2017 Sprinter jack wiring

RV-burrito · 01-09-2022, 08:36 AM

Hiya!

My wife and I bought a 2017 Sprinter 353FWDEN from a private party. After many head scratching moments of wondering why Keystone would design things so oddly we discovered that the previous owner had done quite a bit of hillbilly engineering. My job now is to restore things in a way that will make them safer and more like the original.

My question for this post is: my front jacks are wired to 1 switch that allows them to go up or down using the triple switch plate by the propane tank and regulator door. Only the left switch is connected, the other 2 are not wired. There is no way to operate the jacks individually. I see in some pics of other trailers of this model that there are additional switches near the battery door. I have no switches there. Are there multiple options and configurations for these jacks or did the previous owner really "jack" this up?

If someone has this model and pics and/or diagrams for the jacks I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

firestation12 · 01-09-2022, 10:10 AM

Look at the top of each jack...Is there a motor atop each jack, or is there only one motor plus a 1" square rod extending to the other side? If you have individual motors atop each jack, then you have the possibility of individually raising and lowering each jack.

**JRTJH** · 01-09-2022, 10:21 AM

If you have an "automatic leveling system" installed on the trailer, then the front landing gear jacks will operate independently and you "should have control of their operation" at the leveling system control panel.

If your trailer does not have an automatic leveling system, then open the front compartment and take a look at the top of the roadside landing gear. You'll see an electric motor mounted on the top of the jack beam. Attached to that, if you see a 3/4" square bar that runs to the top of the curbside landing gear beam, then the two are connected by a single motor and you do not have the capability to control each jack independently. That said, on many trailers, there are several switches for lights also mounted on the underside of the front overhang. On my trailer, there are two light switches and the landing gear switch (that controls both landing gear legs) mounted under the overhang.

Essentially, unless you have an automatic leveling system, chances are that both landing gear are connected by a "transverse drive bar" and operate as a single unit. Most Keystone fifth wheels in the "mid level price range" that were built before automatic leveling systems became popular, have a single switch that controls both landing gear legs which are driven by a single motor and a transverse drive bar.

There's a "potential danger" that you face if you "modify an older trailer with indpendently driven landing gear. Many of the older frames were not braced for that type of stress and you can "twist the frame rails" on some of the light weight trailers. You also, if you have a "single landing gear drive motor" run the risk of getting the landing gear "out of sync" and can have problems trying to "establish a starting point" when setting up the trailer. In other words, counting "3 holes up" on the landing gear extension legs may not put the trailer landing gear pads "on equal footing"....

RV-burrito · 01-09-2022, 11:11 AM

Thanks for the replies. It looks like there is not a drive bar. Each jack has its own motor. I believe that this had an auto leveling system, but it has been completely removed. This has been a bit of a mystery, but I believe that there may have been a fire in the battery region. This is why I am trying to ensure that safety is assessed here. I went to school for electrical engineering so the electrical part of this is not difficult for me to understand. I just want to see what it is supposed to look like in a functioning unit.

I will make another inquiry to Keystone to determine if the auto-leveling feature was on this unit.

**JRTJH** · 01-09-2022, 11:27 AM

You can download the 2017 Sprinter RV brochure here: https://library.rvusa.com/brochure/2...e_Sprinter.pdf

It looks like the 4 point leveling system was a part of the "standard trailer build".

RV-burrito · 01-09-2022, 11:32 AM

Thanks John!

I will check it out. If there are any pics of the switches from a functioning unit with explanations as to what they do I would appreciate it. I will will figure out this mystery eventually.

**JRTJH** · 01-09-2022, 11:41 AM

Your best bet for pictures, I think, would be to google search for "2017 Sprinter 353FWDEN for sale".

You'll get several hits. The first will be an RVTrader site with 3 trailers for sale. https://www.rvtrader.com/Keystone-Sp...3FWDEN%7C68942 There are 16, 18 and 12 photos of each of the units. You might find a useful photo there, or on one of the other google hits.

**sourdough** · 01-09-2022, 12:06 PM

I have watched several videos of this model in the past while. Apparently it comes with Ground Control 3.0 electric leveling. In the 5 or 6 videos not one of them addressed how you control the jacks except via a remote that is supposed to hang on the wall. I have to think there are switches somewhere and with the electric leveling there should be a motor at each jack. Hunting for them may be the way to find them. Is there some reason you can't ask the selling party where the switches are and how they worked?

RV-burrito · 01-09-2022, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sourdough

Is there some reason you can't ask the selling party where the switches are and how they worked?

He's extremely dishonest. "Everything works perfectly" but the trailer was missing the water pump, power converter and other items. Fridge didn't work.
TV didn't work. Amongst other things. I'm on my own.

**chuckster57** · 01-09-2022, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RV-burrito

He's extremely dishonest. "Everything works perfectly" but the trailer was missing the water pump, power converter and other items. Fridge didn't work.
TV didn't work. Amongst other things. I'm on my own.

And why may I ask, didn’t you make sure everything worked before you took possession.

RV-burrito · 01-09-2022, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuckster57

And why may I ask, didn’t you make sure everything worked before you took possession.

That's my bad. Water and shore power wasn't available to check things and I took his word on it. So now I am working from that point. I am just hoping that someone with a similar Sprinter will be able to help me see what a real one looks like with some pics of the stuff that this guy jerry-rigged so I can make it right and pay my penance for not asking the questions up front.

All in all, I still think that it's a great trailer.

**chuckster57** · 01-09-2022, 08:14 PM

Well we all make mistakes, and I hope someone has the information your looking for. I’ve seen trailers with the 3 switches, but I didn’t have a need to work on that part.

If the one working switch is 6 wires, then it should be somewhat easy to figure out: power and ground in, power and ground to RAISE jack and power and ground to LOWER jack.

RV-burrito · 01-09-2022, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Well we all make mistakes, and I hope someone has the information your looking for. I’ve seen trailers with the 3 switches, but I didn’t have a need to work on that part.

If the one working switch is 6 wires, then it should be somewhat easy to figure out: power and ground in, power and ground to RAISE jack and power and ground to LOWER jack.

Thanks. I assume that the far right switch is on/off for enabling power to the other switches and then it is just left and right for the jacks. The previous guy just put it all on 1 switch for some reason.

**sourdough** · 01-10-2022, 07:04 AM

First, don't assume how those switches are wired, pull them out and check. It would seem sort of pointless to have a switch to then activate more switches...although it could be that way. If that's the case you would have an incoming 12v supply that would be daisy chained to the other switches. A meter will tell you that.

Also, simply powering left and right won't give you an auto levelsystem. It says (and the videos showed) AUTO level which is going to need all 4 jacks working independently which only left and right controls won't provide. If you have a motor at the top of each jack (my Ground Control 3.0 does) each motor needs a separate control.

My auto level has a control panel on the outside of the trailer that allows you to control the leveling system. I did not see that on any video of your trailer. I did see the remote that supposedly operated all that....apparently you don't have it. I would call Lippert, 432-547-7378, and ask for their help. I would definitely do that before I started rewiring the trailer on guesses. There's also a lot of help on their website; https://support.lci1.com/ground-control-3.0

RV-burrito · 01-14-2022, 06:44 AM

To add a little closure to this topic, I had Keystone decode the VIN and this trailer had the Lippert Ground Control 3.0 4 point auto leveling system on it at the factory. Somewhere between here and there it isn't there anymore. I assume it was the guy that I bought it from because he was a slimeball, but I can see the place where the rear jacks formally resided and the grinder marks and the black spray paint....
The switches that I had mentioned were not factory switches. So this explains why I was so confused at the configuration.

For now I will setup the front jacks so that they have separate controls and make do with the scissor jacks that were welded in place of the rear Lippert jacks. You will see more posts from me as I decipher the clusterFs and surprises that the former owner left for me.

Thanks for the guidance

**chuckster57** · 01-14-2022, 07:30 AM

Well it’s nice to see your moving forward. It goes to show just how shady people can be. I’m sure you’ll have a top notch trailer when your done

**sourdough** · 01-14-2022, 09:08 AM

I wonder if the PO bought another trailer without the auto level then removed it from yours to reinstall on the one he bought? I can't imagine why anyone would remove the entire auto level system otherwise.

**chuckster57** · 01-14-2022, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sourdough

I wonder if the PO bought another trailer without the auto level then removed it from yours to reinstall on the one he bought? I can't imagine why anyone would remove the entire auto level system otherwise.

Your probably more right than wrong. GC 3.0 four point is about $3500.00 retail.

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