Landing gear and leveling system concerns on 2017 Reflection 27RL

[Likes to tow]

Has anyone had to do the emergency procedure to lower or raise their landing gear or leveling jacks?? I guess I'm old school and skeptical of new engineering but do you realize that if something happened to your hydraulic jacks it would be very difficult to connect or disconnect from the truck. Do we need to carry a cordless drill and 1/4 hex socket to be prepared ?? Lippert had such a bad reputation a few years ago with frame cracking and axles out of alignment that I'm concerned they may not have nailed it on this new technology. In the previous 12 years and two other 5th wheels I never had a concern or issue. The long handle crank was always available and I could use it standing up. Now with this new marketing feature, it you had a motor or some other issue with the rear leveling jacks it would require you to lay on the ground and find the right screw hole to manually run the jack. Is this really a value feature? The Schwintek system for extending or retracting the bedroom slide is also a concern. If the motor fails you will find "it will be much easier if you have one or more persons to assist you" according to the owners manual. Really? I hope China and Lippert have designed reliability into these new motors, gears and hydraulic seals!! Grand Design has built a very solid platform and it's easy to see why they would give us a 3 year structural warranty however everything else is just covered in a one year warranty.

[arhayes]

Our Momentum has the 6 pt Leveling system, we've been on the road full-time for 2 1/2 years and never had an issue. I have read of some having hydraulic fluid lines fail, but not often. Also never had a problem with the electric Schwintek slide system. Based on all the brands that use similar systems, and the few failures I've run into with fellow campers, I think you're worries are unfounded.


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[TucsonJim]

When did the Reflection line switch to hydraulic jacks? I thought they were electric.

Jim

[J&G garage]

Ya, electric. Like your China built computer. I don't recall there being any wide spread issues with landing gear.

[Likes to tow]

Now you have me wondering. Is my system gear driven or hydraulic ??

[TucsonJim]

Now you have me wondering. Is my system gear driven or hydraulic ??

Unless GD made a major change since the rally in August, all the Reflections have electrical/mechanical mechanisms. No hydraulics at all. AFAIK, only the Solitudes and Momentums have hydraulics.

Jim

[Likes to tow]

I was reading in the Lippert manual that came with my unit. I suppose I just happened to open the book to the page on Hydraulic Landing Gear and started reading. I assumed I had a hydraulic system. My mistake. This booklet was written to cover all types of Lippert systems for various units.

[arhayes]

My bad, guys. I assumed and you know what that gets you.... ;-)