Forest River uses LCI 8,000 pound Level Up jacks on a 15,000 GAWR rear axle...

[NXR]

New post so it's easier to find in the future.

Nick Hoover and his parts person responded quickly to my question about the part number for the jacks on our 2020 GT5 which has a 15,000 GAWR rear axle (GT7's have a 15,000 or a 15,500 rear axle).

The Forest River part number is 10F19574A but would need ordered through a dealer.

The LCI part number is 195860 and found at https://store.lci1.com/hydraulic-jac...ck-195860.html

It's "only" $500 so that is better than $600 for the 14,000 pound jack I thought it was. I know the jacks are just for leveling and not for lifting but I prefer a good safety margin myself.

If you're someone who does use the jacks to lift the rear tires a significant amount even though the parking brake is on the rear wheels, you might want to reconsider what you're doing...

FWIW,

Ray

[bubbles]

Originally Posted by NXR

I know the jacks are just for leveling and not for lifting but I prefer a good safety margin myself.
Ray

They're jacks and the way the jacks accomplish the levelling is by lifting (perhaps technically pushing). RV stabilizers are not jacks and not for levelling (lifting).

[NXR]

Originally Posted by bubbles

Their jacks and the way the jacks accomplish the levelling is by lifting (perhaps technically pushing). RV stabilizers are not jacks and not for levelling (lifting).

Perhaps I should have written "not for lifting off the ground". As heavy as my coach's rear end is , lifting one side off the ground or pretty close to that would use 90% or more of the jack's design limit.

The front axle jacks are only at 50% maximum. That's why I was expecting to see 14,000 pound jacks.

Ray

[bubbles]

The manual already states a warning to not lift all wheels off the ground and not to work under coach without jack stands in place. The parking brake is not at the rear wheels. My 2012 chassis has it at the transmission output shaft and I think maybe your later chassis may have it mounted at the differential. It can't even be considered as an emergency brake. I don't know if the jacks are rated at 12000 lbs or 7000 lbs each but they always extend/retract in tandem.

[NXR]

Correct, which is why I wrote "parking brake". Mine is on the rear axle differential so it's only applying to the rear wheels.

• While the manual does indeed say "all wheels" there are enough anecdotes about RV's slipping or sinking that I try to never lift the coach more than two or three inches. I'll use blocks if I have to.
  
  
• While the jacks do extend in pairs to lessen the chance of the frame twisting, on the "extend" side of the hydraulics each jack is valved separately.
  
  
• That makes it entirely possible for one jack to have an internal "extend-to-retract" leak (bypass) while the other three jacks keep their "extend" pressure unchanged.
  
  
• That one jack could slowly retract due to the weight of the coach because the fluid in the "extend" side is leaking into the "retract" side. That could be bad if the coach is lifted rather high or would be bad if the internal seal fails rapidly and causes a frame twist.

On the retract side, all four jacks are connected together so a leak in one jack can cause any or all to slip to the extended position. LCI was emphatic that just because jack "A" slipped down visibly, the leak could be in any of the four jacks.

I don't know if that one GT7 with the 15,500 rear GAWR also uses 8,000 pound jacks but I suspect it does. 15,500 divided by 16,000 total jack capacity = 97% of the design capacity if so.

I've learned a lot in the last week.

Ray

[bucky53]

So what was the result of your visit to a Cat scale?

[oh2015fr3]

If you are at GAWR, you have more than a leveling issue. You at capacity limit for the axle.

[NXR]

Me? I don't have a leveling issue; I have a probable jack leaking internally. Yes, I understand all of the weight ratings.

I was simply commenting on how close the jack capacity is to the GAWR for the rear axle and to let others know, since none of the manuals disclose what the jack capacity is.

Full fuel, full water (82 gallons), empty gray and empty black, tow dolly with 50 pounds of tongue weight, fully loaded for a long trip with people, dogs, and stuff: 14,660 pounds on the rear axle.

Almost full fuel, 25 gallons of water, and literally everything but two adults removed due to it going for a long maintenance appointment: 12,680 pounds on the rear axle.

We never run with full water, that was just for the worst-case weighing, so that's another 450 pounds gone in real life.

Oddly, the front axle was 7,020 and 7,060 respectively. Too bad there's no way to shift about 300 pounds from the rear to the front. That 300 pounds is just about the weight of the Splendide washer/dryer and the sliding tool tray in the rear.

Fairview Park, huh? I'm about forty minutes south of you.

Ray

[Dodge Guy]

If I have to I will raise an axle off the ground. And yes the parking brake is for the rear wheels. Doesn't matter if it's mounted to the axle or the driveshaft (transmission), if the wheels are off the ground it will not hold. This is why you should always have 4 large rubber chocks with you for the front wheels, or the rears as a backup.

[bubbles]

Originally Posted by Dodge Guy

If I have to I will raise an axle off the ground. And yes the parking brake is for the rear wheels. Doesn't matter if it's mounted to the axle or the driveshaft (transmission), if the wheels are off the ground it will not hold. This is why you should always have 4 large rubber chocks with you for the front wheels, or the rears as a backup.

I never raise the rears off the ground but the fronts are off quite frequently. If you feel you have to use chocks then you need to move to a different location where it is more level. Never seen a MH with levelers using chocks.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by bubbles

I never raise the rears off the ground but the fronts are off quite frequently. If you feel you have to use chocks then you need to move to a different location where it is more level. Never seen a MH with levelers using chocks.

Clearly you've never seen us.

My wife and I are both retired firefighters. No matter what the call, the first step after parking the fire apparatus was to chock the wheels and it was discipline if you didn't. And we always were on solid pavement with air brakes.

The procedure carried over to the motorhome and I chock and she double-checks. There's no reason not to, in our view. If you always chock then that removes the "Should I or not?" decision point.

FWIW,

Ray

[Cdefrees]

NXR
I was told we run 8K jacks in all FR3's and Georgetown's floor plans. Just thought I would share. Have a great day!

[NXR]

Originally Posted by Cdefrees

NXR
I was told we run 8K jacks in all FR3's and Georgetown's floor plans. Just thought I would share. Have a great day!

Thanks. It's good to have confirmation.

So it appears we may just have had an internal seal not seat properly. The Jacks Down light has not come back after dropping the rear jacks 6" and raising them some days ago.

Today I dropped all jacks and re-applied silicone to the shafts, raised them, dropped them, and raised them. Five hours later and no light.

I did talk to Lippert again and they think perhaps one of the internal seals just did not seat properly, perhaps due to the cold, a bit of debris, or the seal just did not seat.

We'll see...

Ray

[Btm]

Glad yours is working. One less concern.

Good to know about the 8000 lb. capacity. Until the rear tires are off the ground the jacks will have a great amount of safety margin.


Btm

[NXR]

Originally Posted by Btm

Glad yours is working. One less concern.

Good to know about the 8000 lb. capacity. Until the rear tires are off the ground the jacks will have a great amount of safety margin.

Agreed on all. And I learned a lot about how the system does its thing. Win-Win.

Ray