slow landing gear

[Firemenfred]

just picked up a use 300MP that has hydraulic landing gear and slides. the slides operate smooth and at a normal speed. the landing gear is slow, operates at a Snell's pace sometime it looks like its not moving. even if i have the genset running or plugged into a power supply. i base this on the operation of my old electric gear. is this normal?

[trueweb]

My 299MP is sloooooow too. Sounds like it's in pain as well.

I would also like to know if there is a trick to making it move a little quicker.

[SkiSmuggs]

I suspect it is normal. They use a small motor with big gearing (like a bicycle in "granny gears" or cog 1, gear 1) because it has to lift such a large weight which sometimes includes the tow vehicle.

[trueweb]

I agree SkiSmuggs, yet the little motor still sounds like it's dying in there.

I wonder if there are any upgrade kits.

[PARAPTOR]

Interesting, thought 300 MPs landing gear were all electric drive. What year do you have? Since the majority of time I am moving up and down inches not feet, time it takes has not been an issue. Not speedy by any means, moving it a feet or two would be an issue. Would not expect a difference in speed between Generator or Shore Power since it is 12 VDC.

Having watched a neighbor hank crane his landing gear up and down I am sure anything is faster than that :D

[JRTJH]

I think (I've been wrong before) that it's more a matter of using a "very small pump" to pressurize hydraulic cylinders. In the slides, the cylinders have smaller, longer chambers and the volume of hydraulic fluid "flows to fill" rather rapidly. On the landing gear, because of the weight being lifted, the hydraulic cylinders are shorter and thicker. They take a significantly larger volume of hydraulic fluid to move the piston the same distance than do the slide cylinders, but they are capable of moving a significantly greater weight.

So, the slides move "kind of quickly" while the landing gear moves much slower because the volume of hydraulic fluid the pump can move into/out of the cylinders is limited.

There's also the possibility that the O-rings in the cylinders are leaking and a part of the hydraulic fluid being pumped into the landing gear hydraulics is actually leaking back and not being used properly???? That's a matter for someone with a bit of hydraulic "expertise" to look at and possibly rebuild the landing gear cylinders....

I've had that occur on farm equipment in the past. Any John Deere or Kubota dealer has the expertise and the equipment to rebuild the cylinders if they will accept the task of working on an RV system.

[hankpage]

Firemenfred, Have you checked the level of the fluid in the reservoir. Since the landing gear seem to almost be stopping and they need a larger volume of fluid then the slides you may be low on fluid. Just thinking out loud, Hank

[Bushman512000]

With slides In and jacks up check the res is it full? if not fill it up how old is the trailer and what make is the pump?Has any one played with the pump some have a control to adjust the flow some thing to look for also is a kink in the supply line to the jacks .Think of a floor jack a few pumps and a car is picked up. One more thing to check for dirt or plugged line ...I know that would be last on the list but a chunk of rubber line wall can plug as can part of a o-ring :D

[JAL]

The landing gear on my Raptor are driven by one small electric motor, they are not hydraulic like the slides. They are also as slow as a snail. I stripped a gear in one of the legs last year, they make a rebuild kit for it and they also make a conversion kit that adds a motor to the leg so each leg has it's own motor. Still slow however. A friend of mine bought a big forest river and his landing gear are hydraulic and move as quick as the slides move.

[ocho]

I agree with JAL. The gear in my 2012 300 mp is electric. My slides however are hydraulic. Two completely and unattached systems. And Yes they move very slow, but pack some mighty torque, it's a trade off..

[jsmith948]

If they are gear driven, have you greased them? Look near the top front of the legs. There should be two grease fittings on each leg.

[kellydog98]

I have a big rig also with slow landing gear. Was told this was normal for the size. Was also told I could add a second motor to assist. Decided to stay with the normal slowness and not add another motor witch could become another problem. I do, however, connect the power to my TV before I go up or down with the rig. The motor will drain your batteries. I also have a generator with I might fire up and use instead of hooking up to the TV. Happy Pulling."bouncey:

[trueweb]

If they are gear driven, have you greased them? Look near the top front of the legs. There should be two grease fittings on each leg.

I could not spot a grease fitting on either leg of my rig. Maybe a pic would point me in the right direction.

[jsmith948]

Look inside your front storage compartment. If your landing gear is gear driven, you'll have a motor and gear box on one leg and a shaft made of square tubing that connects o the opposite leg. Look below the motor. The grease fittings are on the square housing. Hard to see as they are painted black. If the legs are hydraulic, there won't be any fittings

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[WaltBennett]

I had one of those single motor setups with the square tube running from one side to the other - that also had a plastic gear box that was starting to fall apart. It would wobble up and down as well as the motor itself. Bought a much heavier duty Bulldog system with a motor on each leg (same size as the single on the old one) for around $340 delivered and installed it myself. Had to cut a small square hole in one side interior bulkhead and one to mount the new switch panel, but everything else was just wiring. I did add a locking thermostat cover over the switch panel, but that was all. Since I got the 7k lbs lift each leg set, they are slow, but I can lift the whole Montana if I want to.

[bobbecky]

Not sure how this thread got onto grease fittings and gears and such, when the question was concerning hydraulic landing system speed. Yes, the rams operate somewhat slow, but that is the nature of the system, which is part of it's strength. If the hydraulic ratio were to be changed to a higher flow rate, you would lose the power to raise the front of the rig. On ours, one ram moves down first until it contacts the ground, then the other does the same, and then the rig is lifted from the hitch. That is normal operation.

[randy69]

Not all landing gears jacks have grease fittings. Pry off the top cover on the right & left jack put some grease on the gears. I just went through this problem. It helped. But decided on getting second motor.

[Firemenfred]

Thanks guys, it seems that it will just be slow. i was told they were hydraulic not electric but i guess i should check.