Grease your Landing Gear:

[Kamper Dave]

Just a reminder for those that pull their own maintenance.
Our co-worker showed up this year with a new Landing Gear. He stated “No one ever told me about greasing the landing gear.”
I do not recall reading about this maintenance in my owner's manual although I do grease ours annually. After hearing him I really went to town; 20 pumps on the big grease gun. Where does all that grease go? I hope it is doing its job.

[WoodcarvingGypsy]

Dave, I greased mine as well. I used synthetic grease (Mobil 1) but when the weather got cold (-7°F) it was really reluctant to work.

Our fix was to replace the mechanical jacks with BigFoot Hydraulics.

[travelin texans]

Just to be clear, DO NOT use "grease" on hydraulic levelers, use a silicone spray.
Demo-Stromberg-Carlson-Camper-Jack-LG-1_150.jpg
Landing gear
640_601_level-up-motorhome-tight.jpg
Hydraulic levelers

[WoodcarvingGypsy]

Danny, I agree absolutely.

Quadra (mfg of BigFoot) told me to use silicone spray & then wipe off with gun cleaning cloth once a month.

I can't imagine the problems grease would cause. first to mind is the grit in the grease hitting the seals on the cylinders. We used to grease the hydraulics on our farm equipment when it was put up & then wipe it all down before it was used again. There was a guy we knew that had rusted the shafts (long story) and then cycled the hydraulics. What a mess. Oil went everywhere.

[SeanRN]

I just have motorized landing gear, not hydraulics. Where are the grease fittings? Are there grease fittings or are you just greasing the outsides of the legs where they retract.

[Lloyd]

Originally Posted by SeanRN

I just have motorized landing gear, not hydraulics. Where are the grease fittings? Are there grease fittings or are you just greasing the outsides of the legs where they retract.

The grease fittings on mine are on the top of each leg.

[dualsportin]

Yes, located mine today, are @ the top of each post facing to the rear, put 8 pumps in ea....

[Kamper Dave]

Originally Posted by Lloyd

The grease fittings on mine are on the top of each leg.

THANK YOU Lloyd. I was planning on posting a photo of the fittings but it got busy here after returning home.

Amazingly I have pumped in grease to these fittings often but never see any overflow.

[SeanRN]

Is it a standard size fitting? I can't find my big grease gun. I was at Harbor Freight last week and they had a mini grease gun, I didn't look too closely, I'm thinking it was just a smaller gun.

[harley]

Originally Posted by SeanRN

Is it a standard size fitting? I can't find my big grease gun. I was at Harbor Freight last week and they had a mini grease gun, I didn't look too closely, I'm thinking it was just a smaller gun.

Grease zerts are all the same size just a smaller gun with smaller tubes for grease.

[mark5w]

Most zerk fittings should be a standard size, small gun or regular size gun should not matter.

[dualsportin]

As long as we're greasing things here don't forget your slides gears & racks....

[SeanRN]

Originally Posted by harley

Grease zerts are all the same size just a smaller gun with smaller tubes for grease.

Thanks!

[Tom Amass]

Originally Posted by SeanRN

Thanks!

OK, I was doing a total cleanup and evaluation of things in my storage. I pulled every container out to review and clean up, discarding things I never used or will likely never use.
This front storage being completely accessible gave me the perfect opportunity to look for the grease zerks for the landing gear. When shining a light on them, I saw they were completely gloss black. I have never saw painted zerks, generally galvanized color.
With this being said I removed the fittings to see they were painted over, possibly powdered coated over. I took a small nails and lightly pushed on them to learn they were froze up, painted over.
I went and bought new zerks and and a flexible hose so I can grease the landing gear.
If folks are pumping away wondering where the grease is going,
“probably not through the zerks on the the landing gear”,

[Lloyd]

It's quite normal to come across grease zerks that have been painted over. I just use my knife and scrape the paint off the button on the end of the zerk. They will then accept grease.

If a zerk is plugged and it won't accept grease, the grease will just squeeze out around the outside of the zerk.

[Tom Amass]

Thank you Mr. Loyd, for your note!
Yes I suspect manufacturers use the zerks as a masking device and it’s common for them to be sprayed over. I thought it worth mentioning as the ones in my landing gear housing were plugged. As mentioned, I was able to free up but since I needed to buy a flexible hose to grease in the tight space, I went ahead and replaced them.
I as well of others respect and appreciate your contributions. It folks like you that make me feel compelled to contribute if I can, in this case maybe not so much.
Thanks again
Tom

[Lloyd]

Tom, I certainly hope you didn't take any offense at my post.

[Tom Amass]

No sir, I respect all your efforts on this site as well as many of the other who regularly provide valuable info.
I won’t ever take offense to any statements I make here and the response, because much like you, I am only making the effort to possibly advise or provide something that may be of help.
Thanks again Loyd
Tom

[Tom Amass]

Ooops, sorry to have misspelled your name twice Mr Lloyd ��
My apologies
Tom

[Papa-T]

Talk about teaching old dogs new tricks. I have never ever greased a landing gear except for raising (extending) all the way up and manually rubbing grease on all four sides; then lowering. After reading this post (camping in Indiana), I went out and checked the inside of my front storage. Bam! There they were. Inside the front storage at the top of each leg on the front side. Wow, LOL. Guess I’ll add this to my list when I get home Tuesday. Thanks Dave for the post. I’m still shaking my head!