Advice needed on power tongue jack for vintage

[CaddyGrn]

Hello everyone. I am going to ask a question to which all answers will likely be welcome as what information I know I could write on the back of a postage stamp!

We have a vintage, 1963 Bambi. The tongue jack is original and a manual crank. I would like to find an electric tongue jack that would fit as a replacement if possible. Have any of you made this upgrade?

I would also like to know if anyone makes an electric tongue jack that would work on our Airstream Bambi and also have some sort of back up or fail-safe with a hand crank in case power doesn't work due to some unexpected failure.

Any and all advice on this potential upgrade would be welcomed! Thanks in advance.

[ke6gkv]

hello CaddyGrn, yes it's possible and not to hard. i put a power jack on my 64 Overlander;got tired of the manual jack.many jacks out there. check Amazon/ price about 200$. goodluck. kurt

[Mx468]

All power jacks usually have a back up manual crank function in case the power doesn’t work.

[Bubba L]

We switched out our manual crank with a Reese electric. It has a manual crank if power is lost and an adjustable foot. If I remember, I did have to adjust the three holes a bit but wasn’t a big deal. Sure is nice when leveling, placing jack stands and hooking up with the sway bars. Good luck

[Antique Pedaler]

Etrailer has a crank up tongue jack that can be operated with an electric battery drill when you flip the jack handle over. I was going to put one on my 64 Bambi until I sold it.

[drbrick]

I believe all eletric jacks have a back up hand crank (no fun when using it but it works) - I think choosing a jack is a personal choice some like jack A others jack B. We use the Lippert Power Jack simply because you can turn the jack head after it's installed so you can drop the tail gate of your truck while attached to the trailer. This was important to us since our F-150 is impossible to get into the bed otherwise.

[k0lw]

I bought one from Harbor Freight for my old '78 Land Yacht that had a failure that almost made me cut it off on a trip.

Make sure you find a 25% off coupon, they're in many magazines.

Comes with a crank handle and you can put a socket and drill on it if necessary.

Lee

[Mollysdad]

Take a look at how your jack mounts to the A frame.
All current jacks have a standard bolt pattern, (3) 3/8" x 16 bolts on 3" centers.
Electric jacks require a solid connection to the frame, and one 12 ga. wire to the battery.
Every electric jack I've seen has a hand crank, some more convenient that others.

[superChop]

We have a ‘64 Overlander and purchased a Husky electric jack. At one point the ground was loose and it quit working. Next part is a true story. We took the cap off the top of the jack, unlocked it with the provided key, and then hand cranked the jack up and down. It was so EZ, that I told my wife - “I don’t need no stinking electricity to move the jack anymore“! You guessed it she won the argument again! We liked the Husky so much that we purchased another one for our ‘89 Excella!

As others have said, you have a lot of choices to consider. Read the customer satisfaction comments to assist you in making this decision.

[StevieB]

Highly Recommend!
https://www.barkermfg.com/power-jacks.html

[mrfixit51]

Hi! Most electric jacks will fit in the old manual jack spot. You usually can also turn the head a different way to clear the tanks or something else on the hitch. They all have the ability to crank manually but some being sold have questionable quality. You get what you pay for. Put one on my 1971 Travelux and had to do a repair when the manual crank nut broke, and had a switch problem. Just a word of caution.

[CaddyGrn]

Thanks everyone for the great advice and help! Happy Camping to all!

[robertbrenne]

I have a Bambi 16' and I installed a Northern Equipment jack, "Eazy Peazy".all the bolt holes aligned and the electric was taken from the 7 way plug ,(which the jack has) to tow vehicle. I have had it for 2 years and NO PROBLEMS.

[Mollysdad]

On a vintage trailer, my first concern would be finding one that looked "Period Correct". In other words the Jetson's looking Husky 5000 is not for you.
This?