Hydraulic fubar on a 2015 Big Horn

carl.swoyer · Feb 9, 2018

The folks next to me here in Key West Florida had a mishap while traveling. The one hydraulic jack lowered itself. Fortunately other motorist got him to pull over. He had to cut it off.
Any chance someone knows what would cause this.

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cookie · Feb 9, 2018

The hydraulic pump breaker may have tripped before the auto retraction was completed and the jack didn't fully retract.
So my question to him would be did he check the jacks before traveling.
I have found mine only partially retracted but finished the job manually.
I always check them before pulling out.

Peace
Dave

JohnDar · Feb 9, 2018

No idea why, but cutting it off looks a bit extreme. Why not remove the four bolts, rotate the piston 90 degrees and secure it. Now he needs a new jack for sure.

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travelin2 · Feb 9, 2018

JohnDar said:
No idea why, but cutting it off looks a bit extreme. Why not remove the four bolts, rotate the piston 90 degrees and secure it. Now he needs a new jack for sure.

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My thoughts exactly!!!!

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Az_Ernie · Feb 9, 2018

I'm guessing that the motorist that stopped the OP saw the extended ram dragging, by the bent appearance of the remaining portion of the ram. I don't think it matters if the OP cut the ram off or unbolted and rotated the jack, the jack assembly is probably toast. At a minimum, a new ram assembly and packings are in his future. I guess you had to be there.

jbeletti · Feb 9, 2018

Carl - I have never heard of the legs lowering on their own. I too am of the opinion that it wasn't fully retracted prior to travel. Many times, I have had mine not fully retract when using auto-retract. The importance of a full RV walkaround cannot be overstated.

BigGuy82 · Feb 9, 2018

jbeletti said:
Carl - I have never heard of the legs lowering on their own. I too am of the opinion that it wasn't fully retracted prior to travel. Many times, I have had mine not fully retract when using auto-retract. The importance of a full RV walkaround cannot be overstated.

Sadly, common sense that shouldn’t have to be repeated. This is just intuitive - always check your vehicle.

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carl.swoyer · Feb 9, 2018

jbeletti said:
Carl - I have never heard of the legs lowering on their own. I too am of the opinion that it wasn't fully retracted prior to travel. Many times, I have had mine not fully retract when using auto-retract. The importance of a full RV walkaround cannot be overstated.

I agree ! I always do a walk around. My wife Christine dose the hydraulic retract manually while I retract the power cord.

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jerryjay11 · Feb 9, 2018

It also could be an internal seal/check valve, etc. leak and it bled down. Much like what I've been reading about slides partially extending when the RV is just parked. Only the jacks have gravity to help them extend fully. Yeah that jack is toast and deserved to be hacked off.

mlpeloquin · Feb 9, 2018

JohnDar said:
No idea why, but cutting it off looks a bit extreme. Why not remove the four bolts, rotate the piston 90 degrees and secure it. Now he needs a new jack for sure.

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I had to have a jack replaced last November. Top of the piston was scored and would leak going past or sitting on the spot. Looked like the metal crystallized and broke free. Apparently you cannot get replacement parts, and need to replace the entire jack. Replacing the jack does not take very long. See if you can find a part number on it. If not take pictures and measurements. Using a caliper of the diameter of the piston as well. If in stock, Lippert can ship one out quickly otherwise it will take a few days to a couple of weeks.

JohnDar · Feb 9, 2018

Az_Ernie said:
I'm guessing that the motorist that stopped the OP saw the extended ram dragging and by the bent appearance of the remaining portion of the ram. I don't think it matters if the OP cut the ram off or unbolted and rotated the jack, the jack assembly is probably toast. At a minimum, a new ram assembly and packings are in his future. I guess you had to be there.

Couldn't quite see the bend when viewed on my phone. Viewing the picture on the laptop tells the tale.

Lynn1130 · Feb 9, 2018

Not to mention we don't know how much was ground off before he got stopped.

TravelTiger · Feb 9, 2018

Ouch! I manually retract all rear jacks before we hook up. (Wheels are always chocked as well.)

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jbeletti · Feb 9, 2018

carl.swoyer said:
I agree ! I always do a walk around. My wife Christine dose the hydraulic retract manually while I retract the power cord.

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No kidding, not 30 minutes after I replied here, I auto-retracted my gear, did my walk-around and found 1 jack still about half-way down. We may never learn the root cause for the fella mentioned by Carl but there's no doubt - the walk-around should always be done. I also look up to ensure I have put all antennas down. Forgot that a couple of times over the years but found it on the walk-around.

avvidclif · Feb 9, 2018

X2 on the walkaround. My wife and I both do one at the same time in opposite directions starting at our seats. Last stop is our seats, put in the Willie CD "On the Road Again", and pull out. Saved my butt a few times......

Az_Ernie · Feb 9, 2018

avvidclif said:
X2 on the walkaround. My wife and I both do one at the same time in opposite directions starting at our seats. Last stop is our seats, put in the Willie CD "On the Road Again", and pull out. Saved my butt a few times......

That's funny! My wife and I do the same thing, except we punch in Canned Heat's "Going Up the Country"! The walk around has saved our butts numerous times as well.

Todster · Feb 9, 2018

Just a little reminder, the hoses at the top of the ram would prevent you from rotating it 90 degrees and reattaching

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wdk450 · Feb 10, 2018

I don't have Level Up, but the picture shows lots of empty mounting holes if someone wanted to use bungee cords or a custom-made clip to ENSURE that the jack doesn't come down in transit. Best of all worlds in Lippert design would be an electric solenoid latch on the shaft that only disengages when the "Legs Down" command is given. Pulling the legs full up would ride the shaft up and over the solenoid latch point. Something like a solenoid tripped fence gate latch.

JohnDar · Feb 10, 2018

wdk450 said:
I don't have Level Up, but the picture shows lots of empty mounting holes if someone wanted to use bungee cords or a custom-made clip to ENSURE that the jack doesn't come down in transit. Best of all worlds in Lippert design would be an electric solenoid latch on the shaft that only disengages when the "Legs Down" command is given. Pulling the legs full up would ride the shaft up and over the solenoid latch point. Something like a solenoid tripped fence gate latch.

Still happy with my original Ground Control system. If the motor isn't running, the jack isn't moving.

Gary521 · Feb 11, 2018

I always liked the original Ground Control. I really liked the remote to adjust pin height from the truck. With the LevelUp, I too have found a leg that did not fully retract with the Auto feature.

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