Pull Test, Tug Test or No Test?

One problem for those of us with hydraulic landing gear. The gear do not lift at the same time. One lifts up fully before the other starts to lift. No way to bring both 1/2 inch or any measurement off the ground at the same time.

And I have found, luckily with no damage, that if you have landing gear down, no chocks, and pull forward, even with the brake manually applied, you have 14K or more moving forward on two landing gear. This can and does bow the landing gear and with enough force will bow them out of plumb and they probably will not retract.

So with no way to raise gear off the ground a short distance one has to tug with the landing gear down. My method, as stated in an earlier post here works best for me and seems to put fewer parts in danger of damage.

Plus I am not sure that I would want that amount of weight dropping any distance onto the landing gear should the hookup not be solid. That is a bunch of force coming down on two spindly posts.

Lynn1130 said:

One problem for those of us with hydraulic landing gear. The gear do not lift at the same time. One lifts up fully before the other starts to lift. No way to bring both 1/2 inch or any measurement off the ground at the same time.

And I have found, luckily with no damage, that if you have landing gear down, no chocks, and pull forward, even with the brake manually applies, you have 14K or more moving forward on two landing gear. This can and does bow the landing gear and with enough force will bow them out of plumb and they probably will not retract.

So with no way to raise gear off the ground a short distance one has to tug with the landing gear down. My method, as stated in an earlier post here works best for me and seems to put fewer parts in danger of damage.

Plus I am not sure that I would want that amount of weight dropping any distance onto the landing hear should the hookup not be solid. That is a bunch of force coming down on two spindly posts.

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Mine does that too. Here's how you overcome it - at least on mine. Lift the first strut up all the way, until the second begins to lift an inch or more, then stop. Now reverse the direction and the first strut will come down while the second strut will remain one or two inches off the ground. Voila! Now you have both struts off the ground by an inch or two.

By the way, I always put planks of wood under my landing gear when doing the tug test, so that if it drops and pulls forward on it, it can skid without resistance on the legs (reducing the possibility of damage).

With my tug test, with the trailer brakes on full, I usually pull the trailer forward a few inches, dragging the wheels. Aren't diesels great!

Thanks. That is good to know but not sure that I have a need to have them lifted at the same height. Who knows I may some day.

Yeah, that is why I don't hit the gas even with the trailer brakes applies. The truck just wants to pull the load down the road.

Lynn1130 said:

One problem for those of us with hydraulic landing gear. The gear do not lift at the same time. One lifts up fully before the other starts to lift. No way to bring both 1/2 inch or any measurement off the ground at the same time.

And I have found, luckily with no damage, that if you have landing gear down, no chocks, and pull forward, even with the brake manually applied, you have 14K or more moving forward on two landing gear. This can and does bow the landing gear and with enough force will bow them out of plumb and they probably will not retract.

So with no way to raise gear off the ground a short distance one has to tug with the landing gear down. My method, as stated in an earlier post here works best for me and seems to put fewer parts in danger of damage.

Plus I am not sure that I would want that amount of weight dropping any distance onto the landing gear should the hookup not be solid. That is a bunch of force coming down on two spindly posts.

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Yeah, what he said...

I guess I should have been more clear.

I raise all rear jacks. I almost always have to raise the front of my rig from level, to hitch up. That puts the front landing gear firmly on the ground.

After the rig is on the truck, I still have my wheels chocked with rubber chocks then the trailer brakes are manually applied. Then I do my pull test. The trailer can't move, as I am pulling against the chocks and the brakes.

There is very little force, if any on the front landing gear. I'm trying to understand the need to raise the front landing gear off the ground at all before doing the pull test.
In the event that there is a problem, I want my front landing gear on the ground.

IMO, your wheels should still be chocked and holding the rig steady, until you are completely secure on the truck. The very last thing I do is remove the chocks.

Then as I'm beginning to roll, I hit my brake box lever one more time to check the trailer brakes. Trace

I always do a pull test.

I always raise the 4 rear jacks all the way now - since I bent a jack by not doing so.

The hydraulic landing gear is not that big of an issue if you think about how it works. The legs move based on resistance, internal friction once they clear the ground.

I raise the jacks until both clear by several inches, doesn't matter if one is all the way up or not. I then extend until them both to just touch the ground, but put no load on them. Then I retract about a half inch. Doing it this way they usually come up that 1/2" together.

IF your jacks refuse to operate the way you would like - cheat. Have your helper step on the plate of the jack that is moving. Only takes a few pounds to force the opposite jack to move.

TandT said:

I guess I should have been more clear.

I raise all rear jacks. I almost always have to raise the front of my rig from level, to hitch up. That puts the front landing gear firmly on the ground, after the rig is on the truck. I still have my wheels chocked with rubber chocks, when I do my pull test. The trailer can't move, as I am pulling against the chocks.

Therefore, there is very little force, if any on the front landing gear. I don't understand the need to raise the jacks off the ground at all. IMO, your wheels should still be chocked until you are completely secure on the truck. The very last thing I do is remove the chocks. Trace

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x2 chock the wheels up you will be fine

I used to pull test with my F550 because I could high-hitch or jaws not lock. With my ET hitch the jaws won't allow the locking bar between them unless the pin is properly placed. Once locked in place the jaws can't open. I haven't pull tested since I got the Volvo and the ET. The ET is massive, weighs 800 lbs and is only made for hdts (class 7/8), so most of you have never even heard of it. It also kept a 20,000 lb trailer from coming through the cab when we were rear ended hard by a big Silver Eagle bus.

This is exactly the way I do it. With chocks in place and trailer brakes manually engaged

porthole said:

I always do a pull test.

I always raise the 4 rear jacks all the way now - since I bent a jack by not doing so.

The hydraulic landing gear is not that big of an issue if you think about how it works. The legs move based on resistance, internal friction once they clear the ground.

I raise the jacks until both clear by several inches, doesn't matter if one is all the way up or not. I then extend until them both to just touch the ground, but put no load on them. Then I retract about a half inch. Doing it this way they usually come up that 1/2" together.

IF your jacks refuse to operate the way you would like - cheat. Have your helper step on the plate of the jack that is moving. Only takes a few pounds to force the opposite jack to move.

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Our pull test is as others mentioned, hitched with chocks in place, front legs a few inches up. But we are electric landing gear. I also visually check the jaws are locked and lock is secure on the Reese pull handle, plus break away cable secured, before we do test.


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I was able to take away several tips from this thread…

First - I’m raising my landing gear too high for my “Pull Test”. The moderators always have good advice.

Second - The procedure for getting the hydraulic landing gear at the same level. I haven’t experimented with this, with my level up controller by the UDC and the door-side jack the first to raise / lower, I can’t really see what’s happening. But that’s where DW can help… Helen is going to be sooooo excited that she has another job and sends her appreciation for the detailed explanations. She’ll watch & shout, but I know she’s not going to step on any moving parts!!!

Third - I need to try this “Tug Test”, if you set it up properly it seems there is very little stress on the landing gear and it could be somewhat safer. The consensus was slightly in favor of the “Tug Test”.

I don’t know why I threw “No Test” into the mix, I’m way too OCD for that. But if you have confidence in the right equipment it is an option.

Finally - Like with most threads on this forum… There are as many different ways to catch & skin a catfish, as there are fishermen, and all that really matters is packing it in the freezer. (Yes tiger, I did paraphrase the old saying out of respect for the cat lovers)

Thanks to all!!!

HornedToad said:

(Yes tiger, I did paraphrase the old saying out of respect for the cat lovers)

Thanks to all!!!

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Thanks!!

Even our faithful leader, JimB has "dropped it" before. My feeling is the extra few minutes save a lot if headaches later.


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For any of you that can, a little back-up for the hitch like a built-in trailer saver, or this one from Butch's Services is a good idea: http://www.5thwheellatchkit.com .
The pictures of damaged trucks at the top of the webpage are good incentive.

wdk450 said:

For any of you that can, a little back-up for the hitch like a built-in trailer saver, or this one from Butch's Services is a good idea: http://www.5thwheellatchkit.com .
The pictures of damaged trucks at the top of the webpage are good incentive.

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As stated below, I have the Blue Ox Bed Saver and as I believe it is the best $250 Insurance policy I have ever bought!

2psnapod2 said:

As stated below, I have the Blue Ox Bed Saver and as I believe it is the best $250 Insurance policy I have ever bought!

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As someone who once dropped a trailer, I now have a great insurance policy too... A wife who screams at me from the passenger seat!

ILH said:

As someone who once dropped a trailer, I now have a great insurance policy too... A wife who screams at me from the passenger seat!

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Oh I have one of those too. Actually she is the one that hooks up the RV to the truck. I back up and she does the rest. After I reset the hitch that is.

We had a Pullrite hitch and never did a pull test...it's very simple to see when a Pullrite is properly hitched and locked. We now have a Curt hitch, which hopefully is working better now that Curt replaced the brand new hitch head...we will be doing a pull test on this one....not so sure I like the way it latches...

2psnapod2 said:

Oh I have one of those too. Actually she is the one that hooks up the RV to the truck. I back up and she does the rest. After I reset the hitch that is.

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We have a setup language all our own. To the uninitiated, it would sound like total gibberish.

Wife: Did you attach the black thingie?
Translation: Did you connect the trailer power cable?

Wife: What about the other thingie?
Translation: Did you connect the break-away cable?

Wife: Did you do the jiggie-jiggie? (required arm movements)
Translation: Did you check the hitch's release arm to see if the jaws were locked?

Kelly actually hooks up the IV cable and the breakaway cable. LOL But I know what your saying.....

ILH said:

We have a setup language all our own. To the uninitiated, it would sound like total gibberish.

Wife: Did you attach the black thingie?
Translation: Did you connect the trailer power cable?

Wife: What about the other thingie?
Translation: Did you connect the break-away cable?

Wife: Did you do the jiggie-jiggie? (required arm movements)
Translation: Did you check the hitch's release arm to see if the jaws were locked?

Click to expand...

Wharton said:

We don't do any test. We hitch up, check that the jaws are closed and the handle locked, we then put a Master lock through the handle and pull away. We have followed this procedure for 15 years and never a problem.

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I do the same.