Remote Location Surprise

[Deans25BRDS]

Middle of no where and attempting to disconnect and WAHLA ! Jack just spun in both directions, no up or down. Read about a shear pin and an hour later this is what I found. The shear pin was so tough it broke the screw gear. The pin was a little bent. The 800 number on the jack was a little help in diagnosing my issue. Well lets just put my truck jack under it and enjoy my first boondocking adventure.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Deans25BRDS

Middle of no where and attempting to disconnect and WAHLA ! Jack just spun in both directions, no up or down. Read about a shear pin and an hour later this is what I found. The shear pin was so tough it broke the screw gear. The pin was a little bent. The 800 number on the jack was a little help in diagnosing my issue. Well lets just put my truck jack under it and enjoy my first boondocking adventure.

Sorry for your issues.
That breakage typically comes from raising (or lowering) the jack too hard against the stop(s).
In many(most) of those jacks, that pin is also NOT a shear pin but rather a hard roll pin.

[Bob K4TAX]

Originally Posted by Deans25BRDS

Middle of no where and attempting to disconnect and WAHLA ! Jack just spun in both directions, no up or down. Read about a shear pin and an hour later this is what I found. The shear pin was so tough it broke the screw gear. The pin was a little bent. The 800 number on the jack was a little help in diagnosing my issue. Well lets just put my truck jack under it and enjoy my first boondocking adventure.

I was taught to always have "a plan B". Seems you did exactly that.

Bob

[NMWildcat]

Sorry this happened, but soooo happy that you found a work around and continued your trip just fine. It is great to read posts like this!!
The last few years I have discovered that many folks, most new to RVing, have no DIY problem solving genes. Something goes wrong on a trip and they have no idea how to even begin to fix or work around. They expect others to fix it for them, or they pack up and head home (if possible).
So thank you for sharing your story of self reliance!!
Happy RVing!

[Cabinfever97]

Originally Posted by Bob K4TAX

I was taught to always have "a plan B". Seems you did exactly that.

Bob

As long as the wheels don't come off, nothing would stop a trip for us.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by Cabinfever97

As long as the wheels don't come off, nothing would stop a trip for us.

This didn’t stop us, either. It came off as I was backing into our driveway. It did, however, cancel the next trip!

[Deans25BRDS]

Originally Posted by Mr. Dan

This didn’t stop us, either. It came off as I was backing into our driveway. It did, however, cancel the next trip!

That's scary ! The torsion bar suspension creaks and pops just like my old leaf springs did, but it looks like there is not much give. At least it was at home.

[Deans25BRDS]

They are sending me the part they say I need. The screw

gear does twist up rather easy. Hopefully its just that, turn and turn until it comes out. I have not taken the chance of removing it yet. We will see what part shows up. My luck goes like this, "twist twist bing bing pop" and parts fly everywhere. Assume the position and spend the next hour looking for them. Funny they say "there are lots of youtube videos on this replacement". I haven't found one yet. Oh on a funny note my wife said " we paid for emergency service call them!" I'm serious they would never find us. I'll save that for roadside stuff. Stay tuned !

[Deans25BRDS]

Originally Posted by 5picker

Sorry for your issues.
That breakage typically comes from raising (or lowering) the jack too hard against the stop(s).
In many(most) of those jacks, that pin is also NOT a shear pin but rather a hard roll pin.

The manufacturer told me it was a shear pin issue. So upon disassembly the crown of the gear was broke. So your right its not a shear pin. That would have so much easier to repair. Also they said there is no STOP on the jack, it goes until it snaps. So careful out there when raising the leg.

[MGD1961]

Originally Posted by Mr. Dan

This didn’t stop us, either. It came off as I was backing into our driveway. It did, however, cancel the next trip!

So I’m wondering. What was the cause of this failure?

[Mookie58]

To the OP, please clarify to a newbie - was this a power jack or manual jack? Scary to think a power jack has no limit switch to prevent over extending the screw drive leading to such a failure. It motivates me to pull out the manufacturer's manual on our jack.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Mookie58

To the OP, please clarify to a newbie - was this a power jack or manual jack? Scary to think a power jack has no limit switch to prevent over extending the screw drive leading to such a failure. It motivates me to pull out the manufacturer's manual on our jack.

Many (most?) front jacks and front landing gear type jacks have no limit switch.
Broken gear and pin threads abound on R/V forums and include popped 12v circuit breaker issues.

Every power jack I have owned has paint/Sharpie marks on them 1" from full extension and 1" from full retract.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by MGD1961

So I’m wondering. What was the cause of this failure?

It appears the outer bearing cratered caused the entire hub to go sloppy. There was no remaining piece of the outer bearing cage nor any of its roller bearings.

[Mookie58]

Picker, thanks for the input. I checked the manual for my FIC power jack and it does have an internal circuit breaker. However, your advice on having a 1" warning track painted around the support post for the upper and lower extension limits is good advice I will follow. I was surprised to see the travel range for the jack was something like 9" to 31".

[Tlmgcamp]

Makes me wonder what would have happened if it came apart under full weight of the tongue rather than the force of the motor. Hoping the design would not simply drop the tongue in a failure condition

[Deans25BRDS]

Ive noticed that my power jack has several holes for height levels. So Im going to mark a big bad bold line for a stop reminder and extend the foot pad so its not maxed out. I just got the replacement screw drive and hoping its a simple twist out and in process. Pictures to follow.

[Bob K4TAX]

I put a couple of blocks under the hitch and retracted the tongue jack fully. Then painted the tube black, extending below the jack and its foot. Then extended the jack fully and backed off about 1". I put a couple of turns of painters tape around the tube about 2" below the jack. I painted the area, between the tongue and painters tape black. Remove the painters tape.

Operationally, when I see the silver tube, it is ok to go. When I see no silver tube but only black, I STOP. I did fudge about 1" or so before the mechanical stops so I never bump the stops.

Bob

[Believer45]

Originally Posted by Bob K4TAX

I put a couple of blocks under the hitch and retracted the tongue jack fully. Then painted the tube black, extending below the jack and its foot. Then extended the jack fully and backed off about 1". I put a couple of turns of painters tape around the tube about 2" below the jack. I painted the area, between the tongue and painters tape black. Remove the painters tape.

Operationally, when I see the silver tube, it is ok to go. When I see no silver tube but only black, I STOP. I did fudge about 1" or so before the mechanical stops so I never bump the stops.

Bob

I like this. Hard to miss the way you have yours marked. I see a bit of painting in my near future.

[PhilFromMaine]

Originally Posted by 5picker

Sorry for your issues.
That breakage typically comes from raising (or lowering) the jack too hard against the stop(s).
In many(most) of those jacks, that pin is also NOT a shear pin but rather a hard roll pin.

2X

[2plus1]

I was not aware of the the stop line (that wasn't there) on the 2511S. I would raise it until it bound and then take the tension off a little. After two seasons doing this one day there was a 'snap' but it continued to function. That is until a couple days later as we were doing 60 MPH on I94 heading for Miles City. At that point the whole inner leg dropped to the pavement. There was a thud and we thought something in the back of the truck (we have a cap) fell over. Since we were at the exit ramp I continued on. As we pulled into the Walmart lot a motorist pulled up beside to tell me what was happening. The foot was gone and about 1/2" of the post was ground off. We found that there was one manual A-frame jack in Miles City after checking out seven stores. I called Rockwood and was told that they did not import parts for the Lippert jacks. We made do with the manual jack until Amazon had a sale on. Then I put a strip of RED tape around the tube one inch above their tape. This non-Lippert jack was marked. The good part was that there was no other damage. One pot-hole or manhole cover and it could have been much worse.

Paul