uh oh..one jack sunk in! what do we do?

[4tfamily]

We've been at this campground for over a week and had some pretty heavy rain the other night. The spaces are gravel and very level, however I noticed one of the rear jacks sunk in about 6". It's almost like a sinkhole, the ground didn't cover he jack, it's just in a hole. What would you all do about bringing in the slides? Try to re-level first? Bring in the slides and keep your fingers crossed?

[Kuzzy]

I would try to re- level before moving the slides.

[chuckinthebus]

You didn't say what your MH is, so it depends on manufacturer's recommendations on slides, but if the MH is still on level ground, you could retract the jacks and see if you slides will close properly? Good luck.

[Greg2]

If it happened to me I would retract the jacks on that end and place a 2x6 or similar board under the jack to spread the load and extend the jack as needed. I would NOT move the slides. Wait until everything is level and square first, then move the slides if desired. [Replacing a torn rubber roof on a slide is not cheap!...you don't want to know how I found out.]

[JFXG]

+1 with Greg2. I had this happen to me last year. The jack in question is likely stuck in the hole it dug, and may not retract without help.

Leave your slides as they are. Dig out around the jack foot, then put your jack panel in "store" mode (or "retract"). Use a hefty length of wood, or a long bar of some sort to lever the jack in an upward direction as needed. Assist the springs if necessary.

Once the jack is retracted, fill the hole and lay a couple of layers of 2X lumber across it. Probably a good idea to put some wood pads under the other jacks, too. Then extend the jacks again and level the chassis. Now you can bring in the slide as usual. Not rocket science, but work.

Good Luck.

[CLIFFTALL]

Since your jacks are Power Gear and may be electric , I'd contact them as they do not suggest moving the jacks with the slides out. They respond quickly to emails. If you send one today , you'll have an answer early Monday. Their address is info@powergearus.com
Please update us when you can.

[JohnRR]

Kevin you do know you may be approaching "The Memories Are Made Of This" limit for a trip!

[vraines]

If your jacks are hydraulic retract or electric, then you run the risk of pulling the base plate off of the ram when you retract. Foot stuck in the mud type of thing, and that is a PIA. We had a Fleetwood chassis with hydraulic retract and it poked through asphalt once. It retracted cleanly and quick. Consider this: If you start the motor, the air bags will inflate and begin the retract process ready or not. I suspect you have air bags, so be careful. I learned this the hard way a few weeks back in Memphis when I started the motor and then started to retract the jacks. The base plates were frozen to the ground. My jacks are hydraulic with spring retract. The air bags lifted the chassis and pulled two base plates of the rams as well as the springs. Bummer. No broke springs but took an hour or so to get it back together.

[4tfamily]

Originally Posted by vraines

Consider this: If you start the motor, the air bags will inflate and begin the retract process ready or not. I suspect you have air bags, so be careful.

Hadn't thought of that. But guess what. I assume the sinkhole happened on Thursday night when severe thunderstorm warnings were in effect (tornado watch, too, which was kind of scary when we saw some of the permanent residents here leaving in their cars at 3 am, but I digress)
Friday we woke up to a 43 degree coach due to the battery issue. So of course I started the engine, and yes, we have air suspension. So that's already been done. Hard to tell what may have happened under the mud. Just took some pictures for y'all's entertainment. (We've been in Georgia so long we talk like that now.)





I'm sending an email with these pics to Power Gear....
We'll let you know.

[CLIFFTALL]

I've answered my question from my first post. They are as I suspected , electric. Bill and Tony ( if they're still there. Been a while since I needed to contact them ) of Power Gear will answer your email and hopefully can pull you out of this ( pun intended ) .

[Libero]

Have not tried this but if you flood the hole with water it might make the extraction easier, but have not thought this through completly, just a thought.

I have had jacks sink in many times but never had problems raising them. Most often I used load spreaders if I thought there would be a problem after I learned from my mistakes,

Good luck

[4tfamily]

Originally Posted by Libero

Have not tried this but if you flood the hole with water it might make the extraction easier, but have not thought this through completly, just a thought.

I have had jacks sink in many times but never had problems raising them. Most often I used load spreaders if I thought there would be a problem after I learned from my mistakes,

Good luck

We had pads that we usually put under the jacks but we accidentally left them in the snow back in Kentucky. Took us a few tries to get out of the site (good thing we have experience rocking vehicles out of snow) so once we got going, we just kept going!!

Aside from bringing up the jacks, we're a bit concerned about what to do about the slides. I'm hoping the fine people at Power Gear will have all the answers.

[Lobstah]

I'd raise the jack. If the ground collapsed underneath it, then there's currently no weight on it anyway.

Put a 2X6 over the hole, as suggested, and then extend it to level the coach.

Jim

[Tha_Rooster]

Since your jack sank that means your not level so just raise jacks fill in hole put a board over it and relevel.