dangerous tongue jack

[kooblekidz]

Hi,
I recently purchased a '78 Landyacht-Tradewind 25' trailer and have only towed it a couple of times. It has a 12volt tongue jack, which is great, but when I am towing it the shaft spins and hits the pavement. I was able to spin it back in and make it to where I'm going, but I am about to embark on a major trip and don't want to have this to worry about. I looked in the manual and all mine has is a blowup of parts, and it doesn't look like I'm missing anything. Hopefully this is a simple thing, I look forward to all feedback.
Eric

[Foiled Again]

I'd guess that the power switch has gone bad and that the bouncing when you are driving is completing the circuit in the downward direction. I'm not an electrician, so I'd take it in for service.

The only other thing that seems to make sense is that the gear may have stripped and it just slips down. Can you disconnect the power from it completely after you've cranked it up, then take it on a trip? Stop every 10 to 20 miles and see if it's still holding steady (measure the drop). If it holds, the problem is electrical, if it's still coming down, either a gear is stripped or someone over-lubricated it or super-lubricated it with something that reduces way too much friction.

Tin Lizzie

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by kooblekidz

Hi,
I recently purchased a '78 Landyacht-Tradewind 25' trailer and have only towed it a couple of times. It has a 12volt tongue jack, which is great, but when I am towing it the shaft spins and hits the pavement. I was able to spin it back in and make it to where I'm going, but I am about to embark on a major trip and don't want to have this to worry about. I looked in the manual and all mine has is a blowup of parts, and it doesn't look like I'm missing anything. Hopefully this is a simple thing, I look forward to all feedback.
Eric

Eric, Kevin Allen (overlander64) had a similar problem, his tongue jack started imitating a pogo stick while he was driving down the road. From his account, it really messed up his jack. it turned out to be electrical in nature, although by the time he got to where he could get it taken care of, the jack was pretty much toast. I have an electric tongue jack here I could let you have (cheap), if you want to make a detour. Maybe we can even get it installed before you continue your trip. PM me if you want directions to get here.
Good luck with it.

[Over59]

Disconnect the jack when you travel. If there isn't an easy wire nut connection to undo and cap the hot end you could cut the power lead and put in a simple switch or use a wire nut to cap the hot when traveling and hook it up when you want to use it. If the thing moves when not wired then it's the jack. New Jack time.

[FrenchBern]

Overlander 63, My power jack just stripped the teeth on one gear yesterday. it is an original jack on 1970 overlander. If I can't find just the gear tomorrow I would like to buy your jack if it is still available. I will probably go to florida wednesday for a funeral but i will be in the northern gulf side (steinhatchee area). Let me know if it's available and how much.
Can anyone help me find the gear for this H&H power jack made in Battlecreek Michigan?
Thanks a bunch