Super_Dave
Harrisville, UT
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Joined: 01/19/2007
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I just use all up or all down once I've adjusted the bubble levels in both directions.
Truck: 2006 Dodge 3500 Dually
Rig: 2018 Big Country 3155 RLK
Boat: 21' North River Seahawk
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KKELLER14K
BEAVERTON OREGON
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Joined: 12/15/2006
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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!
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summitsrule
Alberta, Canada
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Joined: 08/24/2010
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KKELLER14K wrote:Ok...this may not be a direct reason why the jacks bind, but I do agree that they will bind up if they flex to far...have you seen my post on supporting the front jacks???....take a quick look at this....this is a mod I did to mine. http://www.motorhomemagazine.com/boards/........d/24021668/gotomsg/24025277.cfm#24025277
Now that I stiffened up the front,I have less binding and the camper doesn't (walk) along and shift so bad. It would work even if you didn't have the swing out brackets. I have said this before and I'll say it again....A major flaw with the Happijacks is that you can run them in pairs side to side but not in pairs front to back.
Good idea. I was thinking this could lead to an issue too. I now have about 20 items to upgrade on my few month old camper, almost like work now instead of fun....
FYI, my Happijacks work in pairs side to side or front to back. Maybe there is something wrong with your control board, or maybe you can upgrade it to a newer model that allows this feature? Just a thought.
2009 Dodge 3500 DRW 6.7L auto 4wd
2009 Okanagan 117DBL
2002 Maxum 1800SR
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summitsrule
Alberta, Canada
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Joined: 08/24/2010
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Paoli wrote:I have covers on my jacks to prevent them from getting dirty.
Buy some covers that plumbers use to insulate water lines.
Cut them to proper length and used plastic straps to hold them in place.
I replace them every two years, they are cheap to buy.
Here in Canada they are available at Canadian Tire's hardware stores. (Plumbing section).
It keeps your jacks clean and protects the paint.
Do you have a picture of this?
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KKELLER14K
BEAVERTON OREGON
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Joined: 12/15/2006
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Ok...this may not be a direct reason why the jacks bind, but I do agree that they will bind up if they flex to far...have you seen my post on supporting the front jacks???....take a quick look at this....this is a mod I did to mine.http://www.motorhomemagazine.com/boards/........d/24021668/gotomsg/24025277.cfm#24025277
Now that I stiffened up the front,I have less binding and the camper doesn't (walk) along and shift so bad. It would work even if you didn't have the swing out brackets. I have said this before and I'll say it again....A major flaw with the Happijacks is that you can run them in pairs side to side but not in pairs front to back.
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Paoli
Quesnel BC
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Joined: 10/29/2005
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I have covers on my jacks to prevent them from getting dirty.
Buy some covers that plumbers use to insulate water lines.
Cut them to proper length and used plastic straps to hold them in place.
I replace them every two years, they are cheap to buy.
Here in Canada they are available at Canadian Tire's hardware stores. (Plumbing section).
It keeps your jacks clean and protects the paint.
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summitsrule
Alberta, Canada
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Joined: 08/24/2010
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bigfootford wrote:summitsrule wrote:How many people have had these binding issues just from having the tubes dirty and dry on the bottom where those 4 little pucks are?
Not had dirt cause any problem except to scratch the inner tube.
If your jacks are not mounted exactly vertical the will bind when lowering your camper. Going down that last 1-2 ft you can tell something is going on. Either jack screw lubrication or binding.
There was a fella on rv.net years ago that used a ABS or nylon pad for the feet of the jacks. He would tap the jack when he needed to relieve the binding. The jack would slide easily on the pad.
My front passenger jack was tilted out 2 deg and the drivers side was 1 deg.
Talk about groaning when trying to raise the camper...I shimmed the passenger side with washers and eliminated most of the binding.
I use one of these right on the jack.
![[image]](http://www.harborfreight.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/370x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/image_277.jpg)
You need to check for both tilt out or in and tilt front to back.
Most of the detectable binding will always be on the front jacks because they have the biggest load.
Jim
This makes a lot of sense to me. I can visually see the passenger front jack like this on my camper. It has always been like that, and has never groaned before though. I do plan to get all the jacks in alignment, can't hurt to be straight up and down, right.
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bigfootford
Fair Oaks, California
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Joined: 12/03/2002
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summitsrule wrote:How many people have had these binding issues just from having the tubes dirty and dry on the bottom where those 4 little pucks are?
Not had dirt cause any problem except to scratch the inner tube.
If your jacks are not mounted exactly vertical the will bind when lowering your camper. Going down that last 1-2 ft you can tell something is going on. Either jack screw lubrication or binding.
There was a fella on rv.net years ago that used a ABS or nylon pad for the feet of the jacks. He would tap the jack when he needed to relieve the binding. The jack would slide easily on the pad.
My front passenger jack was tilted out 2 deg and the drivers side was 1 deg.
Talk about groaning when trying to raise the camper...I shimmed the passenger side with washers and eliminated most of the binding.
I use one of these right on the jack.
You need to check for both tilt out or in and tilt front to back.
Most of the detectable binding will always be on the front jacks because they have the biggest load.
Jim
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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jjinatx
Austin, TX, USA
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Joined: 11/25/2003
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HappiJac recommends applying a coat of good auto wax to the lower legs as routine maintenance. The lower leg of one of mine had quite a bit of peeled paint with some rusty and pitted areas. I sanded it down and gave it a couple coats of gloss black Rustoleum.
My new pair of 4600s are here and I'll put them on tomorrow. Bit of a quality problem with one of them though. The little plastic axle opposite the motor release lever has no head on it and there is a gap between the axle and the hole. I'll have to see if I can get HJ to ship me just that small piece because I sure don't want to ship back the whole jack just for that.
-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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summitsrule
Alberta, Canada
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Joined: 08/24/2010
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How many people have had these binding issues just from having the tubes dirty and dry on the bottom where those 4 little pucks are?
I unloaded with my 4600's on the weekend, to find my camper very difficult and noisy to get down to the ground. Never had that before (now almost one full season old, been unloaded 5 times previously). Last time out the camper stayed on the truck, it rained a lot, so the bottom 1' of the jacks got real dirty and muddy. I never knew to keep them clean, so we just lifted them up and off we went. Now a week later we try to unload it, almost would not go down. I took the RF jack apart completely in the camp ground, found lots of grease and oil, but put more 3 in 1 oil on the large threaded rod, and moved some existing grease onto the square plate where the small holes are. Also cleaned up the jack slides (4 small pucks) and lubed them up with some more 3 in 1 oil. That jack is better than new. However the 3 others were still unhappy when we tried to load it up (fine going up, just going down was a struggle). I cleaned the jacks real well and lubed the pucks with wd40 (all I had) and it seems slightly better. Could it just be these pucks are not clean enough, or should I fully disassemble them all? Camper is less than 1 year old.
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