. ... They are not hydraulic.

dhuhn · 08-28-2021, 06:54 PM

I would check your teeth on the jack sounds like you may have broken gears, you may need to replace landing gear

**AZ Traveler** · 08-28-2021, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DutchmenSport

I don't think the "electric" jacks were ever designed to actually "lift" the camper. They were made to level and stabilize. But if levling means lifting a tire off the ground, it probably never will happen. If you need to lift a tire off the ground, you really need to put boards or lego-blocks or a ramp or something under the tires to get the trailer as close to level side to side. (East-West).

That ratcheting sound you are hearing are the gears jumping cogs and that's how they get broken.

The jacks will lift the trailer enough to make it level, but those jacks were never designed to lift the tires off the ground. ... They are not hydraulic.

Tough to unhook from the truck without lifting the trailer.

Jimongee · 08-28-2021, 07:58 PM

Thanks. I’m not sure how my question confused ya’ll. But there was never any intention of lifting the tires off the ground. The front lift jacks are used only to level the trailer front-to-back so the refrigerator will function properly. The ‘lego’type pads are used to level the rig side-to-side by backing onto.
The ratcheting noise is absolutely not the greats skipping cogs or teeth. It simply chatters in place until I give it an assist with the manual crank.
Tomorrow I plan to run some amperage draw tests on the drive motor circuits. And inspect the entire lift mechanism as well for binding points. All this not fun while in a campground….

rames14 · 08-29-2021, 08:22 AM

Jimongee, I think the misinterpretation was because many of the new members haven’t seen the old style front jacks. There were a number of issues on the old style jacks. I highly recommend contacting Lippert for help. It could be the teeth as mentioned or it could be the gear box. Some people even added a second gear box on the other side. I am sure Lippert can walk you through troubleshooting and getting you back on the road. Keep us posted and best of luck.

**Carl n Susan** · 08-29-2021, 09:31 AM

Your 2006 likely has legs from Venture Manufacturing. Here is some old contact information for them.
Venture Mfg. Co.
3636 Dayton Park Dr.
Dayton, OH 45414
patty@Venturemfgco.com
Tel: 937-233-8792 ext. 20
Toll Free: 866-365-1957

I doubt Patty is still there but someone will be. I also have a pile of PDFs on the leg's structure, parts, installation, and replacement parts. If you PM me your email address I will send them to you.

They are not too difficult to work on. You may have broken a shear pin (most common) internally for the leg's angle gear set.

There is a limit on how far the legs can be extended and retracted. Attempting to exceed that limit will hurt things. Many marked the legs with a Sharpie about an inch on each side of the limits to warn of imminent danger.

Jimongee · 08-31-2021, 05:30 AM

Thanks for your offer to send pdf files. I have no idea on how to PM you. So my email is Jimongee@gmail.com.
Thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl n Susan

Your 2006 likely has legs from Venture Manufacturing. Here is some old contact information for them.
Venture Mfg. Co.
3636 Dayton Park Dr.
Dayton, OH 45414
patty@Venturemfgco.com
Tel: 937-233-8792 ext. 20
Toll Free: 866-365-1957

I doubt Patty is still there but someone will be. I also have a pile of PDFs on the leg's structure, parts, installation, and replacement parts. If you PM me your email address I will send them to you.

They are not too difficult to work on. You may have broken a shear pin (most common) internally for the leg's angle gear set.

There is a limit on how far the legs can be extended and retracted. Attempting to exceed that limit will hurt things. Many marked the legs with a Sharpie about an inch on each side of the limits to warn of imminent danger.

bcrvman · 09-05-2021, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimongee

We have a 2006 30 ft 5th wheel. We have a single 12 volt deep cycle battery which passed a load test as good and is fully charged. But regardless of that our jacks really struggle trying to lift the trailer. They start making a terrible chattering and ratcheting noise and fail to lift the trailer. At that point I have to use the manual hand crank simultaneously with extend button depressed. Thus far we have replaced the lift motor and lubricated jack post threads and lift leg slides. Still the problem exists. Have any of you Montana owners experienced this situation? Does anyone have any suggestions to fix existing system? Thanks for your help. Ii

That single 12V battery is actually a hybrid not a true deep cycle. Get a pair of Trojan T105's, observe the maintenance care and get a battery monitor. Victron makes some that are bluetooth or hard wired. NEVER let batteries get below 50%.

bigred715 · 09-05-2021, 02:03 PM

I have to lift the trailer up far enough to get over the bed saver and into the pin. The truck squats several inches when trailer is lowered onto the hitch. Have to raise trailer up to get trailer free of truck so pin will miss bed saver pulling out. The only bad thing about the bed saver.

JimKrieger · 09-05-2021, 02:10 PM

On your jack design, a square tube runs through the battery compartment from one side to the other and connects to the gearbox using a hardened hex bolt through the tube and a one or two inch shaft from the gearbox. This bolt can break, but still try to keep the tube and shaft connected and that can cause the frightening chattering sound. If this is the case, simply replace the hardened hex bolt and nut.

twindman · 09-05-2021, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigred715

I have to lift the trailer up far enough to get over the bed saver and into the pin. The truck squats several inches when trailer is lowered onto the hitch. Have to raise trailer up to get trailer free of truck so pin will miss bed saver pulling out. The only bad thing about the bed saver.

I had a similar problem with my old 2006 model. To raise or lower, I backed the truck under it until I could get a 6 ton (I think) jack from the tail gate to the hitch, Then I raised it up and then with no weight on the landing gears, I lowered the landing gear. Finally remove the jack and continue with hooking or unhooking.

Jimongee · 09-10-2021, 06:58 AM

Thanks to all who responded. Update; after disassembly I discovered the problem. The lift jack on the drive leg was totally seized. Further examination proved the screw rod was completely seized in the fixed threaded collar. Just for interest I secured the square tube in a big vice and used a 30” pipe wrench in an attempt to free (rotate) the threaded rod. It would not budge in either direction even with anti-seize lubricant. The goal here was not to repair it..it was just curiosity at this point. So Venture manufacturing provided a new total leg assembly for 195.00 and it arrived in 2 days. Today I will install it. I also checked the drive motor and power transfer gear box and all is good. The opposing landing gear leg is totally free. Looks like the Monty is back on the healthy list..

rames14 · 09-10-2021, 09:09 AM

Glad it is working out for you. And thanks for the update. Many people ask for help and we never hear how they fixed their problem.

twindman · 09-11-2021, 02:28 PM

I had to replace a leg several years ago. Venture was very good to deal with and the install was pretty easy.

DutchmenSport · 09-11-2021, 04:00 PM

I'm glad you were able to figure out the problem, and more glad you were able to get it fixed in a satisfactory manor. Sorry about my confusion. When the term "lift" was used, I though you were talking about "lift" tires off the ground (side to side). When talking about the front, "raising" or "lowering" the front would have helped my confusion. Either way, someone else chimed in and knew what you meant, you understood, and that helped solve your situation. Koodos to everyone! Good luck, happy camping, and hope you really enjoy that Montana!

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