Leaking Front Jacks

[wingnut60]

Roberts RV in IN that has fine recs on DRV jack repair, is a hydraulic shop. Hydraulic rams are mostly similar in operation/construction. Have seen many oilfield hydraulic failures repaired in shops you would not want your DRV near. I suppose there are different degrees of competency in these shops, but the basics of hydraulic rams are the same.

[clev]

I watched a You Tube video on removing/replacing a side stabilizer and it looks pretty easy. I’ve also located 3 hydraulics repair shops in the area. When I return from this trip, I’ll pull it and have it repaired. Hopefully, it won’t cause a problem on this short trip.

[porthole]

Originally Posted by clev

I watched a You Tube video on removing/replacing a side stabilizer and it looks pretty easy. I’ve also located 3 hydraulics repair shops in the area. When I return from this trip, I’ll pull it and have it repaired. Hopefully, it won’t cause a problem on this short trip.

I think the main concern with the Lippert jacks is the proprietary seals they use, not readily available.

The shop in Indy refits the assembly for readily available, higher quality seals. Problem solved.

[Cummins12V98]

My Machinist friend in WA just rebuilt my two front and two of the rears. The rears have QUALITY seals and he said they are vERY robust. Mine rears were leaking where the Glan screws onto the outer tube.

The fronts he went to a much better quality and type of seal as does Roberts.

It takes a pit to change out the fronts.

He also cuts off the foot pad adapter nut and welds on a new nut in alignment to the shaft. Lippert welds every one on crooked. Roberts does the same.

Roberts will replace the ram outer tube if the small return line is excessively worn at $200 ea. Problem is the wear will start all over again. My Machinist fried has came up with a way to keep the small tube from wearing against the inside of the silver outer tube you see. Another BIG improvement doing this upgrade the side to side stability is vastly improved!

[stanleyz]

Originally Posted by clev

I just found this thread. I posted a separate one about a leaking ram. The ram in front of the passenger side front wheel has oil residue on the ground plate. On inspection, there is oil residue on the bottom of the ram, where the tube comes down. Not a lot, more of a seep and not a dripping leak. How do I fix that? Take it off, and take it where? I can repair almost anything, but am totally clueless with hydraulics.

I did mine and I wouldn’t want to do it again. You need a hole to drop them in and it needs to be about two feet drop below the bottom of of the housing. Might be more. I should have posted that back when I did it. Bottom line is if all i had was a minor leak I would tighten all the lines on that side and ignore it until it got worse. It is a tough tough job.

[Dmcfarden]

I have a 2012 36 TKSB3 with a leaking front landing gear ram. I ordered and received a new hydraulic ram from Lippert for nearly $500. It looks like I might have enough room to replace from the inside of the basement area. Am I wrong and will I need a hole under the ram to replace it from the bottom side? I sure hope not.

[stanleyz]

Originally Posted by Dmcfarden

I have a 2012 36 TKSB3 with a leaking front landing gear ram. I ordered and received a new hydraulic ram from Lippert for nearly $500. It looks like I might have enough room to replace from the inside of the basement area. Am I wrong and will I need a hole under the ram to replace it from the bottom side? I sure hope not.

I’m not sure what you got from lippert. If is the whole thing, the square housing and the round internal I guess you will need a welder to cut the old one off and weld the new one in. If you are just getting the internals you will still have to swap them out. I did mine (a 2005) by dropping them out the bottom. Then had the local hydraulic shop rebuild the internals. 125 bucks each. Dropping them out requires a hole deep enough for them to clear the housing. If you are on the truck the easy way is to take the top off a man hole. Pull it over and drop it out. Not a lot to it as I recall. Take the foot off, disconnect the lines and let re drop. Putting the new back in was a chore as I recall but I was 76 at the time and survived. The only other way I could see to do it was have a welder cut the whole leg out and replace the internals on a work bench. I took some pictures. I’ll see if I can find them and post you a couple. Hope this helps.

I just checked my picts. Nothing there of much help. But here is the procedure I used now that my memory is refreshed. Put trailer on truck. Passenger side is easier. Disconnect upper and lower hoses from leg housing. Put leg over hole where you can drop it. Remove the bolt at the top of the leg. It should come right out with a little wiggling. Drivers side is a little harder. You have to remove the red distribution box and the other hose. I had to cut my sheet metal open to get at everything on the drivers side. Then same as above. Also, once you have removed the hoses put some kind of stopper in it and do not push any hydraulic buttons. When you get everything back together run the jacks up and down enough times to get the air out. Then top off fluid.

Well darn it. I just realized Yours is a 2012. I think that has the round legs. Sorry man. I have no idea. I’ll leave this here in case someone with an antique like mine needs it. My bad.

[clev]

I should have followed up on my post; lots of things going on. I checked with Lippert and opted to try a cheap, simple fix by pouring a few ounces of Hydraulic Stop Leak into the hydraulic container. No more leak. Mine was an actual slow seep/leak with visible fluid on the ground plate from the middle, passenger side ram. I don't think the actual ram was collapsing. Almost a year later and still no leak.

[Dmcfarden]

Thanks Stanley for the detailed information. Yes mine are the round type of legs. Hopefully someone has done this on my types and will reply.

Clev. Mine was leaking a little more, maybe a couple oz per day when it was under pressure. You could hear it click, click every few minutes. I have a front stabilizer that is rated for 5k lbs under the pin so it does stop the leak, but I'm afraid I'll need to replace the ram.

[anijet]

Originally Posted by clev

I should have followed up on my post; lots of things going on. I checked with Lippert and opted to try a cheap, simple fix by pouring a few ounces of Hydraulic Stop Leak into the hydraulic container. No more leak. Mine was an actual slow seep/leak with visible fluid on the ground plate from the middle, passenger side ram. I don't think the actual ram was collapsing. Almost a year later and still no leak.

I did a similar repair on a rear stabilizer jack. It was leaking so I took it off and to a shop for reseal because I didn't have time to reseal. Pretty much leaked right away. A few months later I resealed it myself and it was OK but would still seeped intermittently. I retracted it, disconnected the upper hose and attached a short hose that I ran into a bottle of Lucus auto trans treatment and extended the ram manually to draw in half the fluid. Repeated for the lower chamber. Two years and not even a weep.


Any new leaks from hydraulic cylinders and I will try this again before a complete reseal (unless it's a complete blowout).

[6inarow]

Pay close attention to the fittings attached to the cylinder, there are o rings on them and they will leak causing fluid to collect in the pad appearing like a ram leak. Clean the cylinder outer housing real well and then check to see if its fluid running down the outside of the cyl.

[anijet]

Another good leak detection method is to clean the area really good. Wipe down with alcohol and blow dry. Then apply baby powder with one of those squeeze bottles and cycle the cylinder. When it leaks you will see exactly where the leak is from.