Power tongue jack with extra travel? Available?

[Airdream99]

I bought a new truck which has a higher suspension than my last. I bought a new drop bar with more drop but I am having a heck of a time getting it level after attaching the WD bars. In one hole I seem to be too high and in the next hole up I am too low. Of course, this effects how level my rig sits. When hitched the truck sits level. I have favored having the hitch a bit front low because I have read that it is better for the trailer to be tail high rather than tail low. BUT this makes it much harder to get the hitch off the ball. The truck does have a lot of suspension travel. I have even had to use a bottle jack to lift the trailer off the ball even a on totally level surface. I was wondering if a jack with extra travel would help. Any other suggestions?

Specifics:
Truck 2021 F150 4X4
Trailer 27 FBT Tongue WT 900
Hitch Eze-Lift with 1000# bars

[richard5933]

Sounds like you just need to put one of the aluminum jack stands under your tongue jack before lowering it. You'll get an addition 6" or so of lift.

Here's a thread about it...

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=...AAAAAdAAAAABAD

[Wazbro]

You could also put some leveling blocks under the jack. You don't want to waste more then 6" of travel before the jack reaches the ground.

[Airdream99]

I guess I should have been more clear. No matter what combination of blocks I use I cannot both have enough lift to get off the ball and then the right amount to level the trailer. Off the ball of low enough to level correctly I need to pick one. What I have been doing is lifting the trailer off the ball with a bottle jack, pull the truck out and then drop onto the tongue jack to fine tune the front/back level.

[WellSaid11]

What kind of truck do you have, what kind of WD hitch, what kind of shank and what is the drop of the shank?

[richard5933]

The 6" jack stand should still allow for leveling the trailer, unless you're on a really steep hill and need to put the tongue nearly on the ground.

Am I understanding correctly - the jack's reach plus 6" from a jack stand is still not enough to get off the ball due to suspension travel?

If you have that much squat on the rear of the truck when the trailer is hitched I've got more questions. Like, how much travel do you actually have in the rear suspension? Or, how heavy is the tongue weight on your trailer?

[WellSaid11]

Originally Posted by richard5933

The 6" jack stand should still allow for leveling the trailer, unless you're on a really steep hill and need to put the tongue nearly on the ground.

Am I understanding correctly - the jack's reach plus 6" from a jack stand is still not enough to get off the ball due to suspension travel?

If you have that much squat on the rear of the truck when the trailer is hitched I've got more questions. Like, how much travel do you actually have in the rear suspension? Or, how heavy is the tongue weight on your trailer?

Agreed. Something is not right on this setup perhaps?

[Doc Foster]

I have a similar problem once I had my 3" lift installed. I am thinking about ordering some of the Stromberg Carlson Base Pad Extreme - they are lightweight, but rated for 6000 pounds. They look to be much easier to store and lighter weight than a bunch of wood blocks.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

It sounds very much like you need to move the ball down a couple notches on the shank. On some trucks this means an extra long drop shank ( it did on my F250 ...). Without that shank, I would have exactly the issue you describe.

Bob

[pjshier]

Something does not compute here. As a former F150 4X4 "tow-er," now F250, your problem is unfamiliar. Sometimes lifted trucks have softer ride springs and therefore even more suspension travel than the somewhat softly-sprung F150 anyway. If lifted, that would explain why the number of blocks needed to clear the hitch would be too many to level the unhitched trailer.

[franklyfrank]

Originally Posted by Airdream99

I bought a new truck which has a higher suspension than my last. I bought a new drop bar with more drop but I am having a heck of a time getting it level after attaching the WD bars. In one hole I seem to be too high and in the next hole up I am too low. Of course, this effects how level my rig sits. When hitched the truck sits level. I have favored having the hitch a bit front low because I have read that it is better for the trailer to be tail high rather than tail low. BUT this makes it much harder to get the hitch off the ball. The truck does have a lot of suspension travel. I have even had to use a bottle jack to lift the trailer off the ball even a on totally level surface. I was wondering if a jack with extra travel would help. Any other suggestions?

Specifics:
Truck 2021 F150 4X4
Trailer 27 FBT Tongue WT 900
Hitch Eze-Lift with 1000# bars

What you need is a Phoenix 5500 electriv tongue jack. It has 27" travel I believe.
I got rid of the puny jack our 30' Classic came with for the same reason.
This jack comes with a remote and solved my problem.

[richard5933]

Silly question perhaps, but if you raise the tongue as high as it seems it's being raised, how close is the tail from touching the ground?

[Airdream99]

This is a follow-up to my hitch height dilemma.

Turns out my jack was failing. I was only able to get 7 inches of travel out of it. Luckily it was under warranty so it has been replaced by Lippert who now owns the jack business from Dometic. New one has tons more travel so all is well.

Thanks everyone for you helpful replies.

[WellSaid11]

Thanks for following up to let us know what happened, and glad it worked out!

[Wazbro]

Yes, thanks for the follow up.

Makes much more sense now, why you had the problem.