[Motor31]

The first thing to do is to prevent the distribution box (red aluminum block the hoses tie into) from dropping down and more fluid pouring out. Do not run the pump at all until you are done sealing the system up.

Second is that the box hangs from the extend or power side of the ram. If the ram is already down, leave it alone. If it's up when the connector fails you will have to bleed it as it will drop both legs and suck in air into the rams and hose.

To bleed it like I did when mine failed after the rams were powered down is a snap. I put the new connector in the red box and left the part that screws onto the 90 degree nipple on the ram loose. I then used a long screw driver to lift the ram foot slightly until fluid ran out of the fitting. While it was pushing fluid out I then tightened the connector. That was all there was to it.

If the rams were up and they sucked in air you will be doing some exercising of the rams. Get a piece of hose to connect to the 90 degree nipple. It does not have to be hydraulic hose, just any hose like clear plastic hose that you can see through and fits tight on the 90 degree nipple will do. Have a container of fluid (like a mason jar you can see through) filled with fluid and place the open end of the hose into the fluid. Manually raise the ram on the far side first to expel air and let it suck in fluid as it drops back down. Let it sit fully extended for a few seconds to allow any air bubbles in the ram to rise to the top so the air will flow out first. A long screw driver or a light crow bar will help in doing that as the ram has some resistance and it's heavy too. Do this several times until there are no more air bubbles coming into the jar from the line. Once that ram is done, do the same thing on the near ram where the box is located. Leave the ram down and full of fluid then make the loose connection like I described above and gently raise the ram and tighten the fitting. Using the pump, exercise the system several times to try and remove any air bubbles that might remain. Try raising the rams and leaving them up for a day or several hours to make sure they won't drop in transit on the road. If they do drop down repeat the manual bleeding process to get any bubbles of air out of the lines and rams.

It's similar to bleeding the brakes on a car but you have to move the ram up and down manually instead of pumping the brake pedal. If you have to bleed the ram manually it's going to be tedious, messy and time consuming. Keep the jar full of fluid (ATF dexron 3) and don't let that hose suck in air.

As far as spare lines are concerned, I wouldn't be in a hurry to get them made up as you don't know which one of the several you will need first. There are several lengths of hose and each one will have to have nipples or fittings on them. If a hose fails, remove it and take it to a hydraulic line fabricator and they can make a new one. (phone book or google search in the town you are in) Make sure you tell them you have a 2800 PSI pump so you get higher pressure line than the original 2200 PSI line installed. Most hoses will fail gradually, starting to seep rather than failing all at once. Look for seepage then extend the ram or slide fully before removing the hose. Make darn sure you block up the front of the rig if it's the landing gear line that fails. Once you break the line loose the front will drop to the ground. Don't be under it without the trailer being supported.