dual motor conversion of front landing gears on 3950

PUG

Pug
TI have an 09 Cyclone 3950. It came with a single motor to lift this heavy trl that burned out quite shortly. I talked to Heartland and they sent a new heavy duty motor and had it installed under warranty. This motor lasted about a year and a half and of course is out of warranty.
This motor was replaced with another that I ordered below. It needed to be anyway as it would run at a different rpm than the new one for the replaced leg. Yes two new motors.

I read many posts about this ongoing problem with these bigger heavier trls and ran upon one discussion a dual conversion kit. I contacted the following manufacturer and was quoted the following information.

Venture Mfg. Co. / 3636 Dayton Park Dr. / Dayton, OH 45414
Tel: 937-233-8792 ext. 24 / TF: 866-365-1957 / Fax: 937-233-8485

1 900-40 DPK CONV $300.00 (KIT PLUS ONE NEW MOTOR)
1 9000-40 $125.00 (SECOND NEW MOTOR)
Freight $ 40.59

TOTAL $465.59

What this kit does is replace the complete leg on the door side. This has to be done to have the right gearing and motor gearing assembly for the dual lift.

They also e mailed me some instructions that I am including:

There are several styles of legs out there, so in order to make sure you get the right one we will
need a serial number off one of your current legs. (The serial number is located on the bottom
side of the top cover on each leg.)
The conversion kit includes:
(1) lead leg
(1) 3:1 reduction box
(1) M-9000 motor gearbox w/mounting bolts
(1) switch and wiring harness​
Tools and Supplies you’ll need:​
9/16 wrench, or ratchet & socket
3/8 nut driver or socket
Adjustable wrench or pliers
#2 Phillips Screwdriver
Drill and 1¾” hole saw or 3/8 drill bit & Jigsaw or rotary zip tool I purchased a 1 3/4 inch cobalt hole saw made for sawing metal at Ace Hardware along with a good mandrell. I good 1/2 drill is necessary to handle this. I also purchased a 1/4 inch drill bit about 18 inches long to drill through the metal bracing for the hand crank and on through the exterior skin). Lots of oil and drilling slow to keep heat down is needed. I tried a jigsaw with metal blades but this did not work at all.

electrical tape
(2) yellow wire nuts
(4) #8 x 1” sheet metal screws or screws to suit to attach switch
Silicone caulk

I also picked up 10 ft each of black and red #10 wire at Ace Hardware.
The conversion may be physically challenging, but is relatively simple.

Here are some instructions they included but not totally complete. I will add some to this procedure. Remove the front basement wall board so you can access all this stuff much easier, especially if you have a generator like I do. There are just a few screws holding it is and then just pull it out of the way.

Note: Installations may vary from coach to coach. It is highly recommended that you
take a few digital photos of your particular setup to facilitate proper reinstallation of your
new Leg. Directions below are necessarily generic.​
**Warning**
Great care should be taken when removing and replacing the leg. It is
YOUR RESPONSIBILITY
to ensure the coach is fully supported by means other than the
existing Landing Gear to prevent Bodily Injury or property damage.
Removal:

TO SUPPORT THE TRAILER WHILE I WAS CONVERTING, I HOOKED IT UP TO MY PICKUP FIFTH WHEEL.
1. Remove Hairpin and Clevis Pin or bolt and nut that attach the Leg to the Cross
Drive tube assembly. Telescope Cross Drive tube back out of the way. Remove this cross tube assembly and chuck it, It isn't used anymore.
2. Using Phillips head screwdriver, back out screw almost all the way from plastic
Retainer and remove retainer from Drive Shaft of Leg.
Remove motor from off door side by removing the two bolts (ones without allen heads) and replace this motor with new motor.
3. Slide Power Kit / Reduction Box assembly off of Drive Shaft of Leg on door side. This has to be done to get the leg up and out of the mounting brackets.
4. Leg is attached to frame using two Saddle Brackets. Remove bolts on Saddle
Brackets and pull Leg out.​
Before removing Leg, be sure to note how
projections on outside of Leg interface with the Saddle Brackets on your
installation. These projections are what support the Leg, and as such, this
is critical information
.

On my 3950, the hydraulic pumping mechanism for the slides is directly in the way of removing the top saddle bracket bolt. I used the metal hole saw to drill a hole in the steel mounting bracket of the hydraulic pumping mechanism to be able to remove this carriage bolt out. After removing these two carriage bolts and of course the foot of the lifting mechanism, I was able to pull it up and to an angle toward the center of the trl and take the old leg out. Chuck this leg too.
Installation:
1. Take new Leg and insert it into Saddle Brackets in the same orientation as one
that was just removed.
Leg must be inserted and supported within the
Saddle Brackets in exactly the same way as original leg was.

Here I measured on the new leg where the hand cranking rod is located up from the supporting tabs on the leg and marked it on the steel 4 x 2 frame member. This frame member has to have a two holes sawed through it so the hand cranking rod can stick through it and used. I used a center punch and drilled a 1/4 inch hole in the outer one (one inside the trl) and on through the other side of the frame member. Remove your propane tank on the door side of the trl. I then used my hole saw and slowly drilled with lots of oil a hole through this frame member. If you have trouble understanding this look at the off door side that has the existing hand crank holes. I then also drilled a 1/4 inch hole through the outside skin using the long 1/4 inch drill for insertion of the hand crank handle. This lined all three holes up for the hand crank handle. The propane auto switching valve was in the way exactly where the holes go so I had to unbolt this and relocate if up above where the holes go through. Now that you have the holes sawed through this frame member you are ready to install the new leg.

. Reinstall Saddle Bracket Bolts to retain Leg within the Brackets. The protruded bumps on the leg are what hold the leg from going down and also is what holds the weight of the trl.
4. Take Power Kit / Reduction Box assembly and slide it over the drive shaft of the
new Leg. (Rotate Drive Shaft slightly as needed to line flat on shaft up with flat of
Reduction Box hole.)
5. Slide assy completely up against Landing Gear Leg so that “legs” of Reduction
Box straddle the Leg.
6. Slide plastic Retainer over Drive Shaft so that flat end of Retainer is tight up
against Reduction Box. Screw the retaining screw all the way in – screw should
penetrate though hole in Drive Shaft, retaining Power Kit / Reduction Box assy
up against Leg.
7. Install the second motor, put the two long bolts in the motor and position it on the gear reduction box with its little feet spradling the reduction box and tighten these down. I deleted a couple of the factory's instructions as they pertained to a single motor hookup.

8. The factory totally missed the wiring instructions so I will try to explain it but you may need someone that understands DC wiring to help you. First drill a hole up next to the old rocker switch to install the second rocker switch for the new door side lift. I had to use a small hole saw to cut this so the switch would fit in ok.

9. You will be using two rocker switches to raise and lower the legs. This works handy as you can run each one separately to get the feet onto the ground evenly. NOTE: After the legs are on the ground evenly, then only use the switches TOGETHER to raise and lower the trailer. YOu do not want to try to use them to level the trailer as you will be putting it in a twist.

10. The kit comes with a new switch and the wiring. In the instructions it talks to locating the two longer wires (red has fuse) and running these up and over to the red and black wires of the motor. The other wires go over to the battery side (new leg). I connected the hot side to one of the small terminals on the basement wall and the negative to the negative connection block on the basement wall. Now you want to test your new motor on the door side to make sure it isn't wired backwards to extend or retract. Reverse the two motor wires if it is reversed.

11. I now measured the old leg to see how far it was extending down through the bottom of the trl. Using the new switch for the new leg (door side) I then extended it to match the length of the old leg.
Ok, everything should be buttoned up and done now. I have probably missed a couple of little things but just common sense will tell you these need done.

12. I then used the system to lift and unhook my pickup. It had to raise it about six inches and after doing so I felt the motors and they were both just barely warm. I suppose this means they aren't over taxed and working correctly. This appears to have taken care of the problem, I guess time will tell.

I should have taken pictures to assist in these procedures but I was to busy. If you need some you can PM me and I can take some of the installed kit to help.

Hope this helps you.
Pug

 

HarleyRyder

Retired Gunslinger
Thanks for the very complete description of how to do this modification. I have found that quite often that installation manuals are not clear as to some of the details to make a conversion or installation. Although this modification is not on my radar screen for this camping season, it definitely will be done this winter so I have saved your post for future reference.
 
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