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Our landing gear has been misbehaving for quite a while. When we were getting ready to head out on the road, the circuit breaker went bad and had to be replaced. Ever since, I think the circuit breaker has been tripping and resetting when raising and lowering. The motor stops and after a count to 10, it goes again. Sometimes it will move several inches before it trips, sometimes maybe just 1/8 inch or so. Lately the several inch movements were becoming more rare. Very frustrating!
Getting ready to leave the last campground, the driver side leg retracted, but no movement from the passenger side. When I checked it out, the bolt had sheared on the connecting rod, near the passenger side leg. I used the truck jack to lift that side, put a screwdriver in place of the sheared bolt, and retracted the legs.
After setting up at the new campground, with the truck jack doing the work of the passenger leg, I removed the leg. It was easy to remove, since it’s in the compartment with the propane tank. I didn’t have to remove the tank, just undid the metal attachment strap and slid the tank over a little. Thanks Ray for the videos you did showing your landing gear repairs, they were a big help.
I took it completely apart. Everything looked good, nothing obvious showed up. I thought it could have had more grease, but it wasn’t dry. Then, I tried running the screw all the way through the nut. It would only go 7 inches. I took the screw out and looked it over. Again, nothing obvious. I cleaned the threads and tried running it again. It turned very easy by fingers until it hit 7 inches again. I ran it back out and scrubbed it with an old toothbrush. Still no idea what is happening. The screw doesn’t look bent, the threads look good.
I don’t think just the screw is available to buy for replacement. I think just replacing it wouldn’t have been the wisest choice, either. The other parts in there are worn and probably should be replaced. And how is the driver side leg doing? Obviously the motor and gearbox has been stressed. Considering all this, and reading forums, we decided to replace the system with Ultra-Fab Products 17943010 5th Wheel Electric Landing Gear .
I think the dual motors will be a great upgrade. Our fifth wheel is 37′ long, we added batteries in the nose, it’s just heavy. Some of the systems might not have been maintained well in the past. The new legs have grease zercs, they should make the yearly lubrication easy. I’m anxious for these to arrive and to get them installed.
Our new landing gear came in. Sometimes, getting things delivered to a campground can be a challenge.
I’m anxious to get them all hooked up![quote quote=53451]Our new landing gear came in. Sometimes, getting things delivered to a campground can be a challenge. I’m anxious to get them all hooked up!
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Bet that was a heavy box. 🙂This was easy to do, since both legs were in the propane bottle areas.
Driver side
Passenger side
New switches, the one on the left is disconnected, but I didn’t want to remove it and leave a hole.
It might be a little low. In order to move it, I’d need to have brackets welded in. I think I’ll give them a try and see what happens.Now all that’s left is to get the wiring all connected up. I had to make a run to Home Depot to get the proper size splices and terminal ends.
I got it all done, and we made a move with the new gear. A couple of observations I made:
1. The new motors seem louder.
2.They also seem slower. I never timed the old system, but these new motors move the legs an inch in about 10 seconds.
3.I’m concerned with how far they hang below the trailer frame. The new legs came with brackets that could be welded on. I might have to get that done and raise them up a bit.
Overall, I’m very pleased with the way this turned out. Having landing gear that work is so nice!
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