Lippert Electric Stabilizer Jack Fail

[RossRagan]

I have a 2018 Mallard M245 with front and rear Lippert electric stabilizer jacks. Today I decided to put in a Bulldog power tongue jack so I raised my stabilizer jacks, hooked up to my truck hitch, swapped out the tongue jacks, leveled the trailer again and then started lowering my stabilizer jacks. My rear ones dropped just fine but when I hit the switch for the front, the motor would run but the screw to extend the front feet does not turn. Any one here experience this and, if so, do I need to have the whole motor/gear assembly replaced?

I assume it should be under warrantee since the trailer was purchased new in April, but I'm wondering if it will be covered. I have camped with the trailer a total of one weekend, so am a bit disappointed. Camping World can't get me in for two weeks to diagnose the issue, after which they said they would need to get authorization for repair/replacement; so I expect they will want me to leave it there so they can work on it when they get around to it. This is the beginning of summer and I really don't want to have it sitting at CW for a month or more right in the middle of summer. Any other recommendations? Do I just order a new motor for $325 or whole front jack system for $440 and do it myself in an hour and ignore the warrantee?

 

[danemayer]

Heartland is pretty liberal about authorizing 3rd party warranty work, with prior approval. Call Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030. Have your VIN # ready. They may be able to point you to another servicer in the area who can get to it faster. Or if you can locate a mobile servicer, you can probably get Heartland to authorize them to do the work at your location. You'll have to pay the travel charge, but that's often less than the cost of towing to the dealer. And it's much faster than dropping the trailer off.

 

[sengli]

I know on the electric LCI stabilizer system on my rig, the motors werent sealed very well. A little water intrusion, and the brushes would seize up and not make contact with the stator. I ended up sealing the heck out my motor housing with RTV.

 

[JohnDar]

Here's a S.W.A.G. for you. If the motor is turning but the jack screw is not, check to see it a set screw or some other retainer has broken or fallen out of what connects the motor to the shaft of the screw.

On the old Venture front jacks, where one motor ran both jacks via a connecting rod, it was not uncommon for the bolt on the non-motor jack to break or fall out, causing grief to the unsuspecting.

 

[Domi]

I ended up replacing both motors on our North Trail. It was water intrusion and I have since seealed them up well to keep the water out. In my case the motors would not work or worked very slowly. I agree on checking the set screw. They are pretty easy to remove from the trailer and work on.

If you do replace it, make sure that up and down are wired correctly before you put the bottom back on the trailer. First one I did I had it backwards and had to do a bunch of extra work since I had sealed stuff up before checking.

Last one took about 2 hours and was pretty easy. They have nuts on part of the screws that are hard to see and get a wrench on but that was the toghest part.

Got our last motor for about 199 and found it on ebay new. I have actually bought 2 from the same people. Let me know if you neeed more information.

Good Luck,

John

 

[jerryjay11]

If you feel you are capable of doing the repair, explain that to Heartland, and ask that they send the part directly to you. Be sure what the cause is and when you replace the part you'll have to send it back to Heartland. They are pretty good at that. I've done it before.

 

[JohnDar]

For the motors suffering water intrusion, it’s usually been the brush springs that rust and fail. For the cost of the spring from a ball point pen, they can be repaired with a little work, resealed with Rescue Tape and last for years.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[RossRagan]

If you feel you are capable of doing the repair, explain that to Heartland, and ask that they send the part directly to you. Be sure what the cause is and when you replace the part you'll have to send it back to Heartland. They are pretty good at that. I've done it before.

JerryJay, thanks for that bit of advice. I had some free time today so I did exactly that; I called Heartland and spoke to a very nice gentleman in customer service and explained my situation. He is arranging to have the motor/gear assembly sent to me so that I can install it myself and return the faulty one.

 

[jerryjay11]

JerryJay, thanks for that bit of advice. I had some free time today so I did exactly that; I called Heartland and spoke to a very nice gentleman in customer service and explained my situation. He is arranging to have the motor/gear assembly sent to me so that I can install it myself and return the faulty one.

You are welcome! I am presently waiting for my dinette post floor mounts as one broke due to two screws adjacent to each other allowed for the base to flex and break. Expect to see them in a couple days. And this was al by email. The same for a few decals that CW didn't order properly when they replaced both front and rear doors. Heartland does in fact backup their products.

 

[RossRagan]

I know on the electric LCI stabilizer system on my rig, the motors werent sealed very well. A little water intrusion, and the brushes would seize up and not make contact with the stator. I ended up sealing the heck out my motor housing with RTV.

The motors on my stabilizers have a rubber/soft plastic encasement on them. Did yours have the same such that I should consider adding additional sealant if I see any areas which look like they could be susceptible to water intrusion or did Lippert add the encasement to address the water intrusion problem that you and others have mentioned?

 

[Domi]

The motors on my stabilizers have a rubber/soft plastic encasement on them. Did yours have the same such that I should consider adding additional sealant if I see any areas which look like they could be susceptible to water intrusion or did Lippert add the encasement to address the water intrusion problem that you and others have mentioned?

My new ones came with the rubber (the old one had something similar). I sealed mine up good trying to make it so they do not fail again. You might not need to but I feel it is good cheap protection against future failure.

John

 

[JohnDar]

If it’s the same motor as mine and others, that cover is more cosmetic than functional. The moisture enters through the interface between the actual metal motor housing it covers and the base of the motor. Slide that cover off and you will find two screws that hold the two together.

When I rebuilt mine, and later Bobby A’s motor, I tightly wrapped that joint with Rescue Tape.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk