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Brneyegirl · 05-31-2020, 12:18 PM

One of our hydraulic RV jacks extended yesterday as we were driving on the highway. I was following my husband in our other car and noticed sparks coming off what I thought at first was the dually tire. It then got worse and something was digging into the asphalt creating a groove and making lots of sparks and smoke. I was honking furiously trying to let my husband know. In the future we will use walkie talkies as many people have recommended.

Meanwhile inside the RV my husband said he heard a noise, then something did not feel right. At first no alarms went off, there was no indication from the Power Gear panel that anything was amiss. As he was pulling off the road, the alarms and lights went off indicating a problem, but at this point the damage was done.

The rear drivers side jack had deployed while he was driving and was now mangled and dug into the asphalt. The extended jack had dragged beneath the motorhome for 100 feet or more before he was able to get it off the highway. It was dug into the asphalt 1 inch or so. It was wedged so far into the asphalt that we could barely move the RV just to get it a little further onto the shoulder for safety.

We had limited cell service where we were at but we were able to call for roadside assistance. In the end they had to jack up the RV and put blocks under it to release some of the pressure and they sawed off the mangled jack.

I am sharing this because we have found very few instances of this happening to others. We have a power gear system. It is a hydraulic system that uses 1 spring. We are going to contact the company on Monday, we were unable to get anyone yesterday with limited cell service. We are also considering making a report to the NHTSA. It is our understanding that there are several systems in place to prevent this from happening.

All in all, I am thankful that nobody was injured, we had roadside coverage and we were able to come home and sleep in our own beds last night.
We have a 2004 Monaco La Palma 36 WDD. The leveling system is a power gear. We did not notice any problems with the levelers prior to leaving, and had used the system a month before without any problems. So there were not any indications or red flags that may have alerted us to this. I was driving behind him the entire time and did not see anything suspicious until the jack deployed. He pulled off the road within a minute or two of this happening.

Skip426 · 05-31-2020, 04:48 PM

Welcome to iRV2.

Sorry your first post had to be about such a serious problem.

Power Gear has been bought up by Lippert ( LCI ) so any contact info you have for Power Gear may not work .

THenne1713 · 05-31-2020, 11:15 PM

Judging by your photo, the foot plate and spring are still intact, meaning the hole in the plate was worn/ punched thru, allowing the piston to travel THRU the retraction/retention device? While you will need a new hydraulic cylinder, I recommend you also replace all other SPRINGS AND FOOT PLATES, and retain old as emergency spare parts.

EngineerRick · 06-01-2020, 12:55 AM

From the drag mark on the foot plate I wonder if the dragging & sparking broke the foot plate away from the piston. Is the top of the spring also properly attached?

WorldCat25 · 06-01-2020, 08:33 AM

One of the nightmares I have occassionally.

Sorry for your troubles.

Brneyegirl · 06-01-2020, 09:37 AM

I agree, after looking at it we think that is what happened. We are going to have the entire system evaluated! Great idea on keeping the old ones for spares. It looks like the whole assembly is sold as one piece from what I have seen.

EngineerRick · 06-01-2020, 01:00 PM

Some jack cylinders can be rebuilt, but not all. I'm not a fan of single spring retract jacks because if that spring fails the jack could drift down. Since yours dug into the road I suspect it was being driven down hydraulically. I wonder if the pump can be heard while driving.

powercat_ras · 06-01-2020, 01:14 PM

The most likely reason is the spring broke or disconnected from the foot or the top of the jack cylinder. That's what holds the jack up when the panel is off or panel is on and the jacks are retracted. Suppose if the panel was off that's why the switch on that jack did not sound the jacks down audio alarm and light the jacks down warning light.

HWH uses 2 springs on their spring retracted jacks, so a spring failure on HWH is less catastrophic.

EngineerRick · 06-01-2020, 01:57 PM

I've got HWH on my Allegro and the alarm sounds with ignition ON or ACC and jack panel OFF. I wonder if the jack switch failed closed. The Kwikee Level Best jacks on my Winnebago failed from time to time but always open. After replacing leaking Kwikee jacks I kept the working proximity switches and now plan to sell them.

Mageksl · 06-08-2020, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EngineerRick

Some jack cylinders can be rebuilt, but not all.

I've got a Monaco LaPalma very similar to yours.

These jacks can be rebuilt. I've already had one rebuilt and another in the shop as we speak. In both instances the cylinders were leaking due to wear on the shafts. They cut off the foot, replaced the shaft, welded it back on then replaced the seals.

If you go this way you may be able to save the overall assembly and just get the bent shaft replaced. If the cylinder is too damaged they have the wherewithal to replace it.

I had my repair shop remove the cylinder from the coach then I took it to a reputable hydraulic repair shop. Wasn't cheap, about $350 plus unmount and remount labor. Can't imagine what the cost would be if I were to try to buy new. But it's fixed and fixed right

Brneyegirl · 06-09-2020, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mageksl

I've got a Monaco LaPalma very similar to yours.

These jacks can be rebuilt. I've already had one rebuilt and another in the shop as we speak. In both instances the cylinders were leaking due to wear on the shafts. They cut off the foot, replaced the shaft, welded it back on then replaced the seals.

If you go this way you may be able to save the overall assembly and just get the bent shaft replaced. If the cylinder is too damaged they have the wherewithal to replace it.

I had my repair shop remove the cylinder from the coach then I took it to a reputable hydraulic repair shop. Wasn't cheap, about $350 plus unmount and remount labor. Can't imagine what the cost would be if I were to try to buy new. But it's fixed and fixed right

Thank you! This is very helpful. I will definitely look into having it rebuilt. Did you notice your coming down, is that why you took them in for repairs? We never noticed anything wrong before it extended on the freeway.

Brneyegirl · 06-09-2020, 07:50 AM

It appears as though the spring is still attached. The alarm did eventually turn on, but not until after my husband realized there was a problem. He heard the noise, then noticed it was handling differently and started pulling off the road... then the alarm started. At this point the damage was done.

Brneyegirl · 06-09-2020, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EngineerRick

Some jack cylinders can be rebuilt, but not all. I'm not a fan of single spring retract jacks because if that spring fails the jack could drift down. Since yours dug into the road I suspect it was being driven down hydraulically. I wonder if the pump can be heard while driving.

My husband thinks this is what happened. Funny thing is... he is also and engineer and his name is Rick!

Mageksl · 06-09-2020, 09:18 PM

My legs didn't go down. They don't use hydraulic pressure to hold them up. The spring is the only thing holding them up. At the top of the cylinder there is a bolt holding a metal plate that connects to the spring which connects to the foot. The spring attaches with another long bolt (6-10") that screws into a conical shaped piece of steel that fits up into the top interior of the spring. I believe this long bolt is allow attaching the spring to the foot without it being under tension. After attaching the bolt is tightened until the spring is tight. Here's a link to a photo. Failure of either bolt would cause the leg to drop as yours did.

https://www.irv2.com/photopost/showp...hp?photo=36750

Both of my legs started with minor leaks that didn't leave anything on the ground. I first noticed that a couple of days after leveling the coach it would no longer be firm. I could feel it move when my DW would walk around inside or go down the steps.

Hope this helps.