Drop Down Stabilisers
Submitted: Tuesday, Oct 06, 2015 at 17:44
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130523
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dje
Hi
We have drop-down stabilisers on the van which work great except for getting the things to swing down! We do a lot of dirt road travel and we find that grit, dust, whatever seems to get into the release mechanism so that I have to wriggle them up & down like crazy, whilst pulling on the handle & often end up using WD40 or similar to release the locking pins.
Originally the van had scissor type legs, which we replaced with Alko drop-downs. After 18 months or so the plastic handles on a couple of them
broke so we replaced them with the Manutec ones, which seem a bit heavier duty, but both brands have had the same issue.
I don't imagine we're the only ones that have this issue so has anyone got a solution?
Thanks
David
Reply By: Ted G - Tuesday, Oct 06, 2015 at 18:55
Tuesday, Oct 06, 2015 at 18:55
Hi
Suggest you try spraying all the movable items with a lanolin spray such as lanotec.
Have used it for years also stops sqeeking springs on the caravan.
Regards
Ted
AnswerID:
591266
Follow Up By: baznpud (tassie) - Tuesday, Oct 06, 2015 at 19:15
Tuesday, Oct 06, 2015 at 19:15
Agree with above, but we also physically take each leg off, and pull them apart, clean/service them when time permits on our return from the northern island.
baz
FollowupID:
859338
Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Wednesday, Oct 07, 2015 at 18:24
Wednesday, Oct 07, 2015 at 18:24
The problem with spraying anything on them is the dirt and dust sticks to the lubricant.
I took my Alko stabilizers off my old camper trailer as they were a constant pain to get working.
FollowupID:
859386
Reply By: Member - MARIC - Tuesday, Oct 06, 2015 at 19:14
Tuesday, Oct 06, 2015 at 19:14
We had the same problem, had to unscrew the plastic top of the legs and clean the crap out and used a little bit of silicone spray to lubricate the guts.
My thinking was to avoid any lubricant which has a sticky finish to avoid another 4000 km,s of dust geting in and sticking again
AnswerID:
591267
Reply By: silvercruiser03 - Tuesday, Oct 06, 2015 at 19:50
Tuesday, Oct 06, 2015 at 19:50
Any lube that is at all sticky will make the problem much worse.
My solution is to use dry powdered graphite rubbed onto all moving surfaces.
I drop the arm out of their bracket, brush all dust off the arm, the bracket and locking pins with a dry paint brush carried just for the purpose. I then rub dry powdered graphite onto all moving surfaces before reassembling. I also lubricate the locking pins and springs on the Manutec stabilisers.
It works really well and have been using it for years on my 'van that spends much of it's on-road life on dusty outback roads.
AnswerID:
591270
Reply By: Ross M - Tuesday, Oct 06, 2015 at 22:17
Tuesday, Oct 06, 2015 at 22:17
The quicker people stop using WD40 for everything, the sooner many problems will go away.
WD40 will attract the crap you want to repel, then it dries to make sure it binds up.
A dry lubricant, or silicon may be much better as it won't hold onto the grit.
I haven't used WD40 for many years. it is a poor lubricant.
AnswerID:
591280
Reply By: pop2jocem - Tuesday, Oct 06, 2015 at 22:53
Tuesday, Oct 06, 2015 at 22:53
David,
We no longer do as much dirt road travel as we use to do but still have that problem on occasion.
As you do I just give them a good blast of CRC WD40 or whatever. After a trip I also give them a good flushing with the garden hose and then the WD40.
I don't think anything else such as a greasey type lubricant will help and probably just the opposite.
Cheers
Pop
AnswerID:
591281
Reply By: dje - Wednesday, Oct 07, 2015 at 18:15
Wednesday, Oct 07, 2015 at 18:15
Thanks everyone, looks like I'll have to keep doing basically what I currently do. I might give the graphite powder a bash instead of a spray though, I've got some in the shed.
BTW when I mentioned WD40 I was being generic, I mostly use a dry silicon spray which works but not for long!
Cheers
David
AnswerID:
591319
Follow Up By: Bob Y. - Qld - Thursday, Oct 08, 2015 at 11:34
Thursday, Oct 08, 2015 at 11:34
Was told some years back, David, to use graphite powder mixed with metho, and spray on the offending item. Metho acts as a " carrier", evaporates and leaves the powder in situ.
Have tried it on squeaky springs, and it works well with no dust build up.
Bob
FollowupID:
859402
Reply By: toffytrailertrash - Thursday, Oct 08, 2015 at 09:27
Thursday, Oct 08, 2015 at 09:27
On the bottom side of the pull out handle drill two holes (pull them apart first) one each side and most of the dust fall through. Works a treat.
Cheers
Merv
AnswerID:
591341