Landing Gear Dual Conversion

ejered

ejered
Soo Long story short after dealing with numerous issues with front landing gear and constantly having to assist the motor with the handcrank, i have come to the conclusion that the motor just does not cut the Cyclone 3912 weight. It always seems as if it is struggling while hitching/unhitching. I have had new motor gear cases installed etc.

I stumbled across this product mfg by venture the same company that builds the kits for lippert. (The frame company for Heartland)

It is a dual conversion for our landing gear units and includes everything you need to convert the landing gear to have dual motors etc. I called the company and spoke with a sales rep and he quoted me $350.00:eek: for the entire kit. Too me for 350 I dont think you can go wrong to give it a shot. I will be purchasing this kit i believe in the next few weeks and see how it goes. Does anyone else have this installed on their cyclone? I will keep everyone up to date and possibly include photos of the final product, and let you guys know if there is a benefit or not check it out!

http://www.venturemfgco.com/docs/dual pk conversion instructions.pdf
 

geeksrus

Well-known member
Let us know how it works out when you're done.

Hopefully, the gear reduction boxes won't be made of plastic.

Eh!
 

ejered

ejered
Sounds great will do! The new reduction boxes or updated reduction boxes are made of aluminum, well the cases at least.
 

parrishr

Member
Need front landing jack help myself

The Venture front jack motor and gears (which I gather are manufactured by Lippert) on my Cyclone seem to have multiple problems and I am afraid to unhitch from the truck at this point. First, obviously the nut on the drive bar was being sheered off from rubbing the motor casing. I fixed that with high quality nut and bolt of the right length. Then I would have liked to have never gotten the tailer on the truck since the drive side was not extending but the other side was. I used a four ton floor jack to raise the drive side so I could place the rig on the truck and work on it. Then I notice the opposite side would not retract. It seems to be random that one side or the other won't retract or extend. Using the hand crank does not work either and I am afraid to disconned from the truck. I also cannot find a link to buy parts and am not sure that I do not replace the whole deal. I am new to the fifth wheel world, believe I should be able to fix anything I own or I should not own it. Any tips on fixing this? I can't even imagine being hours from civilization and not being able to hitch or un-hitch the camper.
 

jimtoo

Moderator
Hi parrishr,

First, Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and Family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information. And all willing to help.

There have been several threads about the front landing gear fixes and problems. I'm sure someone will jump in here and give you some help finding your problem.

Enjoy the forum.

Jim M
 

5erWonk

Well-known member
I recently developed issues with the front landing jacks as have others which have been well documented on this forum.

One thing I have not seen mentioned is if there is a binding issue that could be putting additional load on the motor and the gears.

In my case the problem developed slowly over several months with no real change on my trailer load. I checked the lubricant on the gears and all looked good.

Is there any recommendation for a lubricant on the legs where they may bind inside the tube?

I have checked Lippert service bulletins and can't find anything there.

Any ideas??
 

lwmcguir

Well-known member
Some folks have installed stabilizers to keep the Coach from moving and creating the binding effect on the legs. Might help.
 

geeksrus

Well-known member
The Venture front jack motor and gears (which I gather are manufactured by Lippert) on my Cyclone seem to have multiple problems and I am afraid to unhitch from the truck at this point. First, obviously the nut on the drive bar was being sheered off from rubbing the motor casing. I fixed that with high quality nut and bolt of the right length. Then I would have liked to have never gotten the tailer on the truck since the drive side was not extending but the other side was. I used a four ton floor jack to raise the drive side so I could place the rig on the truck and work on it. Then I notice the opposite side would not retract. It seems to be random that one side or the other won't retract or extend. Using the hand crank does not work either and I am afraid to disconned from the truck. I also cannot find a link to buy parts and am not sure that I do not replace the whole deal. I am new to the fifth wheel world, believe I should be able to fix anything I own or I should not own it. Any tips on fixing this? I can't even imagine being hours from civilization and not being able to hitch or un-hitch the camper.

It might be that a post on the gear reduction box broke off.

That's what happened to mine [and a few others] and I order a new one from Venture Mfg. Company (866) 365-1957 http://www.venturemfgco.com/. I got a plastic one but apparently they now offer an aluminum one.

Eh!
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
"I also cannot find a link to buy parts and am not sure that I do not replace the whole deal."

I recently had to replace the drive shaft on what is know as the "Follow" shaft (the one on the opposite side from the motor). I called Lippert Customer Service and they helped me with getting the right kit. Replacing the gears and shaft was not extremely hard, but I did have to remove the entire leg to be able to replace the inner workings. You also need to have a little knowledge of mechanics. For instance there is a roll pin that has to be removed from the old gear and shaft assembly and a new roll pin has to be installed. These are not inherently easy to get out and back in. In my case, it required some creativity with my available tools (I found an allen wrench that was the same size as the pin that worked nicely for tapping the old roll pin out). If the cross shaft is turning, but the follow leg is not going up or down, either the small drive shaft coming out of the leg is broken, the pin connecting the cross shaft to the follow shaft is out, or a gear inside the leg is broken. The repair kit from Lippert (or Venture) will allow you to fix all of these.

Hope I didn't get too technical or go into too much detail. It was actually quite interesting doing this repair myself.
 

ejered

ejered
The front landing legs have alot of issues. Contact Venture Mfg. At (866) 365-1957, they will need ur serial number (under the top cap of landing leg) and can send you a repair kit or whatever parts you need. My thought on the dual conversion was to reduce the loading on the single drive motor and nearly double my lifting capacity. I have not ordered it yet but plan to do so here shortly, and will give you feedback on the benefit of it. Thanks Jered
 

Wharton

Well-known member
FYI-As we get ready to order having only a single motor for for front landing jack has been a concern. Reading this thread we will probably buy the kit and have someone install it. When on the Venture site I noticed they also had limit switches, another great option.

Wish we could order this when the rig is built............................
 

caissiel

Senior Member
I was looking at my landing gear motor on my trailer this morning and could not believe the small unit that is used on this trailer, Its realy twisting the plastic gearbox when jacking. I had a heavier unit on the old trailer and it lasted 15 years without problems. I just cannot believe the new stuff that they are putting on our units. I am in the market for installing a heavy unit soon. Not just a second similar unit.
 

caissiel

Senior Member
I was looking at my landing legs this morning and I could not see a stopper lug, one would have to make sure these legs don't slip down after working on them.
 

DW_Gray

Well-known member
I recently started having with problems with blowing the landing gear 30 amp fuses. I learned about the replacement fuse that automatically resets and I bought one. Tonight I read the spec sheet for the landing gear. I’m convinced the single motor system for the Cyclone is much too light. I hope to install the dual power kit conversion soon.


6/28/10 - Changed my mind. I'll go for the hydraulic conversion instead.
 
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HRAI

Member
My landing gear started to slowly get slower and slower over the space of a few months. It got to the point where it would barely lift the trailer off the truck! In my despair, I did what a lot of men do... I read the manual! It turns out that you are supposed to oil the landing gear posts from the top with motor oil once a year. It appears the screw which actuates the landing gear gets exposed to road dirt, salt, etc... When I oiled it, the difference was immediate! It now works very well for what it is... A lonely little electric motor trying to lift 2000 pounds of the ground. But it works like it did when I bought it brand new.

Anyway, that's my experience.

Guy
 

wdk450

Well-known member
My landing gear started to slowly get slower and slower over the space of a few months. It got to the point where it would barely lift the trailer off the truck! In my despair, I did what a lot of men do... I read the manual! It turns out that you are supposed to oil the landing gear posts from the top with motor oil once a year. It appears the screw which actuates the landing gear gets exposed to road dirt, salt, etc... When I oiled it, the difference was immediate! It now works very well for what it is... A lonely little electric motor trying to lift 2000 pounds of the ground. But it works like it did when I bought it brand new.

Anyway, that's my experience.

Guy

Well, this is great, but how do you do this "minor" job on the door side leg if you have the generator prep compartment installed? I wonder if this would be worth installing a small plastic oiler tube from the door side leg to the battery/slide controls compartment.
 

wdk450

Well-known member
My landing gear started to slowly get slower and slower over the space of a few months. It got to the point where it would barely lift the trailer off the truck! In my despair, I did what a lot of men do... I read the manual! It turns out that you are supposed to oil the landing gear posts from the top with motor oil once a year. It appears the screw which actuates the landing gear gets exposed to road dirt, salt, etc... When I oiled it, the difference was immediate! It now works very well for what it is... A lonely little electric motor trying to lift 2000 pounds of the ground. But it works like it did when I bought it brand new.

Anyway, that's my experience.

Guy

Guy:
I was just reading the Venture landing gear manual that is in the "Tools" section of this website, and came across the following note:

"OTHER INFORMATION
• Landing gear and Power Kit capacities and specifications are provided on page 2.
• Venture landing gear is lifetime lubricated and should never require maintenance "

Now, it is hard to argue with your success on this problem. I just wonder what manual you got the lubrication spec from?
 

HRAI

Member
Guy:
I was just reading the Venture landing gear manual that is in the "Tools" section of this website, and came across the following note:

"OTHER INFORMATION
• Landing gear and Power Kit capacities and specifications are provided on page 2.
• Venture landing gear is lifetime lubricated and should never require maintenance "

Now, it is hard to argue with your success on this problem. I just wonder what manual you got the lubrication spec from?

Hi Bill,

I found it by Googling Lippert landing gear. The manual spoke of how the nut which is fixed to the exterior square tube is cone shaped. When you pour engine oil down the square tube, oil pools in the cone. As the screw goes up and down, it automatically gets lubricated. By the way mine is still working like a charm.

Guy
 

santafedave

Santafedave
Did this conversion kit work for you? My landing gear has completly stopped working and the manual jack system doesnt' work either. I have my TT at Camping World and I am going to order this dual motor system and I would like to know if it worked out for you. (My landing gear up down switch stuck in the up position and I didn't know it so the motor burned itself out) Thanks, David.
 

caissiel

Senior Member
I had a real hard time to operate my landing gear manualy and took the posts off to check the gear assembly. The gears were dry and the screw gear mechanism was moving enough to misalign the gears so bad that the pinion was wearing off and jaming. I repaired it by anchoring the the gear so it will not be pushed sideways in the post.

It don't mather how many motors you have turning the gears it will eventualy break if it is not fixed.

This is the 3rd trailer I have owned and everytime I have had to repair the landing gear assembly so it runs easier.

Simply put more power will only wear faster, there is plenty of power on one motor and drive to push the screw if its working properly.

Just try to crank it manualy it has been my best test.

These units should be build properly in the first place, there is to much assembly tolerance that makes them come out of alignment and gears have to mesh and stay meshed uder load.
 
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