Electric Tongue Jack

[Frenchy-TMO]

I am interested in replacing my hand cranked tongue jack with an electric one to make it easier to hook up my Equalizer hitch. Has anyone replaced their jack and if so with what brand and size? I would appreciate any information anyone has.

Frenchy

 

[Bill]

Frenchy -

Be SURE to look back in this board for a thread on this topic, a year or more ago. If it is hooked up wrong, it can do some major damage to your converter. And as dopey as it sounds, I think that the "wrong" hookup is hooking it directly to your battery.

If needed, I can look up details, but I think that the thread ended up presenting everything you need to know.

Bill

 

[grkman1]

When I had my trailmanor replaced last year, I ordered a new electric hitch from Camping world and had it sent to Trailmanor...Jimmy Davis at that time had it installed on my new unit. It works great, and really helps when hooking and unhooking. Any more questions? Feel free to email me

 

[hal]

Hello Frenchy,

In response to your request for information pertaining to motorized tongue jack: First of all, this is one “luxury” item that everyone would enjoy. Some people with health problems (heart, etc) may find it necessary. Using a crank to raise and lower the trailer tongue uses a lot of upper body and arm movement which could have a toll on someone with heart problems.

Most likely there is more than one company that makes this brand. I bought mine from Camping World and see the same model on their shelf each time I visit there. But, there are at least two models. The both function pretty much the same. One may have more horsepower and selection could depend on your tongue weight. Mine is the lesser in cost and not as fancy. One concern I have with mine is its use during a battery failure. It has a socket (included and available if you can remember where you stored it). If your battery fails, to raise and lower the jack manualy, you must remove the motor housing that sits atop the shaft. Then using the socket mentioned above plus a socket wrench, you can maneuver the tongue up or down. It is a slow process but one that can done in time of emergency. There is an easier way. It is built into the more expensive model. This model includes a crank which if I recall, is permanantly attached to the mechanism thus saving you time in the wilds looking for the socket and a socket wrench. Also, this model has a built in light for servicing the front area of your tongue. If I recall it also has a built in bubble for aid in establishing the levelness of your trailer.

Installing either type can be a simple procedure.
1- begin by blocking up the front of your trailer, leaving the tongue and wheel hanging freely thus removing the weight off the tongue wheel
2- Remove the three bolts that are attaching the wheel dolly assembly to the tongue frame.


Now comes the problem.
3- The hole through which the tongue jack shaft pass through the tongue frame was smaller than the size of the replacement jack shaft on the battery powered lift. This hole needed to be ground out to a larger size. This could be a difficult job as it needs to be ground out from below the tongue by grinding upward on your back. Fortunately for me, my tongue was of the removable type. I could remove the tongue and turn it over and grind it from the bottom side. This was slow process. There probably is a tool that will work better than a hand file. I had tried a couple tools that would fit into my hand drill but they wore out quickly. Most of my grinding was by using a hand file. The circumference of the more expensive of the two power tongue jacks is even greater. (When we transferred the power tongue jack from the 1999 to our 2003 TrailManor, the factory drilled hole was ok, at least for the lesser expensive jack from our 1999. The larger jack shaft may also fit ok. You may wish to meaure your existing shaft or even better, the predrilled hole on your tongue to get an estimate of any alteration that will need to be done.

4- Install the new jack, using the three bolts, attach a fused electrical wire to a 12 volt power source and enjoy.

Another thing, by changing to a power jack, you will be giving up a tongue dolly. The power lifts come with a flat plate and have eliminated the wheel. I tried replacing the flat plate with a wheel. It was unusable because it raised the trailer tongue too high to be lowered onto the ball hitch on my tow vehicle.

CAUTION: It has been recommended that you not use the power jack while the trailer is attached to house current (110 volts) as this may cause the battery charger in your converter to burn out.

Hal

 

[RockyMtnRay]

This is to amplify a bit on Hal's post. I installed an electric jack last summer because I simply got tired of getting all sweaty while hooking up/unhooking on a hot summer day. Although I'm in excellent health with a pretty strong upper body (I work out 3 days a week), I found the electric is faster than by hand and I don't need a shower/change of clothes when I'm done...something that was inevitable after a use of the hand crank.

I got the heavy duty one that Hal refers to...it has a work light and a 3000 lb rating. Camping world has an excellent price (only $189) for their President's Club Members (compared to other 'net retailers who want around $230)...see it at http://www.campingworld.com/browse/skus/index.cfm?skunum=20051 Note that it comes in a 2 inch and 2.25 inch size...the 2 inch size is the correct one for the TM hitch (leastwise my 2720SL's swingaway hitch)...this size was a direct bolt in replacement that needed no grinding or other modifications to the TM to mount it.

WRT to installing it, yes, one should be bit careful on the electrical issues. First of all, it pulls around 20 to 25 amps so (as Bill and Hal both indicated), it should NOT be used when the TM's converter is powered up by shore power as it definitely could overload/burn out the battery charger section of the converter. I personally didn't find this a major issue as I only use it while unhooking (before the TM is opened up and shore power hooked up) or while hooking up for departure (after the TM is closed up with the shore power cable disconnected & stowed). I have used it when the umbillical to the Tow Vehicle is still attached with no ill effects...though this was with a circuit breaker in the TV's power supply cable.

Given the above self-imposed safety limitations, I did hook mine directly to the TM battery using 10 GA wire and a 30 amp self-resetting circuit breaker right at the battery. I chose a circuit breaker instead of the supplied fuse as my battery is in a rear compartment that can't be accessed when the TM is closed up. It is possible to pop the circuit breaker if one switches direction on the jack before it has stopped moving the other direction.

Finally, this jack obtains it's electrical ground through one of attachment bolts. I personally wasn't confident that my TM's swing away hitch pivot pin would provide a reliable, low resistance ground return path from the swinging part of the hitch back into the trailer's frame. So I installed a separate ground wire between the two sections of the hitch.

 

[Frenchy-TMO]

Thanks for all the info. I have seen jacks with capacities of 1500, 2500, 3000 and 3500 pounds. Since the tongue weight is less than 1000 pounds on the TM, will all the jacks have sufficient capacity to lift the tongue or does the jack capacity refer to the total trailer weight?

 

[RockyMtnRay]

[quote author=Frenchy link=board=1;threadid=1598;start=msg11283#msg11283 date=1073487592]
Thanks for all the info. I have seen jacks with capacities of 1500, 2500, 3000 and 3500 pounds. Since the tongue weight is less than 1000 pounds on the TM, will all the jacks have sufficient capacity to lift the tongue or does the jack capacity refer to the total trailer weight?
[/quote]
The answer to your question is "yes" and "sorta" and "no". The jack capacity is exactly what it states on the box: 1500, 2500, etc. It will probably break, stall/burn the motor or something equally bad if you try to lift more than the rated capacity.

If all you want to do is just lift the trailer hitch for hooking/unhooking (as most people do with the manual crank jack), then any and all of these jacks will suffice as even the heaviest TM's have a hitch weight under 1000 lbs.

However, one huge advantage of having a stronger electric jack (e.g. the 2500 or 3000 lb models) is that after the hitch is attached to the tow vehicle and the ball clamp closed, one can use the jack to lift the hitch and rear of the tow vehicle together which greatly facilitates attaching the bars of a weight distributing hitch. This technique almost does away with any straining involved in snugging up the WDH lifting bar chains. But it does take one of heavier duty jacks to lift the combined weight of the hitch and rear end of the tow vehicle.

Exactly how heavy duty, I'm not sure but am pretty confident from reading posts on the RV.NET forums that a 3000 lb jack seems to do the job even for ton and a half pickups with 9000 lb travel trailers. Since the cost difference between a brawny electric jack and a wimpy electric jack isn't that much...and the brawny jack also has a work light, I'd recommend doing as I did: Get the brawny jack and never have to worry if it really is strong enough.

 

[Frenchy-TMO]

Thanks Ray. I want to be able to raise the TM and the back of the TV so I'll get the 3000 pound jack.

 

[2619PDX]

I have a 2619 which now has a new electric 2500 # jack that I just love. My old hand crank unit died in Camping Worlds service bay here in Oregon, and when I asked the guys if I should replace it with another hand crank unit, they said definately NO, that they are getting more of the aftermarket hand crank jacks back under warranty than they do the electric models.

I love my unit. Mine in wired to the battery with a fuse in-line.

Like Ray, haven't had to run it while hooked to AC current, but I have worried that someone will play with the switch when I'm parked... I know I read somewhere that to prevent this, you can remove the fuse... (However, this way you've got to remember to re-instal that fuse before you can use the jack switch again... a major pain!)

Anyone have any comments on this? Anyone installed a cutoff switch of any kind to protect against this potential problem?

Thanks,

Gregg

 

[Bill]

Gregg -

You might consider buying a breakaway switch (just like the one already on the TM), mounting it on the upper jack stem, and wiring it in series with the jack. Most of the time, you keep the pin pushed in (which opens the switch, and keeps power away from the jack). When you need to run the jack, pull the pin out of the housing - it is captive and hangs on a lanyard, so you won't lose it - and push it back in again when you are done. Most "meddlers" won't know what the device is.

Bill

 

[RockyMtnRay]

[quote author=Bill link=board=1;threadid=1598;start=msg11332#msg11332 date=1073957409]
Gregg -

You might consider buying a breakaway switch (just like the one already on the TM), mounting it on the upper jack stem, and wiring it in series with the jack. Most of the time, you keep the pin pushed in (which opens the switch, and keeps power away from the jack). When you need to run the jack, pull the pin out of the housing - it is captive and hangs on a lanyard, so you won't lose it - and push it back in again when you are done. Most "meddlers" won't know what the device is.

Bill
[/quote]
Bill...
That is an absolutely outstanding idea!!! In the back of my mind has been the same concern that Gregg has had...how to prevent the dinkers from dinking with my hitch while I'm away from my trailer...in a campground or even while parked enroute. And the wonderful thing about using a breakaway switch is its use is counter-intuitive: the pin has to be pulled (rather than inserted) before it will function.

Did a quick Google and found that Tekonsha makes a couple of these...the one that's similar to the switch that TM installs is their model 2010 (they also have a slightly larger model 2009). The same Google turned up both models as being available through 4TrailerParts.com...here's their page for the 2010 (priced at a most reasonable $9.43): http://www.4trailerparts.com/html/prodDet.asp?SKU=FT1158. I'll be installing one of these in my electric hitch wiring before spring.

 

[Frenchy-TMO]

You guys (and gals) are great. Now I have to order one of those switches too.

 

[2619PDX]

Thank you Ray and Bill!
I was thinking of using a toggle switch, but this is a better idea!

Ray - Thanks for looking it up!

Gregg

 

[RockyMtnRay]

[quote author=2619PDX link=board=1;threadid=1598;start=msg11350#msg11350 date=1074019515]
Thank you Ray and Bill!
I was thinking of using a toggle switch, but this is a better idea!

Ray - Thanks for looking it up!

Gregg
[/quote]
Most welcome, Gregg. Did a bit more research today, though, and found that 4TrailerParts.com was no longer taking new orders (web site was up for sale). However there are other eTailers that sell these switches...a Google on "Tekonsha 2010" turned up several such as this RV/Trailer parts dealer: http://www.ghtrailers.com/id22.html. I have no idea if this biz is legit or not so some due diligance would be in order (e.g. a check with the Better Business Bureau on line (http://www.bbbonline.org)) or one of the eTailer rating services (e.g. BizRate.com)).

 

[mjlaupp]

Guys,
I found this online source for a breakaway switch:
http://www.hidden-hitches.com/brake_away_kits.htm
Part # 79705 Replacement Battery Switch $9.25.
and this one:
http://www.reese-hitches.com/break_away_kit.htm
Part # R74854 Break Away Switch $10.05
For all of your hitch needs:
http://www.1-stop-guide.com/index.html
HTH
MJL

 

[rtcassel]

[quote author=Hal link=board=1;threadid=1598;start=msg11279#msg11279 date=1073424573]
Another thing, by changing to a power jack, you will be giving up a tongue dolly. The power lifts come with a flat plate and have eliminated the wheel. I tried replacing the flat plate with a wheel. It was unusable because it raised the trailer tongue too high to be lowered onto the ball hitch on my tow vehicle.
[/quote]
I would like to install an electric tongue jack, but need to have the tongue dolly wheel option in order to push the TM into the garage with the tongue going in first. When you replaced the flat plate with a wheel, did you end up with a stable situation that would tolerate the trailer being pushed? Is changing the flat plate to the wheel as easy a job as it is to take off and put the wheel on a manual jack? Thanks. Tim

 

[hal]

Tim,
I understand your need for a tongue wheel or dolly. Replacing the plate with a dolly is an easy task. Both the plate and the dolly are attached in the same manner. You should be sure that the dolly fitting is the same size as the power lift shaft. It takes only a matter fo seconds to exchange one with the other.

But, with the tongue attached to my car’s hitch, the distance from the ground up to the hitch was not enough for me to attach the dolly in place of the plate. I guess that one could raise the tongue enough to remove the plate and slip the dolly on. To do so, you could place a support under the tongue so that the jack and plate were hanging. Then remove the plate, insert the dolly, crank the jack up so that the weight is removed from the block supporting the tongue, and remove the blocks. Now you should be able to push your trailer around. When you were to re-attach your trailer to your car hitch, it would be necessary to reverse this procedure. This seems to be a lot of trouble.

We purchased a tongue dolly to move our trailer. It has two (10”?) pneumatic tires and a long handle that resembles a push lawn mower. They were available at Camping World recently for about $160.00. Be sure to get one that is designed for the weight of your tongue. Harbor freight has a couple models. We purchased ours from Harbor Freight (www.harborfreight.com) for $50.00. They are identical. Recently the size we bought was still available for $50.00.


Further explanation. We felt the need to have this dolly because we were going to rent a garage to store the trailer. This idea fell through and we now store ours under a carport next to our garage. Because of the steep ramp leading to the carport, we weren’t able to use the dolly. So, we did something that work like a miracle. We installed a hitche on the front of our tow vehicle. While sitting in the driver’s seat, I can control the trailer to the inch while putting it away or getting it out. Now instead of a lot of shouting and hand waving, we can put it away in about ten minutes as compared with the hour and a half it used to take. It is so pleasant and fun to do it this way. But my wife still won’t humor me and allow me to tuck it in again and again just for the fun of it.

Hal

 

[jbeletti]

Did anyone follow-through on installing a break-away switch in the electric tongue jack circuit?

I am about to purchase the Hi-Power Jack (now $215.10 at CW) and I too (like others in this thread) am concerned about 2 issues:

1. Forgetting to unplug shore power prior to using the jack and
2. Having people 'mess with' my electric jack while it is stored outside in the yard of a friend

I have already installed a battery disconnect switch on top of my battery case and a couple of methods are on my mind for wiring the electric jack:

A. I could replace my existing (SPST) battery switch with a 4-way battery selector switch so it switches the battery to "either" the tongue jack or the trailer, to both (if disonnected from shore power) of OFF. Easy to do. This method would solve issue '1' above but would still allow a person to rotate the switch to power the jack and 'mess with' it.

B. Use method 'A' and add the break-away switch (discussed in this thread) to the jack circuit.

Questions I have are:
1. Does method 'B' seem viable?
2. Are the break-away switches rated high enough for the current draw expected from the 3000# Hi-Power jack (I need to raise the TV for hitch bar assistance)?
3. Any alternative ideas?

Thanks much,

Jim

 

[Caver-TMO]

Electric Jack and Parallax Converter

I would be a little surprised if the newer TMs that use the 7345 converter would have a problem with the electric jack current when plugged into shore power.

http://www.parallaxpower.com/

The switchmode model is probably current limited and the rating is now 45 amps.
I have found the Parallax tech support very helpful. I'll try to contact them this week.

I would like to install one of the electric jacks so I appreciate the information.

I am also concerned with inadvertent operation of the jack.

Ray

 

[jbeletti]

Ray,

My 2004 3023 built in December of 2003 used the older converter. If you get this prior to calling Parallax, please inquire about the older (6300?) models as well.

Thanks,

Jim