Leaking Middle Jack - What To Do?

[bsdf200]

I have the six-jack hydraulic leveling system, one of the middle jack driver's side is leaking hydraulic fluid but the rig is still level. Can the jack have new seals or do I just have to buy a new one?


Mod Update: Post moved to a new Thread.

[RMcNeal]

Haven't had any problems like that yet, but have read that others who did found a hydraulic shop to rebuild theirs. I don't think Lippert offers a rebuild kit or seals for them. It seems they expect us to just replace the jack when the seals give up. Of course, that's much more expensive.

[ChuckS]

Yes.. despite what Lippert says the hydraulic leveler legs and LG legs can be rebuilt by a hydraulic shop.. provided the internal hard parts are not worn..

Primary cause of most of these leaks in the leveling system is owners don’t wipe the exposed cylinders down prior to retracting them..

Your choices are .. rebuilt or order a new one..

You should have the Gen 1 8K leveler legs and 14K LG legs..

The job is simple. Remove the hydraulic lines on the leaking leveler leg, cap the lines, remove the leveler leg and take to a shop for rebuild

If it can’t be rebuilt then order a replacement , install it and then bleed the system .. which simply requires cycling the leveling system several times to purge the air

Link to identify your leveling legs.. https://lci-support-doc.s3.amazonaws...cd-0003792.pdf

[432bartman]

How much is it leaking? Is it a slight grey in color runoff down the leveler leg, or something much worse?

[ChuckS]

If the fluid leak is at the top side and you have already snugged the 3 cap bolts and fluid line fittings and still have fluid leaking from the top down to the bottom either the banjo bolt o ring or top cap o ring has failed

Either can be found at most auto parts and hardware stores

[ChuckS]

If however the leak is from the lower side then the internal seal has failed .. there is an external wiper seal as shown in first pic.. it does not seal the fluid ..it merely exist to keep dirt from being drawn up inside

Second pic is the actual seal inside that keeps the fluid under pressure within the inside of the cylinder housing

[Lazy Ike]

Is there a part number for any of these seals? I have the same problem and am capable of replacing the seals but I would like to have them on hand so as to do the job quickly.

[bsdf200]

it is a little worse.

[bsdf200]

Thanks everyone for the info, I will take it off and see what can be done.

[Asroc777]

Originally Posted by RMcNeal

Haven't had any problems like that yet, but have read that others who did found a hydraulic shop to rebuild theirs. I don't think Lippert offers a rebuild kit or seals for them. It seems they expect us to just replace the jack when the seals give up. Of course, that's much more expensive.

Is it necessary to remove it while the Jack is up or down? If it is down and I remove it will I lose oil?

[Tess]

Our middle Jack passenger side was leaking, a local hydraulic shop rebuilt it in about 30 minutes and charged less than $50. The technician said it was one of the seals, that was a year ago and it is still working perfectly

[bsdf200]

How hard was it to take off or did you take your rig to them?

[Mikendebbie]

The jacks are not difficult to remove, but access to some is a bit tight.
Obviously the ones in the wheel well are easy because access to the bolts and nuts (on the backside) are good.

In 2018 I clipped a curb with the rear passenger side jack. The jack itself was not damaged, but the C-channel mount (welded to frame) was bent a bit leaving that jack about 2" out of plumb. I unbolted the jack, strapped it up out of the way and used a BFH to beat the mount back into proper shape. I decided to move all four of the rear jacks up by ONE hole. I used a hammer drill and held back-up on the nuts to get the bolts out.

[RMcNeal]

Originally Posted by Asroc777

Is it necessary to remove it while the Jack is up or down? If it is down and I remove it will I lose oil?

It qould be best for the jack to be up to limit the loss of hydraulic fluid, but not absolutely necessary. You will lose some even if it is up and you cap off the lines while jack is off.
It's easy to add fluid to the reservoir.

[Tess]

We took the Jack off the 5th wheel and took the Jack to the Hydraulic shop.
My husband and I removed the Jack. It was not difficult, I took pics to make sure we connected the hydraulic lines back up correctly. We did have quite a bit of fluid leak out of the lines so have a bucket or tub to catch the fluid.

[bsdf200]

Do you know the size of the cap you used on the lines?

[Daryles]

To cap the lines

Hydraulic fittings are 1/4" Female JIC 37° Flare.
Plug and cap Size for the JIC37 fittings ...
3404C-04 Cap
2408-04 Plug
Size is 1/4 Inch for cap and plug

[Tess]

BSDF200, we didn't cap the lines, we just kind of put the ends up on the frame just so they didn't leak anymore. Hope this helps.

[bsdf200]

someone told me you can put in a stop leak but he did not know what it is called. Has anyone heard of this?

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by bsdf200

someone told me you can put in a stop leak but he did not know what it is called. Has anyone heard of this?

I would not put any sort of “stop leak” into my hydraulic reservoir .. 7nless you want to deal with a royally screwed up hydraulic system..

If it’s got an external leak find it and fix it.. if it’s an internal bypass leak perform the bypass leak test and this will locate the cylinder or cylinders with the issue

Remove them and rebuild them or replace .. it’s just that simple