Sheared a landing gear pun/bolt. What should I use to replace it?

**dihtn1** · 06-17-2016, 06:22 PM

Went to drop the landing gear on our 337 this evening and noticed the driver's side landing gear dropping but the passenger side was not moving. Opened up the front storage and found the broken screw/bolt on the floor broken. There is still a piece stuck in the mechanism. Will need to drill it out when we get home. Fortunately it is pretty level hooked on the truck so we didn't have to go back home.
Any suggestions what type of hardware to replace it with?

Thanks.

**Second Chance** · 06-17-2016, 06:30 PM

Same thing happened to us last fall. It was the result of the passenger-side gear being retracted farther than the driver's side - PS hit the stop before the DS did and sheared the bolt on the DS of the horizontal shaft. Fortunately, when I got the square tube out, there was enough of the bolt still sticking out of the shaft to get a grip on it with some needle-nose pliers and remove it. 20 minutes on the hardware isle of the nearest Lowest and I installed a match. I made sure the PS gear was 1/2 turn short of retracted with the DS all the way up to prevent this from happening in the future. Of course, it had to be during the epic rainfall in Arkansas, Louisiana, and east Texas last October/November...

Rob

**dihtn1** · 06-17-2016, 06:37 PM

Thanks Rob. That must have been something in the middle of that rain. May I ask how you lowered the PS the half turn? Tried to manually turn the bar and it wouldn't move.

**Second Chance** · 06-17-2016, 07:15 PM

Originally Posted by dihtn1

Thanks Rob. That must have been something in the middle of that rain. May I ask how you lowered the PS the half turn? Tried to manually turn the bar and it wouldn't move.

With the horizontal bar on just the passenger side, I broke it free by using a larger crescent wrench (adjustable spanner for Brits) on the square tube that serves as the horizontal drive shaft. Once it was free, it was easy to turn by hand. I then made sure the driver's side gear was all the way up (with the motor) before reassembly. I've also since put about a dozen shots of good grease in all four Zerk fittings on the front gear assemblies.

Rob

**Dave and Monica** · 06-17-2016, 07:37 PM

The shear pin/bolt is meant to be sacrificed to prevent more serious damage and should be replace in kind. You should be able to identify the grade of the bolt by the markings on the head.

Dave

**Second Chance** · 06-17-2016, 07:58 PM

Originally Posted by Dave and Monica

The shear pin/bolt is meant to be sacrificed to prevent more serious damage and should be replace in kind. You should be able to identify the grade of the bolt by the markings on the head.

Dave

Thanks, Dave - I should have mentioned that.

Rob

**dihtn1** · 06-18-2016, 07:49 PM

Thank you.

**dihtn1** · 06-19-2016, 02:15 PM

Thanks Rob and all-got home and got it fixed. If this happens to you, here are the bolt dimensions:

Length 1 1/4"
Diameter: 1/4"
Thread: 20

**Papahoosh** · 09-22-2019, 09:10 AM

This is great info. It appears this has happened to us,
as we were hitching up to go to our next campsite, and retracted the landing gear, we heard a loud noise and now the the passenger side will not extend. We are enroute to a campground, and will further investigate once there. Question is how do we unhitch with only one leg working?

**powerscol** · 09-22-2019, 10:44 AM

Good question. Fix it before unhooking or use a pair of jacks. As for the jacks one could be your truck jack and hopefully you carry another for tire changes on the trailer. In helping folks at campgrounds a lot forget that they have a jack for their tow vehicle. Hopefully you have good blocking available. I would get the hardware needed and fix it while still hitched up.

Just my thoughts