Front jack failure

[billr]

When trying to raise the trailer to disconnect on Monday, I had a major gusher of fluid come out the LH LG leg. Would not raise or hold trailer up. Slides went wonky with air in all the lines.

It appeared to be a blown ram. Thats also what the dealer thought, took it in and they found line in behind the wall of the battery compartment between it and the outer wall right near the leg had a nick in it from where they had drilled for a clamp or something at the factory in 2005!! Finally let go!! It was hidden from sight until a hole was made in the wall.

Line repaired and metal plate cover installed. Need to completely replace the line later.

So, if you get a major leak around that area, don't assume like I did that it's a Ram! :shock: Give it a closer look.

Bill

[Motor31]

I had a minor leak in one of the jack hoses. It leaked at the connection point near the pump where it tied into the valve body. Since it was the hose leaking I couldn't repair the hose due to the crimp style connectors DT put on the hoses. As per Lippert, DT made and installed the hoses not Lippert. I went to a hydraulic hose shop with the old hose and they made me a new one while I waited for less than $14.00. This was the extension hose that went to the far side (door) ram. They also pointed out that with the new 2800 PSI pumps we may have a problem later on. The DT hoses have a working pressure of 2200 PSI, it's stamped on the hose. Changing the front hoses is a snap and inexpensive.

[Motor31]

At the present time it seems I have another failure of the front jacks myself. The jacks have to be secured in the up position. They now also are not holding when parked. The nose drops in the space of a day or night. The pump is obviously laboring on extension and at times won't retract the legs. I am unsure if it's a valve problem or if the rams have a seal leak that pressurizes both sides of the mechanism. The rear jacks function just fine and the pump has no trouble with them.

I am trying to contact Lippert to get service in the Seattle area now. Has anyone dealt with a service center in this area?

[ChrisM]

At the present time it seems I have another failure of the front jacks myself. The jacks have to be secured in the up position. They now also are not holding when parked. The nose drops in the space of a day or night. The pump is obviously laboring on extension and at times won't retract the legs. I am unsure if it's a valve problem or if the rams have a seal leak that pressurizes both sides of the mechanism. The rear jacks function just fine and the pump has no trouble with them.

It's most likely a cylinder leak, or on an off chance, its a valve issue. Its been my experience that the cylinders are the weak spots. '04's were the worst hydraulicly, and the '05's were only slightly better. The '04 cylinders chrome plating was done poorly, resulting in alot of flaking and peeling which would cut or heavily wear on the seals.

[Motor31]

The situation has been repaired. (Knock on wood) We had a cylinder that was leaking and also seem to have had some kind of debris in the fluid. We replaced the street side jack and removed / cleaned reinstalled the valve block body. The front jacks are running better than ever now that we purged the system a bit. I'm crossing fingers that this will take care of the long term hydraulic issues we have had.

Changing the jack meant raising the nose up quite a ways. The cylinder is held to the jack assembly by 2 bolts. One at the top and one at the foot. once the lines are removed and the bolts taken out the jack cylinder and sliding square sleeve slide out the bottom.

The tech informed me that Lippert does not rebuild any cylinders. Any that fail for any reason are scrapped.

I have to give kudos to Lippert as they sent a tech from Oregon to Northern Washington to fix my system under warranty. The tech was very informative and got the job done pretty quickly. It is a job that goes far faster and easier if you can lift the nose way up and have 4 hands to get it done.

Overall I am very very impressed with Lippert service and I am not easily impressed.

[RonS]

Good to hear your back up and running. My experience with Lippert so far has been great. How long is the Lippert warranty on the rams etc?

[ChrisM]

How long is the Lippert warranty on the rams etc?

The warranty on towable hydraulic systems is 10 yrs from the date of manufacture. Or at least it was when I asked 6 months ago...

[Motor31]

IIRC the warranty is 5 years from date of manufacture of the rig, not date of sale. You should also know that the hoses are not covered under warranty as they were made by DT not lippert. Lippert provided the materiuals but DT did the hose construction.