Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 04-16-2008, 08:30 AM   #1
Motor31
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,130
More hydraulic issues

A while ago the main jack legs stopped staying up while traveling. I rigged up a retention device to take care of it and things worked fine. Now the main legs are dropping the nose of the trailer when parked. So far I can only find a very minor seep at the main solenoid for the front jacks with no other leaks and no loss of fluid. Anyone have an idea where to look for the problem?

Lippert is no help when I called them about it other than to say to go to a service center and I'm not having much luck getting into one of those right now.
__________________

__________________
Mike Nancy and the fuzzies
Fulltiming since June 2004
Volvo 660 MH tow vehicle
2005 MS 38RL
2007 Saturn Ion "toad"
2010 Gold Wing "piggyback"
Motor31 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-16-2008, 03:22 PM   #2
billr
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 857
Man, Mike.. you have had your share of these gremlins. Have you spoke with Van at Lippert? They really should offer better support. That stinks.

I would start looking at a valve bypassing but that is just a suspicion. When you had the legs dropping while retracted were the rams replaced, or what was the fix? I don't know if the seals in the rams could be leaking internally like they did on ours and cause it to drop under load, but that may be possible.

You might check if your rams are the early model smaller ones like we had and if so, the newer larger ones may sort all your issues out. Lippert should know by the trailer S/N . You can't tell by looking unless you remove them. Just a thought. I assume you don't have pinless front jacks.

Hope you get this sorted out quickly!

Bill
__________________

__________________
Bill and Joan
4 Collie pups
05 M/S 38RL3 #2046
01 Volvo VNL770
05 Smart Passion Loaded piggyback
https://picasaweb.google.com/billandjoan
Weigh-It Portable RV Scales
https://www.weighitrv.com
billr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2008, 08:04 AM   #3
Motor31
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,130
I called Lippert again to see if they had a line on a service center and to confirm the length of their warranty. The warranty is 5 years from date of manufacture to original owner only. Another note is that the hoses are NOT covered under the warranty as they are made on site by DoubleTree. Fortunately hoses aren't real tough to make and if there is a hydraulic shop in the area you should be able to get one fabricated fairly easily and cheaply.

I got a different person this time a gent. named Lee. We talked about a couple of issues and he is certain it's due to the seep at the main jack valve block. It's the red one in the pump area. It's uncertain if it's due to the hose leaking at the fitting, the fitting leaking or if the elbow was loose in the block. The main thing was the length of time the jacks take to drop. We got a half bubble drop in just under 2 months on the front jacks. Lee indicated that if the legs had a seal bypassing pressure the front of the trailer should drop significantly (to the ground) overnight. The valve block seal failure is a very unusual situation. He said the very slow drop is almost certainly a seep / leak. I checked all of the legs, front and back and tightened hose fittings. The next thing is to thoroughly clean any oily hose ends and see if it leaks any more at any location. The main jack valve block hadn't seeped all day but It may take a couple days to see if it is still not holding.

I'm crossing my fingers at this time.

The idea I had on holding the front jacks up was simple. I got a couple heavy 4" worm drive clamps on each leg above the double thick end of the outer housing. I then got a short length of wire cable and routed it through the hole in the bottom of the leg above the flat plate making a closed loop. When I raise the legs I hook the loop through a threaded loop that is secured by the hose clamps. That is more than enough to hold the legs in place since mine are not pinned. I am guessing that the pinned leg option is a result of this kind of situation and was a later option.

I'll see if I can take a picture or two of the leg retainer later on. It's easier to show that than it is to describe it verbally.
__________________
Mike Nancy and the fuzzies
Fulltiming since June 2004
Volvo 660 MH tow vehicle
2005 MS 38RL
2007 Saturn Ion "toad"
2010 Gold Wing "piggyback"
Motor31 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2008, 08:25 AM   #4
RonS
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: New Lisbon, Wisconsin
Posts: 317
Yes please send picture.
__________________
06 MS 36TK3 #2473 w/(Phase II)side to side levelers, Trailair pin box w/Tri-Glide plate.
2011 Dodge 3500 CC 4x4 Diesel DRW Power Tuner guages etc
RonS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2008, 02:23 PM   #5
billr
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 857
Thanks for the update Mike, that sounds like a good course of action. I'm sure you'll find the leak soon. Glad Lippert helped out.

Mine is the older style pinned front jacks, and to keep them up when they failed, I drilled a hole and put on some bolts to hold them up. Can't do that of course with the pinless ones. Your device sounds like a good solution to both types.

Bill
__________________
Bill and Joan
4 Collie pups
05 M/S 38RL3 #2046
01 Volvo VNL770
05 Smart Passion Loaded piggyback
https://picasaweb.google.com/billandjoan
Weigh-It Portable RV Scales
https://www.weighitrv.com
billr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-19-2008, 04:05 PM   #6
Motor31
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,130
For those that wanted pix of my leg retention device, here they are. They are comprised of 4 different components the list is for each leg.

A. 4" diameter hose clamp (heaviest duty you can get) 2 each.
B. Steel braided wire same size as for clothesline
C. Wire clamps 2 minimum.
D. Metal loop / link threaded for security.

The clamps go just above the bottom of the leg as shown and the threaded link is what the wire is looped over after the legs are retracted. I close the threaded portion of the link as the legs will start to drop after a few minutes.

The wire is threaded through the bolt holes just above the pressure plate at the bottom of the ram. There are 4 holes, two are used to bolt the pad to the leg. I figured why waste the other two and put the wire there. I use 2 wire clamps as I like the secirity of both clamps versus a single one in case the wire slips or the clamp wasn't really tight.

All of this stuff came from a regular hardware store like Home Depot or Leows. Other than the hose clamps the rest was on the same aisle.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg 100_1212_468.jpg (89.1 KB, 214 views)
File Type: jpg 100_1211_160.jpg (75.1 KB, 214 views)
__________________
Mike Nancy and the fuzzies
Fulltiming since June 2004
Volvo 660 MH tow vehicle
2005 MS 38RL
2007 Saturn Ion "toad"
2010 Gold Wing "piggyback"
Motor31 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-20-2008, 09:02 AM   #7
Motor31
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,130
I've confirmed a leak in the system. I have a seep at the hose that controls extension of the curb side main jack. It is seeping at the fitting where it attaches to the main aluminum valve block (red) in the battery compartment. It is not the threaded portion it is where the threaded fitting is connected to the rubber hose. That means I have to locate a hydraulic company that manufactures hoses. A simple thing if you have the tools like I did when working on aircraft. If I had the tools and parts I could make a new hose here on site in less than an hour.

There are a few hydraulic service locations here in town so I'll likely be able to get one made up. I'll have to put the truck under the trailer as there will be no pressure to hold the rig up when I pull the hose.
__________________
Mike Nancy and the fuzzies
Fulltiming since June 2004
Volvo 660 MH tow vehicle
2005 MS 38RL
2007 Saturn Ion "toad"
2010 Gold Wing "piggyback"
Motor31 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2008, 08:02 PM   #8
Motor31
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,130
I may have fixed the issue. I hesitate to declare victory just yet but so far it looks good.

I hooked up the truck to the trailer to hold the nose up. I then put the front legs down on the ground but not under pressure. The line is simple and takes a 7/16 open end wrench to remove it. Since the legs were not under pressure there was minimal loss of pressure. Do NOT try to do this job with the legs up as that will put tons of air into the ram.

I took the hose to a hydraulic shop. The hose is a standard 3/8 inch hose. They made a new one for me in about 15 minutes.

After getting back to the trailer I still had to "bleed" the hose. I did that simply by hooking the new hose up to the ram. I then used a crowbar to raise the ram forcing fluid out through the hose. Once it was flowing and no longer showing bubbles it was bled of air. I had Nancy hold the ram then push it up just a tad more while I screwed the other end to the valve block fitting. Doing it this way kept air from the system.

After making sure both ends were tight they were cleaned and the system exercised. I checked for leaks at each end. I had the legs holding pressure then unhitched. The trailer held level. Raising and lowering it a couple times and still no leaks. Doing the job took me about 2.5 hours but that also included hitching operations the trip to get the hose and clean up. The hose cost $12.03 with tax. I also used about a cup of fluid to replace the loss. So far after 8 hours there has been no settling of the trailer nose.

I don't have any idea if this will correct the dropping legs but I'll find out later on when we head out on Friday.

There is another bit of info you might want to know. The hoses on the trailers (at least the 05 versions) are rated for a working pressure of 2200 PSI. The newer pumps that were installed with the latest mod are 2800 psi capable. This may be the cause of the seep failure. You might want to look over the hoses in your rig at the connection points and look for leaks. It takes a very very small seep to cause the trailer to start dropping. Since the legs are not pinned, your rig can drop to the ground.
__________________
Mike Nancy and the fuzzies
Fulltiming since June 2004
Volvo 660 MH tow vehicle
2005 MS 38RL
2007 Saturn Ion "toad"
2010 Gold Wing "piggyback"
Motor31 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2008, 03:25 PM   #9
bstark
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Fergus, Ontario, CANADA
Posts: 1,000
Good stuff Mike. Hopefully you have the problem solved and that's behind you. Textbook approach to using fluid in the cylinder to purge air by lifting piston.

I'm especially glad you added that last little bit of info regarding the rated pressure of the hoses. Something to watch for.
__________________

__________________
Sandra, Bruce
bstark is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:24 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
×