Excessive grease on jack stands?

[Wayfinder]

Does this seem normal for older jacks. 2016. 

[Mike and Carol]

I don’t have grease like that on mine.  If you wipe it off does it come back?  Mike

[topgun2]

The first thing that I would do is give that jack a good cleaning.  After that apply a very light coat of white grease and then keep an eye on it.

Bill

p.s.  mine have never looked like that.

[Patriot]

That does not seem normal at all. If nothing else you could give OTT Service a call in the morning and ask if it’s normal or what the cause could be? Maybe email Jason or Mike a photo, just a thought. Please let us know what you learn and hopefully it’s a minor repair. And thank you for the reminder, I need to get busy and do maintenance on mine. 😊

Patriot🇺🇸

 

[Wayfinder]

I will clean the stands and inspect the gears.  I've watched that inspection video a couple time before, but never actually checked the gears myself, (BAD BOY).  I'll let you all know what I find.  They've been like that since I purchased the used 2016 TT, nearly two years ago.  

[Wayfinder]

Hey, fun times. Look what I THOUGHT I needed to cut out to fully inspect the rear, left jack gears?  I can tell the gears are a bit dry especially under the gear lid, which I thought at first I could not remove. Update: Thanks to John Davies' advice, I simply loosened the three 5/32 Allen nuts and was able to completely remove the gear box from the jack stand.  There was no need to cut the fiber glass to allow the gear box lid to be removed.  But still, the fiberglass opening could have been a half inch to the right.  I'm sure Oliver has fixed that after all these years. 

Also, I did what Jason did and simply tapped all the corners near the bolts and the lids came right off, even after all these years.

What do newer EL II openings around the water pump look like these days? Is there more space to remove the gear box?

Edited January 30, 2023 by Wayfinder
Update and more details.

[Wayfinder]

The drivers side came right off without a problem. 

Time new grease?  

[John E Davies]

The gearbox housing spins on the round shaft when you loosen the three Allen socket screws. You should not need to do any grinding, tho a couple of owners have done that. Read through this thread and the linked thread for the rear jacks. Be sure to check all the big bolts for security, they do loosen. Check that all three Allen screws are there!

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/4094-how-to-vip-3000-electric-stabilizer-jack-service/

Part of “correct” servicing is removing the old caked grease - that is the wax carrier and most of the actual lubricating oil has gone away… . The stuff on your outside shafts should be flushed out with a good solvent like brake cleaner. Grease plus silica grit equals valve grinding compound…. That destroys the chrome plating. I leave mine bone dry.

Have fun. Look through my How To videos if you have not already.

John Davies

Spokane WA 

[Wayfinder]

That worked great John. Thanks. Sometimes I can't see the forest through the trees. 

[Wayfinder]

The front jack has been replaced by the previous owner with a Husky Super Brute 4000 Premium Electric Tongue Jack and needs very little maintenance.  There's always a leather-like cover on it, so it looks perfect, even to this day.  I'll do it's tiny bit of maintenance when it's warmer out.  It won't take long.

HSB4000 maintenance from the user manual:  Due to the design of the Husky® Super Brute’s low-friction ball screw, the inner assembly of the jack does not require regular lubrication. But to keep your jack in good, functional condition, fully extend the jack and clean the inner jack tube once per year. After cleaning, coat the tube with a light grease or silicone spray lubricant.

That's the entire maintenance plan.  I like it so far.  LOL

[Rivernerd]

6 hours ago, Wayfinder said:

Hey, fun times. Look what I'll need to cut out to fully inspect the rear, left jack gears?  I can tell the gears are a bit dry especially under the lid or cap, which I cannot fully remove. Is it Dremel time, with vacuum?

No Dremel!  I suspect your curb (passenger) side lid is just stuck on the square drive nut.  I encountered the same issue on my new 2022 Hull #1291.  I was able to work the top off with plastic pry bars intended for auto trim removal.  See photo below.

Don't use a steel pry bar, or you risk damage to the mating surfaces.  Since you can rotate the lid, you could also try tapping upward on the edges of the lid with a rubber hammer alternately on both sides to get it fully off of the square drive nut.

6 hours ago, Wayfinder said:

The drivers side came right off without a problem. 

Time new grease?  

Yes!  In your case, since the grease around your gears looks really old and stiff, I recommend you follow John Davies' advice in his linked post above and completely clean out all of the original grease, then fill the lower cup, including the entire area around the gears, with Redline CV2 grease.

Good luck!