I just purchased a 1982 Excella with an electric tongue jack. I am pulling with a chevy 1 ton pickup. The bottom of the electric jack, which appears to be the original jack, is only 3 to 4 inches off the ground when hooked up. The bottom of the jack appears to be welded on. I am concerned that I will hit something and damage the jack when I am on the road. Can the ground clearance be increased? If so how can I increase it?
You have a legitimate concern...that's not much clearance. The jack post (the part that goes up and down) should retract pretty much all the way into the body of the jack (the stationery part).
A couple of thoughts: It's possible that for some reason the post is not retracting all the way. I'd make sure the jack foot isn't just stuck onto the post. Depending on the design of the foot it can add several inches to the post.
If the jack is working properly and you still have this problem, perhaps someone relaxed the jack and created the situation?
May be a "Mickey mouse" solution, but if all else fails and you are still concerned, perhaps you could just cut a couple of inches off the bottom of the moving post with an angle grinder (after first ensuring you have lots of travel) then use a large wooden block (or a few of those interlocking plastic leveling blocks) if need be to get the height you need when dropping the jack down to release the trailer from the hitch ?
The guy that I purchase the trailer from said that he thought that it was a travel limit switch setting that needed to be adjusted but when I looked closer at the jack the traveling portion was being retracted into the top sleeve until the bottom sleeve came into contact with the top sleeve, ie the traveling portion of the jack was completely enclosed so the jack could not travel anymore. The bottom plate appears to be welded on and the sleeve appears to have been crimped to the traveling portion. Anyway I was not able to knock the bottom portion off of the jack. My thought was to remove the bottom portion an trim it so that could rise higher before hitting the outer sleeve of the top portion
2000 25' Safari
Davidson County
, NC Highlands County, FL
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 4,493
I think the thing that is crimped on is actually not crimped, but is dimpled. The dimple goes into a vertical slot on the shaft then rotates into a horizontal slot. The jack foot plate should come off of the jack shaft. On one of my prior trailers it would get rusty and filled with mud then get stuck. Try spraying it with some WD40 and let it set a while. Then, with the trailer hitch resting on the hitch ball raise the foot plate about an inch off the ground and bang on the foot plate a few times with a hammer. You may have to rotate the foot plate about 1" to get the dimple aligned with the vertical slot in the tube so it will drop off. If this works it should give you 6" more clearance.
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Alan
2014 Silverado LTZ 1500 Crew Cab 5.3L maximum trailering package
Thanks for your words of wisdom. Knowing it was suppose to come off, penetrating oil, pipe wrench and hammer it did come off. I now have plenty of ground clearance. The guy I bought the trailer from did not know that it was suppose to come off so it had been on there a minimum of 12 years. Once again thanks
We bought a 7" cast aluminum jack stand based on a vintage design from a family that produces them in Indiana... The jack post sits inside a lip at the top and gives great stability to the jack.
The original maker has unfortunately passed away his family is still producing them...they make a 4" and a 7" version... I am happy to provide the ordering info ... if you are interested, PM me.
I purchased one of their Jack stands also. Works great, not expensive, and retro cool. Costs more than some wooden blocks stacked up but sure does look and work better. Money well spent.
john
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John
WBCCI #268 Palmetto State Airstream Club 22
Region 3 Past President....come with us, you will like it.
Go often to the house of a friend, for weeds choke the unused path........Emerson
For a long time I had to beat the foot off the jack with a hammer every time.
Eventually it became one good whack with the hammer.
Now I can get off by hand or it stays on the ground when the jack is raised.
I think it was new/tight/stiff and has now worn/warped/bent/wallowed out a little-
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I must be missing something.
I never remove the jack foot, I keep it pinned in the highest hole.
When retracting the jack it goes up into the A-frame or at least above the shank of the hitch. It's not going to hit the ground.
When parking, I toss down the 5" thick 12" x 12" block I fashioned, lower the foot on to it and I'm done.
Removing the foot leads to dings and dents in the jack post, and then replacing the jack foot is difficult.
Yes, this means the entire weight of the tongue sits on the square wire cotter pin, in my case 1120 pounds, and it's never sheared off.
(1 sq/in of steel has enough sheer strength to support a railroad locomotive.)
On my 83 the jack tube will only go up so far. It rides fairly low. I lot of folks just take the bottom stand off. This helps with clearance. No way to make it go up further that I can see.
On my 83 the jack tube will only go up so far. It rides fairly low. I lot of folks just take the bottom stand off. This helps with clearance. No way to make it go up further that I can see.
I see.
On my Husky I doubt there's two inches between the foot and the outer tube.
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