Landing gear greasy

Roadventure · Jun 18, 2016

I'm getting a little concernicous about my driver's side landing gear. It is covered in grease, but I think it may be leaked hydraulic fluid. It has been this way since we bought it, but looking at it now gives me a creeping suspicion it will be a difficult or expensive fix. The housing for this jack is behind our genny and in front of our propane. Thoughts?

(Driver's Side)

(Passenger side)

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jnbhobe · Jun 18, 2016

Those look like electric jacks.

Rollin_Free · Jun 18, 2016

I agree - Not positive but it looks very much like graphite grease to lubricate the landing gear.

Have you checked your hydraulic level? If you're losing fluid you should see the level lower and should need to add some if it's leaking. I always thought hydraulic fluid was almost a clear liquid.

Gary521 · Jun 18, 2016

Lippert Hydraulic fluid is Automatic Transmission fluid. If your landing gear is electric, don't worry about it. If it's hydraulic, you may have a leak.

Roadventure · Jun 18, 2016

Gary521 said:
Lippert Hydraulic fluid is Automatic Transmission fluid. If your landing gear is electric, don't worry about it. If it's hydraulic, you may have a leak.

So what is the quickest easiest way to tell if I have electric or hydraulic landing gears?

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Rollin_Free · Jun 18, 2016

Roadventure said:
So what is the quickest easiest way to tell if I have electric or hydraulic landing gears?

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Electric will have one or two electric motors on the top of the landing gear leg/s similar to this

Lynn1130 · Jun 18, 2016

Mine look like that and they are hydraulic. I am not positive on this but I think electric gear raise at the same time while hydraulic come up one at a time. I also have a fluid reservoir in the battery, electrical compartment for the gear.

Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn · Jun 18, 2016

Those are electric jacks. There is some grease place in the upper gear box when they were put together and over time with use and the heat of the summers the grease has thinned out and is running down the sides of the leg. really not a concern. You might have legs with grease fittings up on the sides toward the top of the leg, you should grease it ones in a while. Not all jack have the grease fittings.
Electric Landing legs

Hydraulic Jacks

Roadventure · Jun 23, 2016

Took a couple pics above my batteries. I'm 90% sure it's hydraulic.

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Gtoli · Jun 23, 2016

Looks just like mine and it looks like your fluid might be a little low in the reservoir.

danemayer · Jun 23, 2016

Roadventure said:
Took a couple pics above my batteries. I'm 90% sure it's hydraulic.

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The pictures are clearly the hydraulic pump and hoses. But whether they operate the landing gear is a different question.

Do you have hydraulic hoses connected to the landing gear?
Does it take about 15 seconds to fully extend the landing gear when setting up?
When raising and lowering the landing gear, can you hear the hydraulic pump making the same noise as when slides are opened and closed?

SNOKING · Jun 23, 2016

How about a picture on the top end of the jack? Chris

Roadventure · Jun 23, 2016

danemayer said:
The pictures are clearly the hydraulic pump and hoses. But whether they operate the landing gear is a different question.

Do you have hydraulic hoses connected to the landing gear?
Does it take about 15 seconds to fully extend the landing gear when setting up?
When raising and lowering the landing gear, can you hear the hydraulic pump making the same noise as when slides are opened and closed?

Yes and yes. Same sound as the slides.

Is it a messy affair to add more fluid? Could it then be hydraulic fluid on the DS gear? And if so does it mean trouble?

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danemayer · Jun 23, 2016

Roadventure said:
Yes and yes. Same sound as the slides.

Is it a messy affair to add more fluid? Could it then be hydraulic fluid on the DS gear? And if so does it mean trouble?

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It's pretty easy to add fluid to the reservoir. But to understand whether it's necessary, you should evaluate the fluid level while hitched up, with landing gear retracted and slides in. As I recall, the level in that condition should be about 3/4" below the top.

To avoid a mess, you'll probably want a funnel with a push button release on the spout, or one with a long hose attached. That'll let you add fluid to the funnel out in the open. Here's one.

If the leg is leaking slowly, you'll want to get it fixed pretty soon. It could be a loose hose connection, or a leaking cyclinder. If you want to investigate it yourself, here's a link to some Lippert documents that will help.

Roadventure · Jun 23, 2016

This forum never seems to disappoint

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Roadventure · Jun 25, 2016

danemayer said:
It's pretty easy to add fluid to the reservoir. But to understand whether it's necessary, you should evaluate the fluid level while hitched up, with landing gear retracted and slides in. As I recall, the level in that condition should be about 3/4" below the top.

To avoid a mess, you'll probably want a funnel with a push button release on the spout, or one with a long hose attached. That'll let you add fluid to the funnel out in the open. Here's one.

If the leg is leaking slowly, you'll want to get it fixed pretty soon. It could be a loose hose connection, or a leaking cyclinder. If you want to investigate it yourself, here's a link to some Lippert documents that will help.

So it looks like my fluid level after everything was retracted and hitched, was under 1/2. I at least need to improve the hydraulic fluid level.

Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn · Jun 26, 2016

Roadventure said:
Took a couple pics above my batteries. I'm 90% sure it's hydraulic.

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That is definitely hydraulic
But is it for your landing gear or just your slides ?

Can we see a picture of one of your landing legs ?

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John T Bettencourt · Jun 26, 2016

If the jacks go up and down fast they are hydraulic. If they move slow they are not

Bones · Jun 26, 2016

jesstalkn said:
That is definitely hydraulic
But is it for your landing gear or just your slides ?

Can we see a picture of one of your landing legs ?

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You can see his landing leg in the background. The orange tube goes into the return position to the leg and look further down you can see the bracket holding the leg.

Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn · Jun 26, 2016

That's a square leg with hydraulic fittings going into it. Never seen that before. 😕

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Landing gear greasy

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