Tongue jack crank problems

[TDOW]

Our '67 Caravel's tongue jack is extremely hard to crank. I'm about whipped after hitching/unhitching! Can it be taken apart to be cleaned and lubricated?
I'm sure its the original.

Thanks for any tips!

[TomW]

You and I probably have the same jack. At first, I thought it was good excersize. That didn't last long!

Don't tell anyone, but I broke down and read the owner's manual. It read something like, "Lift the crank handle, and squirt motor oil into the little hole". It made a big mess, but it did work. Easy crankin' now

Tom

[TDOW]

Read the manual last night and there is no mention of lubricating the tongue jack. So we took the top off, cleaned the old, dirty grease from around the area, lubed, and ran the jack up and down. Its slightly better. Maybe the overnight soak will help?

[TomW]

Originally Posted by TDOW

Read the manual last night and there is no mention of lubricating the tongue jack..

I don't have my manual in front of me, but I recall the item being covered on a maintenance schedule as opposed to a "title/short paragraph" format. No matter though as my post above really covered about all there was to say about it.

Did you use motor oil (as opposed to WD-40 or white lithium grease)? If you did not end up with an oily jack post, you may not have used enough oil. I recall a little bit of instant gratification, and then, on the next trip, a substantially smaller amount of effort required.

Tom