Level-Up Jacks dropped during storage

[cgaskins]

I have a 2015 Big Country 3650RL with the 6 point Level-Up system. About 3 years ago my jacks started leaking so over the span of about 21 months, I ended up replacing all 6 jacks. (I am not impressed with the quality of these components....). Anyway, all has been good since all the jacks were replaced - absolutely no issues. Today, I went to do a pre-trip inspection (we leave for Colorado in about 2.5 weeks), and I noticed that 2 of my rear jacks (one on the passenger side and one on the driver side) had dropped about 2 or 3 inches. The trailer has been moved in about 70 days and I know the jacks were fully retracted when I put it in storage. Over the past nearly 7 years of ownership, I have never had this problem, even when I had leaking jacks before they were replaced. There are no puddles of hydraulic fluid around any of the jacks.

So do I have a major problem here? Any suggestions or ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Chris

 

[danemayer]

Chris,

It's an odd problem because the middle and rear jacks on each side should be on 1 valve, and the other middle and rear jacks would be on a separate valve. For a jack to drop by itself, the common cause is some crud in the valve. But it seems unlikely that you'd have crud in both at the same time. It also seems unlikely that both jacks would have developed internal leaks over the winter.

You could have a problem with aging hydraulic fluid causing a bit of stickiness.

Before going too far, though, locate the 2 valves and use an allen wrench to make sure they're finger tight. I believe counter-clockwise tightens. Don't overtighten.

 

[cgaskins]

Interesting... I hadn't thought about it that way. Thank you Dane. Let me do some checking and see what I find...

 

[cgaskins]

Well I did some investigation over the weekend and the issue is leaking of the hydraulic lines around the fittings where the line goes into the press-clamp before the metal fitting. All the fittings themselves are tightly screwed onto the manifold. The leak is very minor but it is there on about 3 of the lines. So it looks like when the fitting was clamped on to the line, something was not done properly. I suspect the only thing I am going to be able to do is replace the hydraulic lines in question. If anyone else has ideas, let me know.

Regards,
Chris

 

[travelin2]

I’ve replaced 3 hoses in the past year

 

[sjandbj]

I just finished this weekend replacing all of the hydraulic lines. I had several that were leaking from the same location. The hose shop that I went to said it was a common problem with these hoses. It was such a hassle snaking the lines I gave up and dropped the bottom. After inspection I found several others that had small drips so I just ordered new ones and did them all. I hope that I will never have to do it again. I also found one line that was running to the front landing gear that was not leaking but when I ran my fingers along the hose I could feel small ripples in the orange extend line. This is the line that appears to have the most pressure when the rig is just sitting there.