Solution for the Red Trailer Tongue Twister

[Tripmaker]

I had posted earlier about a problem with the tongue on the Red Trailer being twisted by the HF tongue jack. I have since come up with a solution.



First I had the tongue welded to the angle braces coming off the frame and the triangular plate that was bolted to the top welded where it meets the frame. This made the tongue much stiffer.



Then I bought a new jack that is bolted to the tongue. Because the jack does not rotate I was able to mount it closer to the frame and the weld. Also by not rotating this jack does not have the slop in the ring that was a big part of the problem with the HF jack. Unfortunately there is no name stamped on the jack. I can contact the dealer if anyone wants the name.



It still looks crooked in these pictures but that is the fault of the photographer. The tongue is now nice and straight.

[mikeschn]

That new jack looks nice. Chell hates the HF jack, cause it spun around on us once, with her in the trailer, and she fell and hit her head.

We welded that HF jack to the chassis, but it still never looked right. Our solution has been to use a 50 degree coupler.

But here we are now, with another straight tongue, and we didn't want to buy a HF jack. I think we'll get the one you have. Got a link to the webpage where I can buy it?

Thanks,

Mike...

[angib]

That looks like an absolutely standard Yurpeen trailer 'jockey wheel/propstand'.

The one trick with these is that one day you will fail to nip up the clamp when you raise the wheel for towing and it will rattle undone - whereupon the propstand will slowly wiggle down until it touches the road on bumps, if you are lucky - if you are unlucky, it will wait until a severe dip into a parking lot grounds it out and it gets thoroughly bent.

So a little piece of string round one of the arms holding the wheel, that you can tie to the tongue when you raise the wheel, is a good bit of insurance.

Andrew

[kayakrguy]

Jim,

As you know I have had the same problem with the HF TJ. It is a generic Chinese thing sold EVERYWHERE--West Marine, for example.

My question is how far does your jack extend below your tongue when it is retracted??? My tongue only rides about 13 1/2" off the ground behind the Altima, so my TJ cannot be too far below the tongue when retracted--dip between driveway and street....

Jim

[Gerdo]

A couple of months ago I went to pick up my TD from the storage lot. My HF TJ wheel had exploded. The jack had augered into the ground. I had to jack it up as far as I could, put blocks under the hitch, lower and repeat. This gave me a good reason to throw the peice of junk away. I didn't have a tongue twisting problem but the jack always looked like it was going to break off. I went with a jack that goes thru the hitch bracket (granted I have an A Frame tongue) So far so good much more stable. http://www.southwestwheel.com/store/p-590-a880401.aspx

[Alphacarina]

I would be a little hesitant to drill a pair of holes through the tongue at that point

Structurally, that's about the worst place you could drill - You reduced it's ultimate strength by quite a bit. Hope it doesn't prove to be a problem in the future

Don

[bobhenry]

The top of the tube is in compression and the bottom is in tension with positive tongue weight. All the sides do is to connect tne horizontal plains. An entire series of small diameter holes should no affect the strength of the tongue. My humble opinion for what its worth !

[Tripmaker]

Mike I bought the jack from a local trailer dealer, not from a website. I don't even know who the manufacturer is. I'll try to find out.

Anjib, good idea thanks for the hint. BTW I used your drawing for the placement of hatch props and it worked out quite well. Thanks.

kayakrguy, I'm not home at the moment but if I had to guess the bottom of the wheel is about 5 inches from the ground when it is at the top. I'll measure it and let you know for sure. I also have 13 inches from tongue to ground and so far it has not been a problem after a 4,ooo mile trip to Yellowstone and back.

Alphacarina, I had the welding done and the jack installed at another trailer dealer. They didn't think the holes would be a problem especially since the trailer only weighs 1,500 lbs. loaded. I hope they and bobhenry are right.

[Mary K]

Thanks for working that out. I have not had the time. I will put it on my "To Do List"...its is getting Looooooong...

Mk