My Rods Are All Pitted

[PsychoBob65]

Picked up our new 39MB 2-1-15 hauled it from the dealer in SLC, Utah and traveled 53 miles to Heber City, Utah. Pulled into the park, set trailer up and it has been it the same spot since.
We are now getting ready to relocate to a new spot in the park. I went to clean off all of the chrome rods on the jacks before I retracted them and noticed they are all pitted. They have not been blasted by any sort of road gravel, salt trucks, high wind sand, nothing. This is not road grime. These are rust pits. I tried to clean them off just shy of using a scotch brite pads or emery paper.
Ive worked with hydraulics and cylinders my entire 35 year career and have seen great chrome jobs and very poor chrome jobs. These fall under the VERY POOR chrome job category. I havent raised up the jacks yet. I'm going to talk with my local dealer and show him the pictures and see what they are willing to do for me. I know, sure enough right after I run those rods in and out of the barrels those rough surfaces will destroy the seals and will leak right away.
The frustrating part about this is we've all paid large sums of money for our rigs and they use the cheapest parts and materials they can to meet the minimum standards. I ,as we all have, fixed several items do to poor workmanship from the factory and just plain poor quality materials.
Anyway, my original point was the pitted cylinder rods, not a QC bash. Has anybody dealt with a pitted chrome issue? Any solutions or suggestions?

[Rick and Mindy]

I was under the impression that these are made of aluminum, not steel. Has Redwood (or Lippert) changed the materials?

[hoosierguy]

The supplier must have changed materials. The jacks on our 2012 (built in July to Sept 2011) 36RL are black. They look like black anodized aluminum in a steel housing.

[Radio_Flyer]

Must have changed a couple times. Our 2013 is not chrome or black. It appears to be powdercoated silver. I wipe mine down with silicon each time i use it and about once a month to keep it clean. No pitting so far and being as close to the beach as I was, everything aluminum or brass oxidized.

[Rosey]

Oh joy......... another quality issue to be concerned about now.....can't blame you for your fustration. These rigs. aren't cheap except for many of the components used in manufacturing them.

[Grizzby]

Our 2012 has black cylinders... I coat them with silicon prior to retracting. Haven't noticed any type of damage/pitting.

[Shane Wood]

Originally Posted by PsychoBob65

Picked up our new 39MB 2-1-15 hauled it from the dealer in SLC, Utah and traveled 53 miles to Heber City, Utah. Pulled into the park, set trailer up and it has been it the same spot since.
We are now getting ready to relocate to a new spot in the park. I went to clean off all of the chrome rods on the jacks before I retracted them and noticed they are all pitted. They have not been blasted by any sort of road gravel, salt trucks, high wind sand, nothing. This is not road grime. These are rust pits. I tried to clean them off just shy of using a scotch brite pads or emery paper.
Ive worked with hydraulics and cylinders my entire 35 year career and have seen great chrome jobs and very poor chrome jobs. These fall under the VERY POOR chrome job category. I havent raised up the jacks yet. I'm going to talk with my local dealer and show him the pictures and see what they are willing to do for me. I know, sure enough right after I run those rods in and out of the barrels those rough surfaces will destroy the seals and will leak right away.
The frustrating part about this is we've all paid large sums of money for our rigs and they use the cheapest parts and materials they can to meet the minimum standards. I ,as we all have, fixed several items do to poor workmanship from the factory and just plain poor quality materials.
Anyway, my original point was the pitted cylinder rods, not a QC bash. Has anybody dealt with a pitted chrome issue? Any solutions or suggestions?

Bob
I have worked with hydraulics my whole life and the legs I have on my 2015 are not chrome the are more like a anodized steel. I WOULD HAVE No Aversion TO Spraying Them WITH Wd40 , let it sit wipe off and use fine grit emery cloth to get rid of the rust spots. Then treat them with CRC silicone lube. If you operate them with the rust on them as you said, you will eventually have leaking seals.
This is my opinion of what I would do

[hoosierguy]

I do wipe mine down with silicone periodically, although, I probably should do it more often. If I remember correctly, owners manual suggests that the jack rams should be wiped down with silicone every two weeks, but, I only do it every 5 or 6 weeks.

[markw]

I believe the ones on my 2013 are aluminum. I have no problems yet. However if the have gone to a heavier rated jack, they might be steel. All the fatter jacks I've seen on the Mobil Suites looked to be steel.


Mark

[sinder]

It's a problem waiting to happen if the issue is not addressed. I personally would work with my dealer to get replacements from Redwood. They are not hard to replace, so hopefully your dealer could handle the job. You could clean them up as stated previously, but I would be concerned about the pitting reappearing.

[atom ant]

Wow, I had no idea they used so many different versions. Can't say as I've seen one with black legs yet.