2021 29MV Jack Ground Clearance

TravelinTim · 04-08-2021, 12:59 PM

I recently purchased a set of RV Snappads for my new 29MV. While getting ready to install them I noticed that my jacks seemed very close to the ground. I measured the ground clearance in the front at 4-1/4" and 4-1/2" in the back.

I contacted Lippert, the jack manufacturer, and they indicated that the jacks should have a minimum of 7" clearance. I was amazed that Jayco's installation barely met half of the recommendation. I then called Jayco to find out if perhaps my jacks were mounted incorrectly. After some back and forth they came back with the comment that the jacks were mounted as high as they could go. I decided to check this and crawled underneath to take a look. To me it looked like the passenger rear jack could easily be raised about 5" however the driver rear jack could only be raised 2" due to the gas fill pipe and a water drain pipe routed directly above the jack. Both front jacks looked like they could be raised only 1" and then the top of the jack would be nearly touching the bottom of the chassis.

I'm surprised that I have not seen any post from other new 29MV owners with the same concerns. I am very worried that I will hit a curb, speed bump or road debris that will do significant damage to one or more of the jacks and who knows what else. I am trying to pressure Jayco into resolving this. Perhaps there are shorter stroke pistons or some other solution but thus far Jayco's position has been "oh well". I am wondering if Ford made some chassis changes with their new V8 that Jayco did not take into account when mounting the jacks.

I would be interested to know if there are any other new 29MV owners out there with the same concern or even possible solution.

rjsflyer · 04-08-2021, 01:55 PM

On my 2017 29MV I don't think mine is the whole 7" clearance. I get comments all the time from people saying that it looks like the jacks are not retracted all the way. I don't think you would want a shorter stroke leveling jack. I have parked in a few uneven RV spots where my jacks were fully extend to the point where the front wheels were off the ground. Had to use pads under the jacks (front) and the front wheels to get it level enough. This did make for a big step up on the steps though.

Tgroves526 · 04-08-2021, 02:11 PM

I really like the snappads on our 2017 29MV but yes the jacks are low and i have lost 1 snappad during flight. I coated the snappad inside with liquid nails now. The jacks have a maximum extension and on unlevel ground i have reached this. I never did raise my jacks from factory holes.

Ted Littleton Co

pconroy · 04-08-2021, 02:58 PM

Not just a 29MV issue. It appears that quite a few Greyhawks have jacks installed a bit lower than what Lippert recommends. It's been mentioned and kicked around here for at least a couple of years.

A few enterprising souls have gone under, checked for clearance issues, and raised them.

I'm living with mine and really haven't dragged them as much as I thought I would.

NYCANCamper · 04-08-2021, 06:26 PM

Our 2021 30z has 9 inch clearance in back, and only 5 inches on the front jacks. I haven't bottomed out yet but I worry about it.

RPR · 04-08-2021, 07:46 PM

Our 2018 same way. What helps is the front Jacks are close enough to the front tires to help but not prevent from scraping. My mind goes into three D mode when pulling into or off a road.

Trapper2020 · 04-09-2021, 07:02 AM

Two years 13k miles with jack pads no issues with scraping. I drive slow in campgrounds and stay away from big dips at speed. If you raise them you will be placing blocks under them all the time. Even now I get the unable to level message so not sure I want to see it more often. Love the snap pads. Safe travels

Enjoy the journey

TravelinTim · 04-09-2021, 07:06 AM

Adding the RV Snap Pads makes me very nervous. Since my clearance would drop from the 4-1/4 and 4-1/2 to 3-1/4 and 3-1/2 I think I will just remove them and try to sell them. I may then try to raise the the two rear jacks about 2" and the fronts 1". At least this will give me a little more clearance and will just manually put a landing pad in if I think it is necessary.

Anyone in the market for a new set of 4 snap pads? They were installed but never used.

GoGator · 04-09-2021, 11:06 AM

This is a common issue with Jayco.

I can't find the specific thread but I've read that someone with the same problem raised the issue with the dealer. They told the dealer the levelers are out of spec so the dealer raised them at no charge under the Jayco warranty.

Since you have a 2021 you should be covered. Of course some dealers are better than others at taking care of their customers but it doesn't hurt to ask.

My 2019 MVP only have 5" clearance. I've been meaning to crawl under there and see if I can raise myself.

TravelinTim · 04-11-2021, 09:34 PM

Well I decided to raise the jacks myself. While I may have been able to get the dealer to do the work it would have taken me 1 hour of driving each way plus gas and it was quite easy to do. With only 4 bolts per jack it took about 5 minutes each on 3 of them. The passenger front took about 15 minutes as one of the hydraulic lines was stretched tight. Following the line back towards the hydraulic pump I found where Jayco had coiled up some extra hose so I cut the wire ties, let out a couple inches and retied them and was good to go. Once the bolts were out the individual jacks were fairly light and easily lifted to their new position by myself. I was able to raise the rear jacks to obtain ground clearance of about 7" and the front to about 6". A lot better than the 4-1/2" and 4-1/4" I started with. With the RV Snap Pads on I get about 6" rear and 5" front which is still better than what Jayco had from the factory.

I feel better about the additional clearance especially with the rear which I think would be the most likely to have an issue.

Fingers crossed.

Scoutmaster253 · 04-12-2021, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TravelinTim

Well I decided to raise the jacks myself. ... I was able to raise the rear jacks to obtain ground clearance of about 7" and the front to about 6". A lot better than the 4-1/2" and 4-1/4" I started with. With the RV Snap Pads on I get about 6" rear and 5" front which is still better than what Jayco had from the factory...Fingers crossed.

I am curious, after making the change did you need to add hydraulic fluid? Raising each jack two or three inches means that now the system needs to push more fluid out to each jack to achieve the same amount of lift. I don't know how much reserve hydraulic fluid your system has but if there isn't enough for the new configuration it might need to be topped up.

TravelinTim · 04-12-2021, 06:46 AM

I used to work for a company that built hydraulic presses. One of the jobs I had was building hydraulic pumps and know for certain that moving the jacks would have no affect on the fluid. if you had to relocate the jack to a different location and add addition line then you might have to add fluid but not in this case.

Scoutmaster253 · 04-12-2021, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TravelinTim

I used to work for a company that built hydraulic presses. One of the jobs I had was building hydraulic pumps and know for certain that moving the jacks would have no affect on the fluid. if you had to relocate the jack to a different location and add addition line then you might have to add fluid but not in this case.

Good to know. Thanks

pconroy · 04-12-2021, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TravelinTim

Well I decided to raise the jacks myself.
Fingers crossed.

How tight were the nuts? Impact driver? Or just a decent sized socket wrench and some "oooomph"?

TravelinTim · 04-12-2021, 02:39 PM

Oddly they were not on tight at all. I easily remove most of the with a standard size 1/2 socket wrench and moderate pressure. The hydraulic lines prevented me from reaching a couple bolts with a socket wrench so I just used a standard length 19mm wrench. I tighten them a lot tighter than they came from the factory.

Travel · 04-14-2021, 10:28 AM

We bought a new Greyhawk 30z in January and I was real concerned about the height of my jacks too. My jacks are down right now but I don’t think I have any more than 5” when they are retracted. I looked at raising them up but one of them is real close to the fuel filler pipe with no room to move it up.

TravelinTim · 04-14-2021, 10:33 AM

On my 29MV for the jack directly below the gas filler pipe I was able to raise the jack two holes which is about 2-1/2”.

MB56 · 04-16-2021, 09:27 PM

I have the 2019 redhawk 29xk and our jacks are installed the same as yours. Jayco told me that the jacks are installed correctly. If were to move them Jayco will not warranty any thing on the chassis if something were to happen. So I will wait till warranty is up befor I move them. They said the same thing if i were to adjust the hillwig helper springs from the factory settings. 6 more months and then I will address these to issues . We are getting ready to hit the road for 8 months. already did the hillwig sway bars and roadmaster steering stabilizer

pconroy · 04-16-2021, 09:46 PM

The Hellwig issue has been brought up a lot here. Summarizing - there's one Hellwig rep that said "What Jayco did is correct and within our spec." and there are a dozen others that adjusted them and said their ride improved immensely.

TravelinTim · 04-16-2021, 09:53 PM

I was in contact with Jayco on this issue. They offered to pay up to $500 to have the dealer raise them. I told them given I live 90 minutes from the dealer I would raise them myself which then took less than an hour to do all 4. After doing so I advised the rep of the resulting ground clearance and she responded back that they were glad that I worked it out. There was no mention of affecting the warranty.

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