landing gear

[Dougfk74]

I believe I read on this forum but can't find it anywhere now. How far can you extend the legs before they are to far. My legs are 29 1/2", on a Eagle HTX. Thanks

 

[David_ski]

I believe I read on this forum but can't find it anywhere now. How far can you extend the legs before they are to far. My legs are 29 1/2", on a Eagle HTX. Thanks

The 29 1/2" landing gear is probably "Lippert 179013 Lead Fifth Wheel Landing Gear Drop Leg 29-1/2". The specs state a 21" stroke. This is the landing leg that is on my Eagle HT.

My 5th wheel gets parked on a uphill sloped driveway, and I have to extend my landing leg out to 16.5" to get the unit to level. I recently replaced one of my landing legs, and modified it to use individual motors for each landing leg. I have looked into the landing leg operation and its extended limits.

The screw drive has a stop to limit the travel to 21". The moving piece is 25.5" inches in length. 21" travel will leave a 4.5" overlap between the fixed outer and inner moving piece. I presume that it is safe to drive it out to the maximum length. Otherwise the screw drive would be shorter to limit travel to less than 21".

 

[Dougfk74]

Thank you David_ski. This information helps, I think by over extending I messed up the down shafts. I just went to dual moter too. Just finished instalation yesterday. I also installed a 3 position switch. Now I can move legs independently or simultaneously. Everything appears to work great.

 

[David_ski]

Thank you David_ski. This information helps, I think by over extending I messed up the down shafts. I just went to dual moter too. Just finished installation yesterday. I also installed a 3 position switch. Now I can move legs independently or simultaneously. Everything appears to work great.

I just added a second switch next to the first. One for each leg. I found that the independent motors run at slightly different RPMs. Even though they are spec'd the same. I used a cheaper second motor than the original $110 vs $450. I marked my landing legs every 2 inches so I can watch and keep them close to each other as I extend and retract.

I split the landing legs into independent motors because I would consistently trip the 30A circuit breaker. I found that the factory wiring for the landing legs went from battery (next to landing legs) to the back of unit to the Jayco remote controller, and then back to the front to the landing leg motors. I was getting a significant voltage drop through the wiring to be of concern. After rewiring, landing legs run much smoother.



FYI. Here is my current electrical diagram.