Bigfoot hydraulics popping sound (From TapaTalk Forum)

The rear drivers side Bigfoot keeps making a popping sound. Found a small drip, but seems to be coming from the rubber stopper, not dripping from a hose. I dont see any leaks in hose fittings. Bigfoot says it may have been over filled and fluid coming out the top. But now I’m hearing a popping sound. Raised the lifts all the way to clear air, but didn’t help. Maybe fluid is slightly low – would that cause popping? How to really check for leaks in case it wasn’t overfill?

What color is the fluid?
Your symptoms are not new to me. The plastic reservoir distorts and leaks where it meets the aluminum pump housing. There is an oring but it doesnt work so well. Just the movement of the unit casues the fluid to slosh around and spill out. Also water and dirt can get in. I had them replaced a while back, but it didnt help long term. I think the reservoir has a bad design. I usually try to keep the amount of jack rise to a minimum using wood under the jack. Sometimes this helps. This spring I cleaned out most of the water and flushed the system on both sides. So far, I havent heard anymore popping, which is actually the jack falling a bit.
I installed mud flaps and wrapped the pump housing in Walmart bags, but I havent been in the rain since then.

Bigfoot says it may be dirt in a valve. They suggest reversing the hoses and running it up and down to dislodge any debris. If not it may be a bad valve.

I have been told there is an answer to the popping we are getting,other than replacing the ball & springs {which looks like a heck of a job}. We just started getting the popping sound on our 1996 Carriage about a year ago but we were too sick to care. We added the BF in 2010.
I have been told to buy 4 quarts of Bel-Ray {or other brand}High Performance Fork Oil Grade 15. You can find it at most motorcycle shops. It is an anti-stiction fluid.
This is what we were told to do because we have a reservoir on each jack.
Remove 1 quart of fluid from the power unit reservoir.
Add 1/2 quart of the fork oil to the reservoir.
Extend that cylinder/jack fully.
Add the remain 1/2 quart of fluid.
With you RV hooked up to your truck, fully retract that jack. One is now done.
Repeat this for each jack.
When you pull into your next destination, set up your RV as you usually do & all should be good.
If you have a 1 pump system:
Remove 1 quart of fluid from the power unit reservoir.
Add 1/2 quart of fork oil to that reservoir.
Extend all hydraulic cylinders & jacks fully.
Add remaining 1/2 quart of fork oil.
Fully retract all hydraulic cylinders.
Run the Auto-Level feature & you should be good.
Please keep in mind that we have not done this yet ourselves because the popping stopped when we bought the oil {go figure}but we intend to do the job the next time the popping starts. We will let you know how we make out. If anyone else does this before we do & it helps, please let me know. Hugs, Di