Hydraulic Slides

I do NOT currently have a problem with my slides on the 2007 Bighorn 3055RL, but I have been wondering what one does in the event of a malfunction; motor/pump failure, hydraulic leak, etc. that would prevent the slides from going in or out. Unlike my old electric operated slides that had a manual crank, I know of no such emergency device on the hydraulic sildes. I believe the answer to a malfunction is, "fix what broke". Anybody know something I don't? I can envision a real ugly situation in the middle of a wonderful camping trip.

jdfishing, I'm really surprised your dealer did not go over this with you... What you do is pull the end bell off your hydraulic pump motor and power the unit with a battery operated hand held drill motor. You need to acquire a 1/4" hex bit to do this. Then you operate your slide mechanism as if the original motor was operational. As far as ruptured hydraulic lines, yes this could happen but not likely. Worse case scenario is call a local RV service and have their tech come to your site to bail you out. Hope this helps. Tom

FYI - We did have a ruptured hydraulic line under our bed. It leaked all of the fluid out ruining the carpet. It was fixed under warranty, but how I noticed it was the jacks quit working. When I checked the reservoir it was almost empty. Refilled it and everything worked. I noticed it was low again and knew we had a leak. Never had to use the drill method, but now we carry 4 quarts of ATF with us just in case. We were lucky before as our friends were traveling with us and they had fluid that we borrowed.

RollingHome said:

What you do is pull the end bell off your hydraulic pump motor and power the unit with a battery operated hand held drill motor. You need to acquire a 1/4" hex bit to do this. Then you operate your slide mechanism as if the original motor was operational.

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Has anyone tried this drill motor method? I know it's RPM dependent, buy how long can this process be expected to take to move out 4 slides?

Yes there was a thread started last week discussing the very issue. Chopper Bill stated he found a 1/4" hex bit to fit his battery drill for this specific purpose and another poster stated he actually made it happen. When I get time I want to give it a try also, just to know what to expect. Tom

I got the bit and an extension at Sears, just in case. On my motor, it looks like I only have to peel off the sticker on the back end of it (that shows the hex port location) to access it. I don't think you have to do any disassembly of the motor housing, itself.

I have a battery drill, and a long screw bit in the drill backward will fit in the hydraulic pump.
I had a hydraulic slide system in my last trailer and it lasted 15 years. Hydraulic units that are trouble free for a while will last a long time.
I always keep an eye on the fluid level in the tank when all the slides are opened. Its at its lowest then.

caissiel said:

I have a battery drill, and a long screw bit in the drill backward will fit in the hydraulic pump.
I had a hydraulic slide system in my last trailer and it lasted 15 years. Hydraulic units that are trouble free for a while will last a long time.
I always keep an eye on the fluid level in the tank when all the slides are opened. Its at its lowest then.

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Agree with you on the Hydraulics. I just found out our little brother has cable activated slides. That sounds scarey to me.

The pump died on the SOB just before we headed out on our adventures for the summer last year! Had to use the drill method to get the legs up before we left, and then down, and the slides out at the campground. The pump was under warranty (3 yrs) but we had to spend a few extra nites at the campground waiting for delivery which wasn't a hard thing to do. It was delivered to the dealer and we had to pay an hours worth of labour for the install. Wish I had just phoned Lippert and had the pump shipped out as we had to double back to the dealer to get dinged. But using the screw method wasn't as easy as I thought it would be! First I couldn't figure out the direction and I eventually figured out that I had to use the leg switch or the wife would have to use the slide switch, respectfully, to get things moving. This is different to what I was lead to believe! Thinking about it, (and I'm not sure on this so don't take it as gospel) but I believe it works by the screw building up pressure. In other words it doesn't matter what direction the drill is going, it's whatever position the respective switch is in that will determine the direction of the slides or the legs. It also took a very long time to get anything moving but it did work and at least we weren't stranded! And that's all that mattered!

Thanks for all the great info. I had no idea about the drill on the motor fix. You all have increased my comfort level a great deal. What a great discovery this forum was for me. Again, thanks.