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Old 05-26-2014, 01:57 PM   #1
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Trouble with electrically operated front landing gear

Our camper is a 2013 351RLTS...

From day one, it has always seemed like the motor that raises and lowers the front landing gear has been weak, or perhaps undersized for the job. The thing has always struggled to raise the camper to the proper height.

Today, something broke. The motor will run fine lowering the camper, but when you start to try to raise it, the entire motor will rotate around until it hits something, and then make a constant ratcheting sound as it tries to work. It appears that something is broken either on the motor housing, or on the mount for the motor. It will be going to the dealer tomorrow, still under warranty. I can't unhitch this thing from my truck, so I will be leaving both the truck and the trailer with them until they can get it fixed. I've got another trip planned in 10 days, so I hope they can get it done.

This general design looks very weak to me. It seems like there should be a better way than having one motor for both landing gear legs. A pair of independent motors, or even an electric over hydraulic system would have been more reliable.

Has anybody else had trouble with this?
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Old 05-26-2014, 03:30 PM   #2
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No help with the motor but if it will help with transportation, the dealer should be able to jack your rig up so that you can keep using your truck.
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Old 05-26-2014, 04:33 PM   #3
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I had several issues on my unit.
First Jayco undersized the breaker at 20A. Supposed to be 30A.(changed)

Second my motor was bad out of the factory and the clutch kicked in way too early and would not allow for any upward movement after a certain point.(replaced)

After the motor was replaced it went higher, but still bound tripped the breaker so my left leg was changed out and now all is good.

It must go back to the dealer for diagnosis by them and Atwood. Took 2.5 weeks to get it right for me with parts and back and fourth, but works great now.
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Old 05-26-2014, 07:13 PM   #4
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I've had two issues with my Pinnacle's landing gear. Coming back from Alaska last fall the curbside front leg stopped working. The lock pin on the pinion gear had come out!

This spring, the bolt on the connecting bar between the legs sheared off. Fortunately, I have been able to do my own repairs saving me from hauling it to the dealers and waiting on their schedule to get it fixed.

Is it me, or are there more quality issues on some of Jayco's subsystems? My previous 2 Jaycos were bullet proof...or so they seemed!
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Old 05-26-2014, 07:17 PM   #5
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I have had no issues with mine and has been used heavily for most 3 yrs.
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Old 05-26-2014, 08:35 PM   #6
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Does Jayco offer a two motor system, or has anybody retrofitted their fifth wheel to a two motor system?
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Old 05-27-2014, 04:44 AM   #7
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Quote:
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Does Jayco offer a two motor system, or has anybody retrofitted their fifth wheel to a two motor system?

I have heard of them but not on. Jayco. I think they came and went!
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Old 05-27-2014, 03:21 PM   #8
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etex, can you not use the manual crank on the landing gear?
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Old 05-27-2014, 04:09 PM   #9
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etex, can you not use the manual crank on the landing gear?
I tried it yesterday, and decided it wasn't practical.
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Old 05-27-2014, 07:13 PM   #10
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No issues with ours, blew the fuse once and had to manually lower the gear, slow going or sure but it did get the truck free
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Old 05-28-2014, 08:45 PM   #11
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It's the gearbox that is broken on my front jack. The gearbox housing is made of plastic, and it is the plastic housing that is broken. Atwood used to make that housing of metal (I assume aluminum) and changed it to plastic sometime back.

I got a little disappointed in both my dealer and Jayco today. I took the camper and left it with the dealer first thing yesterday morning. The lady that usually handles the warranty issues was not there. The other folks acted like they weren't all that concerned about my problem. Nothing got done on my camper yesterday.

I drove by there today, and the usual warranty person was there. The gearbox had already been removed, and she had started the warranty process with Jayco. Jayco required her to email a picture of the broken housing before they would begin the warranty process. Her initial email to Jayco was sent at 8:27 this morning. Jayco told her it would probably take two weeks to get the gearbox into the dealer's hands.

I called Jayco around lunchtime. I talked to two different people from the warranty department, and got little help from them. They did tell me that they hadn't received an email from the dealer. I called the dealer on another phone and had them resend the email while I was still on the phone with Jayco. The Jayco rep said they still never received an email.

I was getting frustrated because I have a trip planned for next week. I even considered buying the gearbox myself (about $60-$65) from a third party so I can get my camper fixed in a timely manner. I finally called Jayco's parts department to make sure who made the jack and what the part number of the gearbox would be. The parts person informed me that the Atwood jack was installed on the frame by Lippert. The Jayco process is to file a warranty claim with Lippert. Lippert would then ship the gearbox to Jayco, and Jayco would ship the gearbox to the dealer. That's why the process takes so long. I called Lippert. They didn't have any of the gearboxes in stock. More frustration.

Somewhere along the way, I asked the dealer about removing a gearbox from one of their new units so they could get me going again. The answer to that was a flat no.

I finally called Atwood. I asked the guy from Atwood if there was any way he could help me out. He told me to have the dealer contact him directly, and he would warranty the gearbox. The dealer did this, and the gearbox is on it's way. It should be here Monday or Tuesday.

I got the dealer to reinstall the old gearbox. The service guy wedged a 2x4 between the gearbox and the frame so it will at least operate until the new gearbox can be installed. This will give us a chance to clean up the camper this weekend and get it ready for next week's trip. I have an appointment to return to the dealer first thing next Wednesday to have the gearbox installed. Our trip is supposed to begin next Thursday.

I am out an extra round trip with the camper to and from the dealer. This is about 40 bucks worth of fuel.

All in all, I guess it will work about as well as could be expected, but it wouldn't have happened without my legwork.

My experience with my broken keyless entry system a few months back was similar. I got a lot more action from Challenger Door than I did from Jayco.
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Old 05-28-2014, 08:47 PM   #12
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My daughter's Jeep Compass developed a noise. We took it to the Chrysler dealer yesterday morning. They determined that it needs a new transmission. They ordered the transmission and it was delivered first thing this morning. The mechanic started the transmission swap today and will complete it tomorrow.

THAT is how warranty work is supposed to be done.
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Old 05-28-2014, 09:59 PM   #13
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I just went out and tried to unhook the trailer from the truck. That block of wood wedged between the gearbox and frame isn't getting the job done. I'll have to leave it hooked up until I return to the dealer next Wednesday. That new gearbox better damn well fix all of the problems.
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Old 05-28-2014, 10:42 PM   #14
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Funny how all this warranty stuff works on these trailers.... $60 part takes 4+ people in a chain to get the customer taken care of ... and 2 + weeks of waiting. This is so pathetic, in some ways I blame the dealer for dragging their ass but they sound like the first step in this failure situation, A competent dealer would be doing what was needed on day one, and providing options.

A $ saved by making the part plastic ends up costing $$$$ and most importantly time to the customer. Make it last a few years past 2 and I think the quality would be so much better.
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Old 05-28-2014, 11:22 PM   #15
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Quote:
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My daughter's Jeep Compass developed a noise. We took it to the Chrysler dealer yesterday morning. They determined that it needs a new transmission. They ordered the transmission and it was delivered first thing this morning. The mechanic started the transmission swap today and will complete it tomorrow.

THAT is how warranty work is supposed to be done.
Agree, but speaking from personal experience, warranty work through Chrysler is not always so quick and painless.....
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Old 05-29-2014, 06:01 AM   #16
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I am in the service business. I have to figure out ways to get my customers up and running every day. A part that can be ordered and shipped overnight is NEVER a barrier to customer satisfaction. In fact, it is how I acquire all the parts that I don't carry with me. I do this for pieces of equipment that cost less than 10% of what I paid for my camper.

I just don't understand how anybody can believe that a two week turnaround is an acceptable level of performance.
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Old 05-29-2014, 08:55 PM   #17
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I am in the service business. I have to figure out ways to get my customers up and running every day. A part that can be ordered and shipped overnight is NEVER a barrier to customer satisfaction. In fact, it is how I acquire all the parts that I don't carry with me. I do this for pieces of equipment that cost less than 10% of what I paid for my camper.

I just don't understand how anybody can believe that a two week turnaround is an acceptable level of performance.
I think the 2 weeks was overly short in this persons situation... didn't sound like anyone really cared except for the last guy with Atwood. I might be wrong but that is the feeling I got. I would love to know how much the part that you needed really cost.
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Old 06-04-2014, 11:59 AM   #18
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The dealer put the new gearbox on this morning. I got the camper back home and the jack wouldn't lift it up off the truck in my driveway. I am still getting that ratcheting sound when the jack gets loaded.

I've got a trip this weekend. I will find a way to get through it without that jack. I think I can use a floor jack on the frame on either side, and then drop the legs down to stabilize the camper. When I get ready to hook up, the jack will go down with no problem. It just won't go up.

The dealer told me to bring it back and they would remove all of the jack components and examine everything. I guess I will do that Monday.

I called Atwood and described my problem. The rep I talked to there said it sounds like the clutches in the motor are being overloaded.

I called Jayco, and I am waiting on a return call from one of their engineers. I can't help but think that this isn't enough jack for this camper. Ever since day one, it has seemed to me that the jack has had to work way too hard to raise the front of the camper. We'll see what he says.
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Old 06-04-2014, 12:35 PM   #19
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What trailer do you have?
Have you ever weighed the trailer?
Any idea what the weight is being put on the jack?
Should be easy to look up the specs of the jack and compare to real world weights.
Maybe someone put the wrong jack on from the factory which would explain your issues.

short story
I purchased a brand new flat bed trailer once, sticker said Load range E, But the tires were D ... Factory in my situation came to the rescue and paid for the new tires I had purchased due to the D self destructing. So yeah maybe you have a overloaded jack, wouldn't be the first time.
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Old 06-04-2014, 01:19 PM   #20
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Gee you would think that they would try it out before you picked it up.
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