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Need a Hand

M and E

Prominent Member
We’ve been in our rig for the past two weeks. I’m going to lay out everything here in case anything is relative.

Staying at Palm Breeze Rv Resort.
Concrete pad, rig is as level as could be.
I have blocks under all 6 jacks so they are not fully extended.
Right rear corner of the rig is facing south.
AC has been running pretty much all the time.
Heating the water with electric.
Drained the tanks a couple of times.
Full hookups.
Outdoor temps have been very high mid 90s.
Humidity has been very high.
Typical Florida afternoon rain.
Today, and one other day, we have had 50 and 60 MPH winds.

All of the systems are functioning.

Here’s the the thing. About one week ago, there was a loud noise, in the rig, that presented right around sundown. The same today. The first time we really felt it in the rig. Today it happened again, and we felt it, but not as much. The noise is almost like the hatch closing but on steroids.

The noise seems to be coming from mid rig on the drivers side.

Checked the roof and it’s fine.

Checked the slides and all seem fine (visual insoection)

Noting in the garage/basement is amiss.

Checked underneath and it’s also fine. No tanks have dropped (it was that loud).

Checked for wall separation and cannot locate any indication of it.

The only thing I haven’t checked is the hot water heater, but it’s working. It’s pouring out again so I’ll check in the morning.

Haven’t checked the furnace but don’t think there is a need to.

I’m at a total loss. The first time I thought for sure an animal hit the rig.

Anyone have any suggestions? Like I said, everything is working.

The only difference on our setup from prior trips is that we have flags on the side using Flagpole Buddy suction cups. The vacuum pump type.
 

M and E

Prominent Member
A buddy of mine here on the forum just reached out to me. Jack stiction.

Signs it’s stiction


  • Noise occurs while parked and leveled.
  • More common in the morning or evening as temperatures change.
  • Seems to come from underneath rather than inside cabinets.
  • Doesn’t happen while driving.
  • You may hear one pop every few minutes, or only a handful throughout the day.
 

Lantley

Prominent Member
Yep, jack stiction. Happened when mine was new, added fork oil and it went away. 4 years later it came back. Changed the fluid in my hydraulic tank and added the CAT additive this time and has not done it since. Known issue.
I was thinking that was the problem. I have read about stiction but never experienced it first hand but that is my first guest based on the symptoms.
 

Chaseweston

Well-known member
Interestingly enough, we had consistent stiction when we first got ours. it presented more as consistent little pops than clunks but I'd imagine ymmv. I got the fork oil to put in and before I could get around to doing it, it seemed to have gone away. I heard it one other time about a year later and then not again. I had previously put an additional quart of atf in there so to put the fork oil I have on hand in, I'll have to remove that extra quart of ATF, which is the small amount of additional effort that has placed this task on the bottom of the list for me. You should be able to just add the fork oil if you haven't added anything yet. Just remember the res. fills up with all hyd. slides and jacks in retracted position.
 

M and E

Prominent Member
The Cat 1U-9891 has been superseded by part number 624-3379. I have the Maxima Fork fluid in my parts cabinet. That said, it's my opinion the Cat product is the most appropriate product to use for the problem I have. I'd bore everyone with my full logic on this point but it comes down to fork oil being exactly that, fork oil (carrier) with a friction modifier additive package. The Cat is primarily a friction modifier additive package with "minimum" carrier fluid. No question at all that fork oil would likely solve the issue.

Torco: 1% Zinc, undisclosed on other additives (though there are more) so we do not know the total additive package percentage.
MAxima: 1% Zinc, ~2% other additives; so ~97% carrier(oil/petroleum), 3% friction modifier
Cat: >60% by weight of ester based fatty acids and polymer bonding agents. The weight vs volume is to protect their proprietary concentrations/formulation. It may be 100% friction modifier and binding polymers.

Cat is 6X the cost of Maxima when not on sale. I found it for $44.00 shipped, or about 3X what I paid for the Maxima.
 
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