Artum Snowbird
Campbell River, B.C., Canada
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Joined: 05/28/2004
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I followed the pictures today to take apart my left rear 4150 and want to say what a great series of photographs.
I didn't make the bent rod and was able to take off the circlip by putting one screwdriver in through a hole on the inside and bracing the clip, then prying with another screwdriver on the outside of the clip to just move it off enough to get it with a needlenose plier.
Then I used about a five inch spike to hook behind the gear. I gripped the spike in a pair of vice grips, put the head of the nail behind the gear, and tapped lightly to get the gear over the burr.
The long thread came out manually and carefully, and is now sporting a new layer of lube.
The worst thing I found was the little plastic box that holds the motor leads where they plug into the lead coming from the controller. The plastic is totally disintegrating, has leaked, the screws inside were rusty, and I am going to be coming up with something better... Maybe a tube of tygon tubing with the leads inside and filled with sealant? Tubing of some sort for sure to go over the connections.
Tomorrow I open the motor box and check out that part, then on to the next jack.
Hope there isn't anything too different with the 4500's on the front.
thank you, Mike
Mike
2012 Winnebago Impulse Silver 26QP
2005 16.6 Double Eagle
2018 Jeep Wrangler JK
previously Snowbird Campers,
Triple E Motorhome and Fifth Wheel
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devildog1971
Rome
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Joined: 12/07/2003
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you did a great job and thanks for the info
2019 Northern Lite 10-2 EXCDSE Dry Bath 2007 G M C dually crew cab and 2018 Harley Davidson Limited Low
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jjinatx
Austin, TX, USA
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Joined: 11/25/2003
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Jack update: I installed the new 4600s and the camper raises and lowers like new, as you'd expect. The 4600 quick release seems to work OK, BTW. A couple of minor complaints though. First of all, the plastic plug/axle opposite the motor release handle on one of the jacks is defective - the head is missing and there is a gap there that will admit water. I'm hoping Happijac will just mail me a new one. Secondly, after I mounted the first jack, I couldn't get the motor to slide down inside the tube. Apparently they punch rather than drill the holes for the motor releases and the punching operation pinches the top of the tube so it is narrower than the motor housing. I had to remove the jack and use a hammer and wooden block to expand the pinch. The motor then fit fine. Also curious that the pair of jacks came with a crank and z brackets, etc, but no square plastic plug for the top of the tube in case you weren't going to motorize them.
As promised, I took apart the lower leg of the bad 4500 jack to get a closer look at the inside. At the top of the leg there is a re-circulating ball mechanism that is peened into the top of the lower leg. Instead of trying to reverse the peening to get the mechanism out, I decided to use a quicker, destructive method. I sawed into the square tubing just below the peening on all 4 sides. I used my horizontal bandsaw to cut it. The result is that the RB mechanism came out with about a 1/8" section of the leg attached. I have not removed the RB mechanism from the shaft as I suspect this would release all of the balls. In fact, I did back it off far enough to see the balls and managed to remove one of them. As I suspected, the ball is rusty and pitted from moisture intrusion.
The picture below shows the RB mechanism. In the background you can see where the bottom leg was cut.
![[image]](http://www.jaysnest.net/JackPics/P1080488.jpg)
The next picture shows what is at the bottom end of the acme rod. Note all of the rust on that end.
![[image]](http://www.jaysnest.net/JackPics/P1080503.jpg)
The next picture shows where the bottom end of the rod is when the jack is fully lowered. The tape measure shows the distance from the top of the foot pad. The only way to lube that plastic-to-metal friction point would be to drill a hole in the bottom leg at this point in order to be able to spray lube it. Note that you would still have to disassemble the jack in order to get to the hole.
![[image]](http://www.jaysnest.net/JackPics/P1080497.jpg)
The picture below shows what came out of the lower leg when I turned it upside down and tapped it on a shop rag on the floor.
![[image]](http://www.jaysnest.net/JackPics/P1080494.jpg)
From these pictures you can see that there has been a considerable amount of moisture in the lower leg over the years. Would a hole drilled into the bottom of the foot pad allow any accumulated moisture to run out?
Again, I would suggest when storing, or traveling, to keep the jacks fully retracted so the O ring at the top of the RB mechanism seals tightly. This keeps the acme rod all the way down inside the bottom leg and also keeps any intruding water from running down into the RB mechanism. One or both of these apparently caused the failure of my jack.
-jj
Current Rig: 2017 F350 Crew Cab Short Bed 4X4 Powerstroke, 2018 Grand Design Reflection 29RS. Dearly Departed: 2003 GMC Sierra 3500 Dually, 2002 Bigfoot 25C10.6.
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DonCurley
La Sal, Utah
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Joined: 12/27/2006
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This was quite a bit to go through at one sitting, but I must say, what an absolutely great thread! Thanks to the OP and everyone else who contributed (and I am going to print out the whole thing and stick it in my camper binder).
-'07 Dodge 3500/QC/SB/SRW/4x4/6.7L CTD/6-spd auto/35" Toyo MT's/Ride-Rite air bags/RS9000XL shocks
-'07 Apex 8 fully optioned w/220W solar/2 T-145's/2KW Prosine/Honda EU2000i/Tundra fridge/AC/etc
-'00 Jeep Wrangler TJ 4x4, highly modified w/5.9L Magnum V8
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Super_Dave
Harrisville, UT
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Joined: 01/19/2007
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Based on the prescribed 3 in 1 oil in the socket, how in the hell are you supposed to get oil to go down that small hole?
Truck: 2006 Dodge 3500 Dually
Rig: 2018 Big Country 3155 RLK
Boat: 21' North River Seahawk
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summitsrule
Alberta, Canada
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Joined: 08/24/2010
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KKELLER14K wrote:No way summitsrule!!! What controller do you have??? Year ,make and model of that system you got.. you can help me out and some others here. I hate mine for that reason ...I cant run in pairs either both front or both rears at the same time... only side to side. It twists my TC something fierce. I would upgrade it right now...researching as I post this...thanks a bunch!
I looked at the main module for the system, can't really see any numbers on it. Does anyone know what I should be looking for? Would like to help you guys out, but don't know if I can.
I did however look over the manual on Happijac's web page. It says if you double click the buttons for the front jacks, it will run both on that side. I did not know this. Whenever I need to run 2 jacks at a time (either on same side, or both fronts or rears) I just press both the buttons for those jacks. I know I can't go up on one and down on the other, but I can go up or down on any two at the same time, except opposite corners.
2009 Dodge 3500 DRW 6.7L auto 4wd
2009 Okanagan 117DBL
2002 Maxum 1800SR
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MTBob
Montana
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Joined: 07/17/2008
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Interesting series of recent posts re: jack leg alignment and jack extension/retraction speed. A couple thoughts:
- Think of the jacks as four posts connected to the corners of a box. Now extend two of the rear posts (jacks). The two front posts (jacks) are going to tilt in parallel with the rear jacks and cause a crabbing action at the feet, both front and rear because, as the box tilts, the horizontal distance from foot to foot / front to back is increasing as the rear of the box raises.
- It seems to me that, by design, the jacks will all operate at different speeds no matter what we do to lubricate the screws and legs. The reason is variation in the voltage drop in the dinky wires that go to the jacks. So, when you couple variations in voltage to each of the jacks and the likelihood that they are operating with different friction, I think the jacks will always be out of sync and operate at different speeds.
Bottom line: the jacks will always crab, no way around it except to try to raise the entire camper (box) upward small amounts at a time to reduce the tilt. And, the jacks will always operate at different speeds, thus supporting the camper with different loading on each of the jacks. When loading I stop periodically to listen to the "groan" of each jack as I test it to see if the apparent loading is about equal, and adjust them accordingly.
Any way... that's my thinking on HJ operation... and I could be wrong.
Bob
2002 10-2000RR Northern Lite
2008 Chevy 3500 DMAX, SRW,
2001 Lund 1700 Fisherman
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Super_Dave
Harrisville, UT
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bigfootford wrote:I'm writing another post to ask a question:
If you depress the button to make one rear jack go down and you intermittently depress the other rear jack button down what happens?
Does the jack that is going down stop?
My experience is that the only way to get both working at the same time is to press them similtaneously. If I have one button pushed for constant movement, pulsing a second button doesn't do anything.
Since our control modules are programmed to only operate for 60 seconds without shutting off, stopping to make a minor one leg adjustment resets that clocks and it won't timeout on you anyway.
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bigfootford
Fair Oaks, California
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Joined: 12/03/2002
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I'm writing another post to ask a question:
If you depress the button to make one rear jack go down and you intermittently depress the other rear jack button down what happens?
Does the jack that is going down stop?
2000 2500 9.6 Bigfoot,94 F250, Vision 19.5, Mich 245/70XDS2's, Bilstein shocks, air bags/pump, EU2000, PD 9260,Lifeline 100ah, 200W. solar, Morningstar Sunsaver 15A/ display panel, Trimetric, Delorme/laptop, Holux gps rec,led lights, Wave-3 heat.
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bigfootford
Fair Oaks, California
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KKELLER14K wrote:No way summitsrule!!! What controller do you have??? Year ,make and model of that system you got.. you can help me out and some others here. I hate mine for that reason ...I cant run in pairs either both front or both rears at the same time... only side to side. It twists my TC something fierce. I would upgrade it right now...researching as I post this...thanks a bunch!
Wow, I have not heard this before. My HJ system/wired remote/mgf in 2000, will perform:
All up
All down
Any one at one time
Both rear, together, even if I have a rear, one side going down and I intermittently press the other rear down it will go down as I depress the down button.
Both fronts work just like the rears.
One side of the camper front and rear together but has to be the same direction.
I can not cross though...like drivers front and passenger rear...
You should call HJ and ask them if your operation is normal..
Jim
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