Grand Design Front Jack Repair | 5Th Wheel Landing Gear Failure

Today we are replacing a Grand Design front jack on our 5th wheel landing gear. It has taken nearly 2 years, but it finally happened! We received a front jack error code while trying to level our Grand Design 5th wheel. After attempting to reset the code and level again, we discovered the left front jack would not support any weight. We have gotten a jack error code in the past and the cause was a faulty left rear leveling jack motor. After getting a make-shift front jack support in place, we investigated further. As we suspected, the issue was in the Lippert front jack leg. In this video, we will show you the process and steps involved in replacing our Grand Design front jack leg. It wasn't difficult and with some basic hand tools, took just over an hour to complete!
Here is the landing gear leg w/ motor we ordered from Amazon:
amzn.to/32nL3ym

[@user-wj3wu9nj4c]

This video just saved our trip! Thank you! ☺️

[@JouppiOutdoors]

You’re welcome! Glad the video was helpful!

[@rfchip9686]

Great video and excellent info, especially since I am having the same problem

[@JouppiOutdoors]

Thank you! It’s not a bad job at all. Thanks for watching!

[@robertkaplan6600]

Great video man! You make everything look easy. I loved the floor jack and stands set up... that's some Tennessee rigging!

[@JouppiOutdoors]

Thanks! I was scrambling for something to stick under there so we could at least get set up. The hit to the wallet was much worse than actually replacing the jack! Lol

[@robertkaplan6600]

@@JouppiOutdoors definitely tough on the wallet but think what a dealership would have hit u with..plus the month it would sit there.

[@proceedingonwardinamerica]

Good information looks simpler than I thought Good to have a second motor.

[@JouppiOutdoors]

Yes! We were pleasantly surprised at how simple the job was, thanks for watching!

[@JarheadAndGingersJourney]

So nice to be able to fix it yourself.

[@JouppiOutdoors]

We try to do that whenever possible, luckily this was a lot easier than we thought it was going to be! Thanks for watching!

[@MidLifeJourney]

Really good video! I have been wondering how difficult it would be to change a jack out if it went bad. You are a lot more mechanically inclined than I am and you made it look easier than I thought. Thanks so much for sharing!

[@JouppiOutdoors]

You’re welcome, it really wasn’t hard at all. Thanks for watching!

[@kevinw7995]

It is truly that easy! Had my left front jack completely fail and fall today! The motor takes less than five minutes to remove and the jack leg looks like a couple minutes as well just like the video shows. My 303 RLS is now sitting on a jack stand and I'll be looking for the replacement jacks next. Would love to find something besides more Lippert TRASH to replace them both with. I'm replacing both front jacks due to the safety issue that is likely lurking in the other jack since it's been working harder and could fail without any warning at all and kill someone or severely damage the truck and/or fifth wheel.

[@MidLifeJourney]

@@kevinw7995 I just replaced my left front jack also and it was very easy. Thanks to Jouppi Outdoors for making this video that explains it very well!

[@kevinw7995]

You got lucky compared to me today! When the Lippert trash jacks let loose, THEY JUST DROP AND LET LOOSE!!! My left front jack completely failed today and fortunately I wasn't in the way and my truck wasn't under the unit when it fell onto the quick release collar and was basically being supported by the right front landing jack. Missed the truck bed rails going through the fiberglass nose cap by about 6"! The failed jack leg can now be moved up and down by hand, generating a grinding sound while doing it! Mine was tossing errors a few times near the end of the season last year when self leveling and was laboring trying to get off the truck as well as leveled in the campgrounds. I saw the same thing you experienced, sometimes the left jack wouldn't move at all while the right jack continued to extend. Went to the storage lot this afternoon to look at the situation before needing to get it ready for camping. Sure glad I did since it wouldn't get high enough to get onto the truck and it completely failed and let loose when trying to get it raised up. Had my differential jack, tools, and such with me anticipating I may need to do something with it and it is now sitting on a jack stand on the frame as well. Any chance you can post the Amazon link to the full replacement unit? I plan to replace BOTH front jacks as I don't trust either now after four years of regular use and it's totally worth replacing them to save a life and/or damage to the unit and/or my truck. Thinking this through, if a jack was to let loose while camping, there is zero safety mechanics built into them to prevent a total collapse while just parked! I wonder what the insides of the jack leg look like? Do they use plastic or Teflon junk gears? Would not be surprised. We are now also considering one of the tripods under the pin for just this reason while camping. I will be calling Grand Design tomorrow to discuss this HUGE safety issue with them. Not really expecting much from the call since it is a 2016 unit, but when something like this failure can end up killing somebody, they need to know. If you haven't checked your wheel seals yet, you need to do that and replace them with quality seals as well. Four out of four 2016 units I personally know of, three 303 RLS fifth wheels and an Imagine TT, all had wheel seal failures. One of the wheel seals on my 303 RLS actually came out of the drum and was letting grease saturate the brake shoes and surprisingly didn't seize up the bearings! Checked it after a long road trip and discovered why braking was not very good during that run. Basically it seems anything to do with Lippert Systems is TOTAL TRASH! I've been told Grand Design is no longer using Lippert components on the new units. Hmmm, wonder why?! One of my first questions when looking for our next, and likely final unit, will be do they use Lippert components? If so, thanks, but NO THANKS!!!

[@JouppiOutdoors]

After replacing our leg assembly and hearing how quiet the new one was, it was clear that the jack had problems from the beginning. It doesn't labor at all now! I have put the Amazon link to the jack we ordered for in the description of the video. Thank you for pointing out that oversight, I meant to leave that link for others when I uploaded the video. Thanks for watching!

[@WhyWait]

Another good informative video. Hoping we never have problems with our Solitudes hydraulic jacks😬

[@christysutton7607]

Thanks for this video, we are about to take on this task tomorrow. We actually have a slight bent leg😳, so hopefully this save us some money,got the part in today.

[@JouppiOutdoors]

You’re welcome, it looks more difficult than it actually is! You will have no problem doing it yourself. Thanks for watching!

[@karenfoster5705]

Thank you for sharing, I need to repair mine

[@JouppiOutdoors]

It’s not very difficult at all, good luck!

[@sandys2672]

Helpful video thanks!

[@JouppiOutdoors]

You’re welcome! Glad it was helpful and thanks for watching!

[@jerrysmith7248]

Great informative video!

[@JouppiOutdoors]

Thank you and thanks for watching!

[@jadenbrijalba1823]

Good video thank you for the help

[@JouppiOutdoors]

You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@diggindrums3260]

Mine broke too (right jack) Being a new 5th wheel owner I didn't realize that the Jack's had grease fittings that needed to be greased. Because of that it failed. Etrailer had what I needed and the new ones are much better with 4 grease fittings

[@JouppiOutdoors]

That’s better than our jacks! No grease fittings on the old or new ones. Thanks for watching!

[@roundpeg3239]

new subscriber here. Was wondering if you ever cracked that faulty jack open to find out where it failed. I heard the 3.0 has a stripping issue on the bolt running in the jack, and was curious if thats what it was (I have the 311 bhs, same year).

[@JouppiOutdoors]

I have not as of yet. It definitely feels stripped out when turning it by hand. If I decide to open it up, I’ll update you on my findings. Thanks for the sub and thanks for watching!

[@kevinw7995]

@@JouppiOutdoors I plan to open my failed jack as well. Totally feels completely stripped since you can now push the jack leg up by hand and feel it grinding on the way up and when it slides back down. Probably plastic or Teflon gearing in it holding a couple thousand pounds! Zero safety mechanics built in to prevent a free fall when it fails! Believe me, I experienced that this afternoon. Makes one heck of a boom when it lands on the quick release pin assembly!

[@sandys2672]

@@kevinw7995 Hi, I have the same problem. Did you ever open yours up and find out what the issue was? (Lippert told me its a sheer pin.) I was just gonna order the jack leg.

[@kevinw7995]

@@sandys2672 yes, I opened the failed jack. There is a rather short female threaded component that the male screw leg goes through. It was stripped smooth. Amazing it worked at all late in its life. You can disassemble the legs without destroying them to check them. The threaded leg screw was fine. Must be a softer metal used in the female component.

[@rickstills6716]

I wish lci would put a greese fitting on the side of the jack to lube the nut/screw mechanism.

[@JouppiOutdoors]

I agree, that would be a great thing for them to add and most likely extend the life of the jack. Thanks for watching!

[@greglopez9311]

Good video. Gave me some confidence to tackle it. Can you verify the part number? The Amazon link looks correct but the description calls it the rear leg. Thanks!

[@JouppiOutdoors]

It’s not nearly as hard as I thought it would be, you can definitely do it! I checked the link and is for the front leg. It is the same link we ordered ours from. The 305340 is the front jack leg with motor. Thanks for watching!

[@sandys2672]

Thanks for the great video! I have the exact same problem right now with my right front jack. LIPPERT says it’s a broken sheer pen inside the leg. Well I’ll just order the whole thing like you did., I hate to start digging inside of those Jack legs.

[@JouppiOutdoors]

You’re welcome, replacing the entire assembly is probably much easier! Glad you found it helpful and thanks for watching!

[@sandys2672]

@@JouppiOutdoors found an “open package” deal on Amazon for $185. They say its just missing the manual. We shall see how it looks.

[@JouppiOutdoors]

If that’s the case, that is a great deal!

[@billcummins9579]

nice job

[@JouppiOutdoors]

Thanks and thank you for watching!

[@MrEvelTattoo]

Thank you

[@JouppiOutdoors]

You’re welcome!

[@stephaniemerfeld1390]

Get to the point please

[@JouppiOutdoors]

Noted, thanks for watching!