Landing Gear gearbox failure

[mmceldowney]

Hello,

This past weekend the gearbox on my 2009 Big Horn electric landing gear broke loose and twisted around so violently it broke off the manual crank stem! I've got two questions. First, the replacement seems straightforward enough, but are their any quirks to look out for? Second, is an Atwood gearbox interchangeable with the Lippert gearbox? I'm having trouble finding a replacement Lippert.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[cookie]

Hi Mike and welcome to the forum.
Yours is not a unique problem. It has happened before. I would contact Venture Manufacturing for a replacement gear box. They are the ones that supplied yours.
And replacement is very easy. On my last rig I switched over to a dual motor system. That's one motor for each leg.

Peace
Dave

 

[caissiel]

I did some research on the availability of the gearbox and I am sure there is an aluminum case model available. I bought one for $20 last winter as a spare but it is the same as I have on my unit though.

 

[leftyf]

Hi Mike and welcome to the forum.
Yours is not a unique problem. It has happened before. I would contact Venture Manufacturing for a replacement gear box. They are the ones that supplied yours.
And replacement is very easy. On my last rig I switched over to a dual motor system. That's one motor for each leg.

Peace
Dave

What are the benefits? I'm interested.

 

[westxsrt10]

Hello,

This past weekend the gearbox on my 2009 Big Horn electric landing gear broke loose and twisted around so violently it broke off the manual crank stem! I've got two questions. First, the replacement seems straightforward enough, but are their any quirks to look out for? Second, is an Atwood gearbox interchangeable with the Lippert gearbox? I'm having trouble finding a replacement Lippert.

Thanks,
Mike

If your gear box is like mine the electric motor needs additional support to relieve stress on the gear box housing. A 2 3/8" pipe fence clamp fits around the motor perfictly as shown in picture.

 

[caissiel]

This was my experience on the post listed below
//heartlandowners.org/showthread.ph...ual-Conversion?p=163267&highlight=#post163267

 

[cookie]

What are the benefits? I'm interested.

Wow, Lefty, been a while.
The benefits may be minimal to some. Instead of one motor lifting the coach you would have two. Less stress on the single unit. A tad faster but not much.
If a person has a few extra bucks layin around I would go with the hydraulic front landing gear.
The cost of dual motor conversion is about $350. Don't know the cost of hydraulics.

Peace
Dave

 

[mmceldowney]

That is a great idea westxsrt10. When I get this all put back together I'll be installing that modification!

Thanks for the warm welcome folks! It's great to find such a helpful community I'll contact Venture and see what comes of that. Any advice on changing out the gearbox? It's gonna be a bear of chore, I have a generator taking up most of that compartment ;(

Mike

 

[wdk450]

I just spent ALL DAY yesterday working on my landing gear. I had a replacement unit I purchased from Dormar ( http://www.domarproducts.com/gearbox.html ), but the leg measurements proved to be different from the Venture ones, and the leg bevel gears were not interchangeable. I do think that the Domar is heavier, and better made, but I am on the road and didn't want to mess things up. The Domar reduction gearbox is metal, where the Venture is plastic.
Yes, the generator removal is going to be a bear, and I suspect you will need lifting help at least. I just had "generator prep", and had to get the metal shell out of the way. The screws for that are pretty straightforward (center divider and along the bottom edge), but I couldn't figure how to get it out. I finally ended up moving it side to side as I worked on the left and right legs.
You will probably be using the manual crank some to get bolts/nuts on the connector shaft into the right position for removal/replacement. You CAN remove the drive leg with the motor gears in place, but it is heavy and in a confined space. I removed the motor from the leg in place, and found that the gear motor assembly that simply slides over the leg shaft through a D shaped bushing/gear got caught in burrs in the shaft. It took some prying and hammering through the crank access hole to get it off. Out on the picnic bench worktable, putting the new metal gearbox on was just as difficult, for the same reason. I got out a file to smooth the burring on the shaft and it took several attempts and some grease to get it to slide together. I re-installed with the motor/gearbox assembly in place and was really fighting the weight to get it up and into position. I added up some folded up electrical tape as a spacer/cushion on the gearbox/leg retainer points to take up the gearbox rotational slop. I ended up using a 2X4 lever and fulcrum foot lifter along with levelling pads to raise the assembly. Also, wiring up the motor and letting the leg lift itself by extending, helped lift it into position before bolting it down.
After I finished this leg I found that my off door side leg is completely locked up - won't go up or down. I ordered a repair gear set from the Lippert online catalog last night, but it won't get here for a week. Then I get to fight removing the other leg.
Good luck in your effort. Oh, by the way, I hitched up to support the rig during the repair. This might not work for you if you are removing the generator, and will need a jack and jackstands. I couldn't see the frame jacking points in front, anyways.

 

[wdk450]

Gang:
I just read Laurent's post on a retainer strap fro the U shaped threaded rod guide that sits under the rod gear.
This guide is free to move side-to-side in the leg which results in the gear moving side to side when meshing with its drive gear, and messing up the gears. Here ia a link to the thread with Laurent's postings with pictures in 2 posts:
//heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/26787-Landing-gear-motor
I am going to try to impliment this a little easier using a metal plate on each side of the leg covering the U support and 2 stainless steel hose clamps surrounding the leg holding the plates/U support in place.

 

[caissiel]

Looks like a good plan

 

[sJv]

Sorry for reviving an older thread. I need to replace the cheap plastic Venture gearbox on my Sundance as the case is broken. It's the standard "125340" part. Is there a metal drop in replacement gearbox? If so, where did you get it? It sounds like the Domar isn't drop in replaceable. I really don't want to replace it with the same plastic Venture gearbox. I've been reading through various threads, but haven't come across an exact drop in and where to buy it.

Thanks in advance!

-steve

 

[wdk450]

Steve:
Domar IS drop-in replacable. That is the one part out the $400 landing gear set I was able to use.
I have heard that Venture now supplies ONLY metal case reduction gears now. Lippert has them on their website, and this is a common RV part that should be availible from larger RV parts places.

 

[sJv]

Thanks, Bill. For some reason, I can't find the gearbox on Lippert's site. Do you have a link handy?

The Domar is pretty cheap at $43 with shipping. How does it compare in quality to the metal Venture case?

-steve

 

[57chevyconvt]

Steve,
I just ordered a new Venture aluminum gear box. The contact number to order this part from Venture is 1-866-524-7821. The person I spoke with was Wendy, she said anyone at this number could help with an order. I paid $60.00 plus shipping. My plastic gear box has not failed as of YET, but with all the movement due to lack of support and anchoring, I know the plastic gear box is going to die, but when. You can ask all the techinical question about mounting or lack thereof, but don't expect to get an answer.

See link for Venture Gear Info. http://manuals.heartlandowners.org/Suspension/Jacks/Venture/Langing_Gear_Manual.pdf

I just finished, about an hour ago, putting a support under the motor to remove the 3/8" movement on the motor end. I used a 1/16" wire rope (cable) and attached a small turn buckle for adjustment. You may have a difficult time seeing the cable wrapped around the motor because of the 1/4" blk poly tubing placed over the cable for protection to the motor housing. The landing gear assembly runs much smoother since I added the support under the motor. The material cost at Home Depot was less than $10.00. One advantage of the cable, as I see it, is that the motor/gear assembly can move from side to side to achieve gear alignment. Not the best of designs but hopefully with the new gear box and the added motor support, want leave me in some foreign location.

 

[caissiel]

I am questioning the idea of anchoring the motor. I would never anchor the motor on a drive unit, we always anchor the drive. There is a ratio differential between the motor an the drive and if the motor is anchored the motor base will be exposed to multiplied forces equal to the ratio, compared to what it is designed for. I would look at anchoring the drive instead.

 

[wdk450]

Having both gearboxes side-by-side, I liked the Domar better. Of course, I thought just about everything about the Domar legs was stronger, and better built. But I was comparing a metal gearbox to a plastic one, though.

 

[PUG]

After two motor replacements and overheating problems, I put a Lippert dual motor system in my Cyclone. The single motor system is just underengineered period. I ordered the system which replaces one side completely and both motors and installed it. Wasn't real easy but I got it done in four or five hours. It ran the trl up and down like greased lightning.

30 days after spending the money and work, I purchased a Carriage with the hydraulic leveling system. Now that is nice.

Oh well, whomever bought my Cyclone got a real nice system.

 

[sJv]

My Sundance is a bit lighter, so the single motor system has worked ok so far. The only problem I had was the time that I forgot to put up the rear stabilizers, and then tried to raise the front to hitch up the truck. I think that is what broke the case. My own dumb fault. I was wondering why I kept blowing the fuse!

I am going to try the Domar gearbox as it's cheaper and not plastic. My Sundance is actually up for sale as I plan on buying a Cyclone 3010 or 300C. The hydraulic system of the Cyclone was one of the selling points over the Keystone products.

 

[57chevyconvt]

I questioned Venture about the possibility of anchoring the plastic gear box and the answer was NO! According to Venture the gear box nor motor require any additional support. If one will closely examine the Venture design, the gear box and motor are suspended by the low speed drive shaft/gear, how is that for engineering?
There design works, but all of years of mechanical engineering it goes against all my better judgement. For those who can install the second gear box that is great, but there is not sufficient room to install an additional drive on the O/D/S of my 2010 BH 3410RE.