porthole
Retired
I have a bent piston on my Cyclone, center jack right side. It was quite noisy when we got home and setup in the driveway. And upon inspection, obviously bent.
Since the bend appears to be at the upper end of the piston, the only thing iI can think of is that I did not raise the jack far enough before I did my brake check. I usually lift them just off the ground. This past weekend the camp site sloped to the rear, which made the possibility all to real that when I thought they were high enough, they were not. The jack may have "dug in" when I did the brake pull.
I made up a wheel chock out of a piece of 4x4 so I would have a flat surface to push against. Drilled a 1.5" hole in another piece of 4x4 and then cut the block, splitting the hole.
I raised the trailer so the tires were just off the ground, slid all my chocks in and then lowered the trailer, essentially locking the tires in. Then raised the bent jacket till it just cleared the ground.
Several attempts of pushing the piston and testing got me back to near vertical. Close enough that using a straight edge and eyeballing it - it is fixed. Much quieter too.
It took pushing the piston well past center to remove the bend.
Waiting for a price from Lippert for a jack, but if I'm guessing right, a new assembly is over $500.
Lesson learned - raise the rear jack all the way and the front jacks about 1/2" before doing the brake pull test.
Since the bend appears to be at the upper end of the piston, the only thing iI can think of is that I did not raise the jack far enough before I did my brake check. I usually lift them just off the ground. This past weekend the camp site sloped to the rear, which made the possibility all to real that when I thought they were high enough, they were not. The jack may have "dug in" when I did the brake pull.
I made up a wheel chock out of a piece of 4x4 so I would have a flat surface to push against. Drilled a 1.5" hole in another piece of 4x4 and then cut the block, splitting the hole.
I raised the trailer so the tires were just off the ground, slid all my chocks in and then lowered the trailer, essentially locking the tires in. Then raised the bent jacket till it just cleared the ground.
Several attempts of pushing the piston and testing got me back to near vertical. Close enough that using a straight edge and eyeballing it - it is fixed. Much quieter too.
It took pushing the piston well past center to remove the bend.
Waiting for a price from Lippert for a jack, but if I'm guessing right, a new assembly is over $500.
Lesson learned - raise the rear jack all the way and the front jacks about 1/2" before doing the brake pull test.
