Hydraulic Jacks

[boowho]

Originally Posted by jegstrup

I sent an email to Equalizer Systems asking about this issue since one of my jacks did this. An employee named Randy replied back that I should have all 4 replaced while my rig is in the shop but because I'm not the original owner, they won't cover the costs.
That sounds like he is acknowledging that they are bad but won't make it right.


2012 Forest River Berkshire 390FL
2013 Hyundai Veloster

This is just plain WRONG. These have failed on so many coaches, FR out to acknowledge the problem, step up to the plate and do the right thing. If it only happened a time or two then it might be improper use or abuse. It's a POOR design.

Boowho??

[trekdave42]

Jegstrup,

I also talked to randy and had to pay full price for two pads. They didn't agree to any of the pads being a defect, but it seems like a lot of people are having a problem with them. May want to try and negotiate a price to buy all four. Best of luck.

-David

[I-RV]

Boo - I am no mechanical engineer, but it is a poor design, the problem is the psi (pounds per square inch) where the piston contacts the pad, Although, the piston is 1.5' diameter, only a small outer rim contacts the pad. The contact area reduces if the foot is not parallel with the coach which happens a lot when the ground is soft and one side pushes in.

Therefore, if for example one of your rear jacks is supporting 8,000 lbs. and the pad angles, you may have maybe 1/2 square inch of contact. That means 16,000 psi on that 1/2 square inch. That is why they punch trough.

Yes, Lippert has the one year warranty to protect them and they know about their faulty design. Without doing a full recall, a stand-up company knowing about their faulty design would accommodate those having a problem Unfortunately, the fix is not just the pad, but the end of the piston.

[I-RV]

I have two suggestions to help preserve punch-through of the jack pads.

1. As I previously mentioned, make sure the pad is parallel with the bottom of the MH when deployed and loaded. Do not have the pad angled as shown by the OP #1 post.

2. I have noticed that when I used wood under the pad, an impression of the pad's bolt showed. Maybe this doesn't happen on all the pad revisions, but if it does then it can be used to your advantage. This means that some of the MH's weight is being shared on the bolt and thereby reducing the weight on the punch through area.

Therefore my suggestion is to always use a board under the pad and not those plastic pads.

[accumack]

I believe if you are seeing the bolt head in the board yours is getting ready to fail.

[jmgllt]

Following

[dan-nickie]

Originally Posted by I-RV

1. make sure the pad is parallel with the bottom of the MH when deployed and loaded. Do not have the pad angled as shown by the OP #1 post.

I was wondering about the talk of having the pads parallel to the ground.
Now that I look at the OP picture it seems they are designed to swivel.

My 2014 does not seem to be able to swivel. Maybe that is the new design?

[boowho]

Originally Posted by I-RV

Boo - I am no mechanical engineer, but it is a poor design, the problem is the psi (pounds per square inch) where the piston contacts the pad, Although, the piston is 1.5' diameter, only a small outer rim contacts the pad. The contact area reduces if the foot is not parallel with the coach which happens a lot when the ground is soft and one side pushes in.

Therefore, if for example one of your rear jacks is supporting 8,000 lbs. and the pad angles, you may have maybe 1/2 square inch of contact. That means 16,000 psi on that 1/2 square inch. That is why they punch trough.

Yes, Lippert has the one year warranty to protect them and they know about their faulty design. Without doing a full recall, a stand-up company knowing about their faulty design would accommodate those having a problem Unfortunately, the fix is not just the pad, but the end of the piston.

Hank, I've never had the problem again, once I got the newer beefed up pads put on..... And if just a small amount of the weight is on the bolt head, the board sill split.

Why Eq Sys STILL uses the older style pads is a mystery to me. The heavier ones have be available for almost 3 years; CS told me they were tested to 12K lbs with a press and never even wimpered.

Boowho??