bent landing gear, thanks to straight-line winds!

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
Straight-line winds or an F1 Tornado caused this damage at our storage facility.:mad: Moved the 5ver about 2 feet, knocked it off the blocks and bent the leg. Notice the snap pin, projected a good 2 feet away from the leg. This is how I found it.

Anyone have idea what it will cost to replace the electric landing gear on our 2010 Elk Ridge?
 

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jbeletti

Well-known member
Wow Erika, sorry to see this. No idea on repair costs - depends on the extent of damage. Consider using this as an opportunity to upgrade to dual motors. Most who have done it love it.

Best of luck on insurance and repairs.

Jim
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
You could call Heartland Parts and get a price on them. They should just bolt on and if you are handy could fix it yourself.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
Thought about that Jim, any idea on the upgrade cost would be helpful, too.

Unfortunately for my money, Uncle Sam gets his $$ first on the 18th, then insurance Co ($$ Deductible), then we'll see if there is anything left for upgrades.


Jim, thanks I'll consider that after the adjuster determines what they think it will cost. I'm afraid since it was moved with such force there may be more hidden damage.
 

SouthernNights

Past South Carolina Chapter Leader
Tony,

Dont know if the legs are the same on the BC as they are on the Elk Ridge but if they are and you need a set you can have mine for free including the motor and snap pins. Just pay the frieght.
I guess HL Parts can tell if they are the same.
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Tony,

Dont know if the legs are the same on the BC as they are on the Elk Ridge but if they are and you need a set you can have mine for free including the motor and snap pins. Just pay the frieght.
I guess HL Parts can tell if they are the same.
Now that's an offer that is hard to beat. I'd try to do the insurance claim and do the repairs on your own. Make Money!!!
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
The electric jacks are easy to replace, assuming there's no major damage in the area they bolt into inside the front cargo compartment. Larry's offer sounds pretty good to me. Another source of parts is Venture MFG. They made many of the electric jacks and are very customer friendly. I'm sure Heartland Customer Service can give you their number.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Erika, those landing gear legs are easy to replace. Like the others have stated, take the insurance money and the parts from Larry.
Next time I would use wooden blocks with a bigger footprint. Looks like yours may have just rolled over.

Peace
Dave
 

traveler44

Well-known member
Sorry to hear about your damages. Didn't you just post that your unit was burgularized a few days ago? Every time we stored our rv it always worried me but we have been pretty lucky so far. Tom M.
 

Gary521

Well-known member
If you need any parts for the leg or want to add a scond motor, call Venture - who made the leg. They are cheaper from the manufacturer that anywhere else. Adding a second motor and drilling holes to grease the jack screw is a must. This forum and other forums are full of issues with the Venture langing leg failing. I have posted greasing methods before. If you need any help with this, e-mail me.
 

slmayor

Founding California Northern Chapter Leader
I've got spare Venture parts too. Gearbox is iffy,(works, but has a skipped tooth noise) motor, cross bar, pins and legs are good. You're welcome to them.
 

PUG

Pug
Collect the insurance money and then upgrade to the dual electric motor upgrade from Venture Manufacturing. I burn't two motors out (single motor setup) and now have upgraded the front to duals. If the offside door leg is good you can get the system which includes the doorside leg. If the offside door is bad they can help you out there too. If you go through Heartland you will pay more for a middle man that is not needed. Look under the forum section of front landing legs for my post on what I paid for and how I installed the dual system. PM me if you need more help.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
Thanks for the suggestions... We've not had any issues with our landing gear operation prior to this (but the dual motor sounds like a nice upgrade.) We are going to let the insurance pay the dealer to fix, because there are more issues than just the leg. J-wrap was damaged from underneath by the SteadyFast bars when the landing gear broke. SteadyFast feet may be damaged and brackets may be bent. Trailer may have structural damage or axel damage, because we don't know how it moved over two feet (up and down? straight sideways?). I did notice the spray-foam around the legs in the front storage area looks disturbed.

As far as the pads go, those are 4x6X14 pressure-treated blocks, as recommended by SteadyFast to use under their 3 point feet. Two go side-by side under each foot. Because the surface of the storage facility is packed recycled asfault, any un-blocked legs will sink into it. In fact, the blocks can sink themselves over time. We just moved the trailer the day before, so the blocks had not sunk. My guess is the trailer was forcefully pushed off the blocks... and hard enough it ejected the broken snap pin two feet away... that's not a gentle wind or little "slip".

Yes, we discovered the break-in to the basement the day before. Is this the ideal location to store my trailer? Maybe not. But this is the best option we have. HOA says no trailers, and we could not fit it in our driveway if we wanted to.

I feel blessed that there wasn't more damage in either case.

Erika
 
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