Wrap hydraulic landing gear pistons with plastic wrap?

[Dr Steve]

Good day all, I'm a new member--just got a 2015 Cedar Creek Silverback fifth wheel!

I live in an area with heavy industrial fallout. My coach will be stored in a covered farm implement barn with open sides, subject to lots of dust due to tractors and trucks moving around. So at least it will be protected from direct contact with acid rain.

Right now I have blocks under my front landing gear such that only 3 inches or so of the pistons are showing. I was thinking of first cleaning them with silicone spray and a good wipedown, then a second liberal shot of silicone followed by wrapping them with saran wrap.

I would remove the wrap and silicone/wipe the pistons again before hitching up.

My thinking here is the wrap will keep dust and other stuff off the exposed piston, and the silicone will prevent rust.

Is there a reason why I should NOT do this...?

[MillerTime]

If it makes you feel better do it!

Just know that there are thousands of pieces of heavy equipment out there that are exposed to dust, gravel, tree branches and other stuff coming in contact with the hydraulic cylinders everyday. I personally have tortured the crap out of some of my machine hydraulic cylinders and never have scared or pitted one. I have bent a few and broke a few. Now i do have a '79 international 2 ton truck that has a dump ram that has some pits in it. But they were there from previous owners and the cylinder functions fine with only a little residue on the rod.

I think your gonna feel better if you do it, but i dont think its necessary. You might get some fogging spray like you use on boats. Its designed to coat carbs and engine parts during storage.
Good luck!!

[Crusadernoob]

Being around heavy equipment most of my life I would agree that normally cylinders need no maintenance, but those are used 5-6 days a week. These are going to be exposed most of the time, I personally would take the time to protect them, it can't hurt.

[trbomax]

My experience with hyd cylinders in ag and ind equipment is to leave them alone. They are hard chrome plated anyway and oiling them just collects dirt which is wiped off every time they retract by theseals located in the ends of the cylinders that are there just for that purpose.Adding more gunk to them only results in earlyer seal failure.

[Dr Steve]

Good info--thanks guys!

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by Dr Steve

Good day all, I'm a new member--just got a 2015 Cedar Creek Silverback fifth wheel!

I live in an area with heavy industrial fallout. My coach will be stored in a covered farm implement barn with open sides, subject to lots of dust due to tractors and trucks moving around. So at least it will be protected from direct contact with acid rain.

Right now I have blocks under my front landing gear such that only 3 inches or so of the pistons are showing. I was thinking of first cleaning them with silicone spray and a good wipedown, then a second liberal shot of silicone followed by wrapping them with saran wrap.

I would remove the wrap and silicone/wipe the pistons again before hitching up.

My thinking here is the wrap will keep dust and other stuff off the exposed piston, and the silicone will prevent rust.

Is there a reason why I should NOT do this...?

If you read the instruction manual, it will tell you to coat them once a month with WD40 or something similar. If you store or use your unit in a salty air environment they recommend weekly. The rams are not the same material that heavy equipment Rams are made of. Hence the warning. You could do as you said but once the sun hits them they could, (but doubt it) condensate between the ram and plastic wrap. You need to allow air in to stop that. With your discription of the dusty storage area you will really attract more dust then normal. I would go buy some duct board at lowes and create a box for around them very easy to do. This material will pit pretty easy, If you pit your Rams the next thing will have is leaking seals. They make these warnings for a reason. That is what I would do if it was my trailer parked there.

[Campingnut]

I made blocks so that when the trailer is stored the rams are in the fully retracted position

[Campingnut]

I also do not think they made as good as industrial equipment.

[klaatu]

Hi all I have small hydraulic cylinders on my slides that are about 3 ft long
To protect them when I put out the slides for the summer, I clean them and spray them with wd40 and I bought a shop vac hose, that I cut in half and then split them lengthways to make covers to snap over the cylinders. this seems to keep my 2 rear slide cylinders clean. If you forget to take them off before closing a slide the just tend to pop off !

[RhoZeta]

This may wrinkle a few feathers here but I have to say something, WD40 would be one of the absolute WORST things you could use, a close second would be any kind of silicone.
What should be used is the very fluid that they are in while retracted, which is whatever hydraulic fluid your system uses. If you take some on a clean rag and wipe the chrome while extended just before retracting you will be doing it a world of good.
This is the way aircraft are done and I promise you a lot of high dollar engineering has gone into that simple process requirement.

Find the spec for what your system uses and purchase a small amount that could be kept in a closeable squeeze bottle and throw it in the front bay and wipe them down before each retraction.

[B47]

Originally Posted by RhoZeta

This may wrinkle a few feathers here but I have to say something, WD40 would be one of the absolute WORST things you could use, a close second would be any kind of silicone.
What should be used is the very fluid that they are in while retracted, which is whatever hydraulic fluid your system uses. If you take some on a clean rag and wipe the chrome while extended just before retracting you will be doing it a world of good.
This is the way aircraft are done and I promise you a lot of high dollar engineering has gone into that simple process requirement.

Find the spec for what your system uses and purchase a small amount that could be kept in a closeable squeeze bottle and throw it in the front bay and wipe them down before each retraction.

You beat me to it regarding the aircraft part. Most airline maintenance programs require wiping down the exposed inner struct chrome of the landing gears on each overnight check. The airline I oversaw required damping a rag in 5606 hydraulic oil to do the job.

Granted that the materials used in transport category airport landing gears is far superior to RV landing gears and also that these landing gears hydraulic cylinders have double seals,it still is the most effective way to keep your RV landing gear working properly.

[Campingnut]

The only comment I have is that the owners manual says silicon but I do agree with the hydraulic fluid point.

[klaatu]

No feathers ruffled here ! Thanks for your recomendation to use
hydraulic fluid to clean the hydraulic cylinders ! For sure that
shouldn't damage the "O" rings !

[F and E Damp]

You can't wrap the pistons - they're inside the cylinder. What you're talking about are the piston-rods, which extend from the cylinder as they operated.

Th first winter after we got our MH, I lifted it off the suspension with the jacks to take some of the weight off the tires. Within a week, there were rust patches on the rods. I polished them out and put the MH back on it wheels.

I contacted the manufacturer of the jacking system about salt air corrosion. They said the piston rods should be fine as long as we weren't "close to salt water". I queried how "close" and they replied "within 60 miles". We're within 60 yards - the homes across the street are salt-water marina waterfront.

I never left the MH on jacks at home after that correspondence. Since we sold it in December, it's not an issue any more. We're officially ex-RVers, with no plans to re-start the lifestyle.

[mogman]

Thanks Frank for that info. Our rig is parked 15 feet from salt water-- so the jacks will stay up!!

[Tiggerdad]

Too each his own but the hydraulic rams used on our rigs are cheaply made and has very little chrome. They will pit and eventually cause leaks. I would coat my lightly with grease and then wrap. Unwrap and wipe clean before using. campingnut and klaatu have good ideas.

[Airdale]

The best method for wiping down exposed piston areas is to use the fluid that drives the system. Most RV trailer hydraulic systems us some sort of automatic transmission fluid. Periodically wiping down the exposed areas will help lubricate the scrapers, wipers and seals and keep the exposed areas clean of harmful debris and/or corrosion.


Airdale