Best Power Jack & Why?

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by Alumitater

Good morning gentlemen.
Just purchased the Husky to replace the jack on our 07 Safari and have a question for you that have this jack.
Did you use the reset switch Husky includes in place of fuse, and if so, where did you locate it in the battery box?
Thanks in advance! Tom

Yes. I crimped a 5/16" ring terminal for 12 ga. wire (yellow) on one end going to the Battery+, and crimped a 12 ga. splice (yellow) on the other end going to the wire from the jack. It just sits in the battery box. Note: the leads are marked "Line" and "Load" as I recall.
I found the crimp terminals at my local hardware store. Big box stores don't have items like this any more.

[Alumitater]

Originally Posted by Mollysdad

Yes. I crimped a 5/16" ring terminal for 12 ga. wire (yellow) on one end going to the Battery+, and crimped a 12 ga. splice (yellow) on the other end going to the wire from the jack. It just sits in the battery box. Note: the leads are marked "Line" and "Load" as I recall.
I found the crimp terminals at my local hardware store. Big box stores don't have items like this any more.

My favorite advice is if you gotta go through a minefield, follow somebody.
Thanks for leading. Followed your lead and got the hitch installed with no issues. I ended up doing the same with the breaker.

Husky 5000K jack works much smoother and quieter than the 3500 lb factory jack.....which strained to lift the tongue and rear of my F250 for attaching the bars of the Blue Ox hitch. Very nice improvement. Appreciate all the positive comments on the Husky in this thread.

[lesnlearned]

Hi Bob. I have a '73 31' sov as well and need to replace the hitch. Is the slot diameter the same for your '09 as it is for your '73 by any chance? Hoping it's 2 /4" and I don't want to have to drive across town to measure and and can't find the slot diameter online anywhere.

Originally Posted by Burnside Bob

Ditto PKI.

Our story: Barker 3500 jack would go up but would balk at going down. Finally called Barker Spring of 2018 and asked for parts dept. Got a very nice lady who patiently listened to my story:

"You have a bad switch."

"OK, can I buy one."

"What year did you say your Airstream was?"

"2009".

"Well, the jack is out of warranty, but if you give me your address I'll send you one."

And she did. Jack has worked perfectly ever since.

[az-streamer]

Originally Posted by Mollysdad

I changed to the Husky 5000.
Considering it's power, and having a remote, you can shop it around for about $230.
Now, you say, having a remote is silly? Just wait until you're watching the level of your countertop from INSIDE the trailer.

Installation was super easy, I bought new 3/8" x 16 grade 8 bolts and the jack came with new star washers. I crimped on a 3/8" #10 ring terminal to the included circuit breaker, did a double #10 crimp of the jack wire and I was in business.

No regrets.
...and it's silver!

Our 2014 25’ FC is suddenly ready for a new tongue jack - original one died. It looks like the Husky unit is popular.
Would it be possible for you to post a pic of the circuit breaker attached between the jack wire and the battery?
I wonder why Husky just doesn’t supply this already done. I’m not a fan of crimping and shrinking.
I guess the 30amp cb just sits in the battery box since there seems to be no other place for it.
Thanks in advance.

[lsbrodsky]

You would never get the wire into the battery box if the breaker were already attached, assuming you want the breaker in the battery box(where it probably should reside). I did not use their breaker, I used a Blue Sea marine-grade thermal breaker that I can manually trip. The Husky breaker can be reset by pushing it, but I cannot see a way to manually trip it.
Larry

[az-streamer]

Originally Posted by lsbrodsky

You would never get the wire into the battery box if the breaker were already attached, assuming you want the breaker in the battery box(where it probably should reside). I did not use their breaker, I used a Blue Sea marine-grade thermal breaker that I can manually trip. The Husky breaker can be reset by pushing it, but I cannot see a way to manually trip it.
Larry

Thanks for the quick reply. I see the reason now. Too bad Husky could not come up with a weatherproof item that could stay out in the weather - maybe attached to the post.
Is the cb that much better than the slow fuse? I’ve had several AS’s and several new tongue jacks but never had a fuse problem.

[lsbrodsky]

I was on a rally once when a friend had a jack problem, would not run. Battery was OK. We pulled the fuse and looked at it, it looked OK. I then measured continuity with a VOM and the fuse was actually open. So she went off to find a SlowBlow 30, apparently not an easy thing to do because she did not get back for about 4 hours. I now understand you can find them at NAPA and such, but not most big box stores.
After that, I decided I wanted a thermal breaker and one I could trip so I could interrupt power to the jack without having to disconnect wires. Just another example of lowest first cost is not the best solution. Husky seems to get the idea since they now provide a breaker with the jack.
Larry

[Gene]

The jack fuse is not a common one and when I needed one, the only place I could find it was an RV store.

Maybe we were lucky to have a jack last ten years. I wouldn't be surprised if jacks have been cheapened over the years and don't last long anymore. If you have ever cranked a jack by hand, you will probably want to buy a better jack. I'd avoid LCI. They bought the Atwood jack line a couple of years ago and arbitrarily shortened the three year warranty to one even though that would be illegal. LCI sells products under the Lippert name. The Atwood on our Nash lasted one day and did not have a real crank, only an adapter to be turned by a wrench. Turning it took a long, tedious time. They advised using an electric drill and it burned mine out. I got a new jack under warranty, but it was an unpleasant experience all around.

[Paprika]

"I’m not a fan of crimping and shrinking."

I'm curious as to why. Crimped and shrunk connections are standard in high-end marine applications, which have to withstand a much more severe environment than most RVs will ever see.

I use FTZ Crimp 'N Seal splices. Properly installed, these adhesive-lined shrink-insulated parts provide a gas-tight, watertight, mechanically strong connection. If you need to join two wires, I don't think you can do any better. The American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC), whose detailed standards are the bible for marine electricians (and a good guide for anybody working on RVs), recommends this method over soldered joints.

[rmkrum]

Crimped and heat shrink is also, with a calibrated ratchet crimp tool, good for Aerospace applications.

Soldering is flat out no longer good enough. It makes the wire stiff and fail at the connection point.

[graysailor]

I don't know why they use slow blo fuses. They can be hard to find. When you do pick up a couple of extra ones.

[SSquared]

I have a 2013 25FB. I gave up trying to find the (expensive) slow blow fuses for the Barker jack. I use regular 30A fuses . They blow once in a while (more than the slow blow ones did) but not frequently.

[pteck]

Many of the newer tongue jacks including the Husky units now incorporate resettable fuses.

[DMT]

My Barker was giving me trouble all last year. I think the switch was going again. This first time that happened Barker sent me a new switch which I installed. Worked great for several years. This time I have changed to the Husky with the remote, which I find awesome. I can level the trailer much easier now.

[az-streamer]

Does anyone know if the hand crank for the barker tongue jack also fits the husky brute 4500 tongue jack?

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by az-streamer

Does anyone know if the hand crank for the barker tongue jack also fits the husky brute 4500 tongue jack?

The Husky requires a hex head 7/16" socket.
My solution will be to store a 1/2" drive ratchet with a long extension and a 7/16" six sided socket. Then I can ratchet away without removing the propane tank cover!
Hello, Harbor Freight!

[Dog House]

I have the LCI/Lippert power jack and when trying to raise the TT it starts clicking loudly and wont raise very much. I supported the front with jacks and the Lippert goes up and down without a problem with no load. Don't have time to take back to dealer for warranty work and have a trip coming up. I just purchased the Husky 5000. Is it pretty easy to remove the old jack and install the new one?

[GCinSC2]

Instructions in box hopefully. Read them.

Hook trailer to TV get it on the ball, chocked etc.

Might be time to disconnect batteries or turn off master DC switch if that shuts off power to jack.
Find good spot to cut power wire to old jack making sure wires are long enough.
Remove three mounting bolts, remove old jack.
Clean area right under the mounting hole to shiny bare steel for good ground, does your instructions show place star washer under or over jack mounting flange?
Install jack, insert bolts, washers, star washers per directions. Tighten.
Use insulated butt connector to connect power to jack. If you have heat shrink tubing available, run that on wire FIRST then crimp, then heat shrink and maybe a nice wrap of good electrical tape.

Test your work.

Notice how quiet it is?

Good luck.

Gary

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by Dog House

I just purchased the Husky 5000. Is it pretty easy to remove the old jack and install the new one?

YES!
Block the trailer tongue; or hook it up. Remove the old jack. All jacks use three 3/8" x 16 bolts on 3" centers, so the Husky will bolt right up.
The Husky will come with a long wire for power, and an in-line circuit breaker.
I'd recommend using Grade Eight bolts for the installation simply because they're rust resistant. But reuse the old bolts if you must. Then It's a matter of threading the one wire into your battery box, and crimping on the circuit breaker and ring terminal. The wire is 12 ga. so use the yellow crimps, and the ring will be a 5/16" for stock batteries. (Look for an Ace or home town hardware store, the big box stores don't sell individual crimp connectors.)
Be sure to get a good ground connection, I scraped a bit of paint off the jack plate. Use the star washers above the plate. I did washers and star washers so I got good contact.
Hint: leave the wire an extra foot or so and then if you decide later to turn the jack you can leave it connected.

[Gene]

Unless things have changed, the jack hot wire goes directly to the batteries and need not be cut. Disconnect at the battery (don't short against battery box). I believe Mollysdad described the connection to the batteries. You will have to connect the new jack wire to whatever connecter works on the battery. it will be tempting to use the old stuff and I might do that, but make sure you have a solid connection that will last. Solder connections can eventually come apart, but I know how to. But there are newer ways to connect things. Look at the old one and see how that one was done. The alternative is to cut the jack hot wire and then splice new to old wire. Not very neat and can come apart some day, but will also work. The newer splices are heat treated and sealed and work very well (they were new on the market when I was doing wiring in a mine a very long time ago).