electric jack is dead!

[frank n'shar]

We had the need to get the Airstream out of the driveway in a hurry, and when we plugged the trailer into the Durango, the jack wouldn't move. It has before obviously, or we wouldn't have gotten it into the driveway. The jack is stuck in the down position. Is there any way to override it with a battery, or something to crank to get it moving? I checked the threads, and didn't find this problem anywhere.

[doorgunner]

you can take off the rectangular cover, I think you need a hex head to do this. There is a groove in the shaft to insert a manual speedwrench tool. Mine came with my trailer. move it by hand. When you figure out the electrical dillema and want ot readjust the jack there is a procedure to sync the thing.

[doorgunner]

want to try the chat room I'll be there

[frank n'shar]

Can't seem to figure out how to get into the chat room. No matter, you seem to have left anyway.

[Sugarfoot]

Frank n'shar, I feel your pain, but don't have the experience yet with an electric jack to offer intelligent help. What brand is your jack? Do you know if a manual crank handle came with it? Someone else with the same brand may be able to help.

[GoNomad]

When we returned from the fall leaf lookers rally I was doing the full up then full down, to drain my fresh water tank, when my electric jack thought it would be funny to only allow the trailer to go up and not down. I left it for a day in the full up right position and the next day when I went out to work on it I found that the toggle switch on the bottom was loose. Tightened it up and now it works, but I would like to hear if anyone has taken theirs apart and tried to overhaul it?
I have used my car jack to raise the tongue on a U-haul trailer that had a stuck manual jack; maybe you could use your car jack to raise the tongue up enough to get it either hooked to you tow vehicle or get the weight off the electric jack and see if that will help you get the jack unstuck or at least retracted enough to make the move you need to make.

[frank n'shar]

When we manually jacked up the trailer with a car jack enough to get the hitch underneath, we thought that we were really clever - untill we lowered the car jack to make the tow, and the unretracted jack dug into the ground when the tongue weight pulled down the back of the Durango.

So with a dump truck of rapidly cooling asphalt in my driveway, we used the car jack to jack it up again , unhitch the Durango and hook up the paving contractor's F150, which when levvelled off, left us enough (not much)clearence to pull the camper across the street to the neighbor's driveway. Trouble is that the contractor unhitched the f150 and drove away - leaving the air stream in the nieghbors driveway. Not a good long term solution.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, If your tongue jack has a light on it like mine, see if the light works. If not, there should be an inline fuse on the wire from the jack to the battery. Maybe only a fuse? Or manually raise or lower the jack. Last, just take the thing off and get it repaired or replaced.

Bob

[steelbird312]

Hey folks. What was said earlier is indeed the answer to your problem-short term. Take the top off your jack. There will be a tube that looks as if it has two groves, 180 degrees from each other. A handle is made, (and should be in your trailer somewhere, look in the box built into the tongue) that will look like an L with another leg down, or if you know what a speed wrench handle looks like. It will have a hardened pin through it. That handle fits into the tube, the pin fits in the two grooves, allowing you to turn it up or down.
Good luck.
Oh, and tomorrow, check to see if your fuse is blown; then check to see if it has a GOOD ground as well as a good hot wire. Yes, the jacks can be rebuilt, however, they rarely go immediately bad as yours has. I would bet on a blown fuse or a loose or cut wire.

[frank n'shar]

The first time Frank plugged it into the Durango, it blew a fuse immediately. Changed the fuse, and got it home from the dealer. Pulling it from the storage lot to here didn't work on the dodge van, so he came back and got the Durango, and pulled it into the driveway.

We know that the rest of this unit has major electrcal issues, including the whole 12V system, and lots of bonus wiring done by the PO instead of fixing the problem.

We'll get to the wiring after we get the window leaks under control - crawling before walking I suppose.

Really appreciated the detailed description of the manual process - thanks for the many details. We try that tomorrow after the ret of the driveway gets paved.

[FreshAir]

Originally Posted by frank n'shar

We had the need to get the Airstream out of the driveway in a hurry, and when we plugged the trailer into the Durango, the jack wouldn't move. It has before obviously, or we wouldn't have gotten it into the driveway. The jack is stuck in the down position. Is there any way to override it with a battery, or something to crank to get it moving? I checked the threads, and didn't find this problem anywhere.

I don't have anb electric jack....yet. However, I carry a bottle jack just in case my manual jack breaks.

Neil.

[Rog0525]

I’m glad this question about electric tongue jacks came up. I know there have been other threads about repair but can’t find any that address my problem.
The elec Walker jack on my recently purchased ’67 TW makes a clicking noise when I push the switch but doesn’t work. I suspect something is seized up inside the head. There is no manual crank handle. I discovered that by cutting the wire and loosening the 2 allen-head set screws, I can manually rotate the head to raise/lower the tongue.
I’ve checked with 2 RV shops to see if they can fix it but they want $100 minimun for labor. I’m going to take the head apart to see if I can find the problem but does anyone know where to buy parts for this old Walker jack? A parts schematic would be great.
These electric jacks are great,,,when they work.