5th Wheel Landing Gear Motor Makes Loud Clicking Noise and Will Not Raise Trailer

Question:

My 5th wheel jack motor makes loud clicking noise and will not raise trailer. I replaced the gear box and greased the gears in the jacks however, this has not helped. It is also very hard to turn the manual crank to raise the trailer. Do I need a new motor? The 5th wheel is a 2007 Rockwood.

asked by: Ron

Helpful Expert Reply:

It could be the motor but it could also be the screw/nut inside the jack leg that is causing the problem. Since you mentioned that it is hard to crank it manually I suspect that it is likely the screw and/or nut.

On jacks that have an ACME screw the nut is fixed inside the jack and screw turns which raises or lowers the leg. On most screws the ends are crimped to prevent over extension causing the screw to come out of the nut. If the screw reaches that crimped part of the threads it will damage the threads on the nut and could cause further damage to other threads lower on the screw. There is no fix for this other than to replace the whole leg.

If you are able to crank the leg up and down fine when there is no weight on landing gear legs then the issue is likely the motor.

expert reply by: Michael H