HWH jack concerns

[nbounder]

Vehicle is an '01 Itasca Suncruiser, bought used this year in Q-Site. It came equipped with HWH (hydraulic) jacks. They function OK, but there are 2 things that trouble me. . . ....
1) The jacks take forever & a day to retract, or rather as they say at HWH, "store". And, they do so with a chorus of noise.
2) There are ZERX on the jack bodies. How often does one lube them, and with what weight grease?

(couldn't find this info in the book of HWH - anyone know where it's hidden?)

PS - I know already to spray the rams w. silicone lube.

[LJowdy]

Probably old material but interesting stuff. click the link:

Do it yourself service repair on HWH leveling jacks

[azpete]

i would like to see a pic of the grease zerks. did not know hwh had zerks. i thought only power gear had zerks. on those, any weight grease will do.
the noise when retracting may be dry seals. try cleaning the shaft with wd40. that should help.

[RickO]

Originally Posted by azpete

i would like to see a pic of the grease zerks. did not know hwh had zerks. i thought only power gear had zerks. on those, any weight grease will do.
the noise when retracting may be dry seals. try cleaning the shaft with wd40. that should help.

Ditto re: the zerks. Makes me wonder if I've been missing a maintenance item.

The springs on mine also make a good bit of noise when retracting.

Rick

[Cheryl Bisson]

Are the springs tapered at the ends or not? When we had slow jacks the newer, tapered ones were put on in place of the squared off springs. Every 3rd or 4th use of the jacks we wipe down the shaft with just a little WD 40 on a cloth then wipe it off. This has helped alot. This is especially important around the seals to get the crud off.

[amanda_h]

Yes, HWH mentions WD40 quite often in their maintenance procedures and troubleshooting guides. They advise not to use silicone or other lubricants because of the issue of attracting dirt and debris. So after all the dirt is washed off, they then recommend to wipe down with WD40. The do not want you to use WD40 before giving the shafts a quick hose off because you could damage them while they are still dirty (?).

HWH advised us early on to use water (hose the jacks off with water) and wipe down with WD40. We do that just about every time we pull up camp or every month or so, whichever comes first. It has just become part of the routine before we break camp and are preparing to leave.

We haven't had any problems with the jacks in the seven years we had this coach. The slide outs, on the other hand ...well, don't get me going.

-harry

[toneumanns]

WD40 did the trick for me. Reduced retract time in half.

[NeilV]

Soap and water to remove dust and dirt buildup. WD40 to displace the water from the cleaning, remove any light tarnish and finish the job.

Remember WD40 stand for Water Displacer formulation #40. Got it right after 39 failures.