front jacks

[jack-green]

Just back from first trip 2800rls got to yellowstone park and wanted to remove trailer from truck and the jacks failed. the motor runs the cross shaft turns both shafts on the jacks the jacks are not loose. we dropped the jacks and they supported the trailer so we could spend 2 days in the park. when we got ready to leave the guys in the campground helped us with floor jacks to get hooked up again. will take to dealer monday hope warrenty holds up.

 

[westxsrt10]

Interesting......both jacks failing at the same time. It's not the shear pins on the square shafts because it still rotates, not the motor because it runs, not the gear box. Thinking, does it grunt or change speeds like its trying to lift it or does it just free spin? Its hard to beleive both worm gears on both jacks are busted because overloading them should blow the fuse.

 

[jack-green]

jacks

it spins free you can see it turning the shafts going into the jacks compartment but no movement of the jacks either up or down. also i have the marks so i dont bring them up to far and the marks are still visable? will post when i see the dealer.

 

[boatto5er]

Similar to my failure last weekend, but only my right front went out. A mystery so far. Hopefully we'll be repaired this week and the dealer can tell me what broke.

 

[westxsrt10]

So what happen? Did it get fixed and what was the problem, please keep us informed. Thanks

 

[jack-green]

just back from dealers to fix front jacks. Not a happy camper. heartland would not warrenty jacks. shear pins on both sides broken 15 yrs of 5th wheeling never had this problem 1 trip with this one and broken? looking on forum many others having a front jack problem. needs to have a limit switch if its that flimsy.

 

[Jim & Harriet]

what did they say went bad? what year is your 2800?

 

[jack-green]

2009 under warrenty untill sept. shear pins inside jack legs both broke. heartland and lippert say you cant raise jack legs all the way up or this will happen. sounds stupid if you ask me why dont they fix it to work correctly. I can run the slides all the way in I can run the rear jacks all the way up. but the front jacks have to be stopped before they are fully retracted. would have been nice for something in the manual or the dealer walk through to tell you the weakness of the jacks, maybe heartland could mark the jacks as to full retraction? still love the trailer

 

[porthole]

All of our utility trailers with electric jacks automatically stop (turn off) when fully retracted.

Would have thought that the landing jacks were the same.

Are the shear pins easy enough to change? Do we need to carry spares?

 

[Jim & Harriet]

it may be different on other models, but on our camper there is an outer cylinder around the jack-leg. it (the outer cylinder) extends about six inches from the bottom of the camper.
when the jack is retracted, as the footplate of the jack becomes flush with the bottom of the cylinder there is also a "noise" indicating it is time to stop.
are you saying that i should stop before the plate touches the bottom of the cylinder?
hope this is not too confusing.
thanks for the info.

 

[jack-green]

My dealer says keep the jacks about 6" down from full retracted. To replace pins is a 4 hr job at dealers not something that can be done in the field.

 

[porthole]

My dealer says keep the jacks about 6" down from full retracted. To replace pins is a 4 hr job at dealers not something that can be done in the field.

That does not make snese.

 

[jack-green]

I agree! There should be a limit switch at least. but to save 400$ to repair i will leave the jacks 6" down that will be the same depth that my spare tire hangs down so it shouldnt hit the ground. I have painted the first 6" red so i wont go higher.

 

[Cyncwby]

Hey way to go Heartland!!! After how many owners experience broken front jacks?? You know it's a problem, why don't you have this info in your owners manual or at least as this man did paint a line on them so they can see where the limit is. Absolutely NO EXCUSE for not taking care of this under warranty.

 

[ppenka]

I'm glad i found this post. i have a 09 3300sk and i just found out that the sheer pin on my Left landing gear is bad. I have been using it for a year and a half and towed it from So Cal to Washington St. on the second day i stopped at a rest stop to let the dog out and did a walk around and noticed that the internal post did not come up all the way. Tried putting it down and that was the wrong thing to do. It would go down but not up. To make a long story short. I pulled into the R V park in bellingham and I could not get the left landing gear down nor will it hold any weight. Needless to say I have no truck (its still under the trailer). There just happened to be a RV repair guy staying at the Park and he came over to let me know what the problem was. The sheer pin. I am still happy with the camper and the support I have been given from Jim and this site. Its just putting me in a bind right now since I don't have my truck. Is this a problem with the Heartland models and Lippert? i do believe my 5th wheel is out of warranty. Has anyone else had any problems like I have encountered?

 

[Jburks]

I had to replace a leg on my Sundance 2900 MK, I found out that the warranty from Lippert is only 1 year, you would think Lippert would address this issue as several owners have had this problem. I don't blame Heartland because Lippert is the manufacturer and should stand for repairs or fix the issue of faulty shear pins, I know for a fact that I didn't raise the leg to far as I have them marked about 4 inches from being at the top.

 

[jonesj2]

Can someone post picture of the marking on the legs? I there any way to post pictures of the pins that are breaking. I have a 2900MK and need to look into this.

Question can the unit drop if the pin snaps while it is on the ground while camping or in storage?

 

[westxsrt10]

The red line is my safe area...if the red line disappears up inside the upper jack then bottoming out will occure. Find your upper most retraction point by carefully raising the leg until you hear the motor change speed. ( note-the unit must be supported by your truck during the marking process )

 

[jonesj2]

Thanks for the picture westxsrt10 that gives me abetter idea on what I need to do to mark the legs.

 

[furcuz]

The wife and kids came home had camper (2009 26rk) all ready to go on our weekend camping trip. Went to put the camper on the truck. Guess what left landing gear would not retract. Had to pull entire landing gear to get to 89cent busted shear pin. I guess i over extended. Camper 3months out of warrenty. Needless to say ruined our weekend. xxxxxx