Home · Services · Landing gear, kingpin & upper coupler
Bent legs, a seized crank, a stripped gearbox or a worn kingpin — the parts that hold a trailer up and hold it to the tractor. We repair and replace them where the trailer sits, including trailers dropped in a yard that nobody can lift.
Landing gear is priced by whether the leg is still straight. A seized gearbox or a bent crank is a bolt-on repair. A leg driven under load, or a kingpin and upper coupler, is structural work and gets quoted after we look at it — never before.
| Factor | Why it moves the number |
|---|---|
| What actually failed | Crank, shaft, gearbox, leg or upper coupler. Those are five different jobs. |
| One side or both | Legs are usually replaced as a matched pair. Doing one is cheaper now and often not the right answer. |
| Make and model | Landing gear is not universal. Some assemblies are stock, some are ordered in. |
| Structural or bolt-on | Kingpin and upper coupler work is welding and inspection, not a part swap, and it takes longer. |
| Loaded or empty | A loaded trailer on a failed leg has to be supported before anything is touched. That is time. |
| Ground surface | A soft or uneven yard means cribbing and extra setup. |
| Roadside or at your yard | Booked work at your lot is always cheaper than a shoulder. |
We quote before we start and we do not begin work you have not approved. We do not publish ranges here, because the same job varies too much by trailer, access and hour — call and we will give you a number for your unit.
Almost always one of four things: the gearbox has stripped, the cross shaft has sheared, a leg is bent from being dragged or dropped, or years of corrosion have seized the screw. Which one it is decides whether it is a one-hour repair or a leg replacement.
| Symptom | Cause | Repair |
|---|---|---|
| Handle spins freely, nothing moves | Stripped gearbox or sheared cross shaft | Gearbox or shaft replaced — one to two hours |
| One leg goes up, the other stays | Cross shaft or one gearbox failed | Shaft and the failed side replaced |
| Crank binds hard, then stops | Corroded screw or bent inner leg | Leg replacement; a bent leg does not straighten |
| Legs splayed or angled after a drop | Trailer dropped or dragged on the gear | Legs and mount repaired, mount plate checked |
| Feet sunk, trailer nose down in the yard | Soft ground, no plates under the shoes | Lifted, gear inspected, sand shoes replaced |
| Play at the kingpin when coupled | Worn kingpin or upper coupler | Kingpin replacement — the trailer must not run like that |
Do not put a cheater bar on a binding crank. A sheared shaft is a two-hour job; a leg torn off its mount is a two-day one.
Yes — that is a standard call in the Andrews Avenue and Copans yards. We bring jacks and cribbing, take the weight properly, and repair or replace the gear with the trailer supported. A loaded trailer changes the plan, so tell dispatch whether it is loaded and what the surface is.
Kingpin and upper coupler wear is an inspection item, and a worn pin is an out-of-service defect — see DOT annual inspections.
Landing gear damage clusters where trailers get dropped and shunted all day: the port and terminal yards in Fort Lauderdale, the distribution blocks in Pompano Beach, the drop lots along SR-84 in Davie, and the Park of Commerce docks in Miramar.
Send a photo of the gear and tell us whether the trailer is loaded. We will confirm the parts before the truck leaves.
Call (561) 780-3221