Tongue/trailer jack info

[regis101]

Greetings. I'm all over the search function. I'm all over the web.

I'm looking for the skinny about bolt-on tongue jacks. This is for the TSC 1500# 4 x 8 no floor trailer. I doubt that I'd load it to the max but need to be prepared. Keeping with the 10-15% tongue weight, I'm thinking 150#. The tongue weight is 27# as shipped with a titled weight of 250#

So how do they rate these things? I've seen some listed at 800#. Most seem to be hanging at 1k. They mostly have a plastic wheel. Any thoughts on this. Hard to roll? Any wheel upgrades? The cheaper ones should weigh less than the expensive ones. But it'd be a trade-off for quality.

Brand name(s) are limited. No-name brands scare me. The prices are very close to each other. I only want to buy one even if it's ~$50. Still money ahead than if I try to use a coupla the ~$20 el cheapo's.

Pleez direct me to an existing thread. I'm sure this has been covered somewhere.

Thanks,

[teardrop_focus]

Look in this index; it's alphbetized...

sdtripper2's Index (ongoing)

If it's been posted about here, chances are it's in that index.

[caseydog]

800# is pretty typical. It is more than enough for a TD. Don't lose any sleep over this decision. You can easily buy one that will work just fine for under 50 bucks.

They roll fine on smooth surfaces, and not so fine on rough surfaces. Just push slow and easy rolling on rough surfaces, and lift over gaps and rises in the pavement, and you'll be fine.

On that particular trailer, I would get a swing away jack. Tractor Supply has a Reese #1161671 Marine swing away jack for $34.99 that should work just fine.

CD

[doug hodder]

I've used the Fulton ones, found them rated as low as 600# which is plenty on the tear. Fultons aren't cheap, but It will really lift the back of the truck if I don't uncouple it. I also use the shortest ones necessary so when folded up I can keep the mount point as close to the coupler and the center of the trailer as possible.

I also put in a piece of material that braces the arms together or in my case, the outer angle to the center tube. The jack can want to twist the piece that it's attached to and if it's a light piece, the taller you go, the more leverage it will have. I think the top winders store more easily than the side winder types. I've not had any issues with the plastic wheels, but it won't want to handle serious rocks. For ratings, I'd imagine they are rated according to the dia. of the internal threaded rod, dunno for sure though. Doug

[regis101]

I was holding the Reese Marine swing style jack in my hand at TSC. It just happened to be the only one they had with a wheel. At first it seemed heavy. I couldn't compare it to any other. I was unsure about it. I started to buck so I put it back down.

One slice of good info from the many website gave measurements for closed, open and max lift. With the 1000215 TSC trailer, the tongue is ~12" AFF when level. I should at least be aware that a won't need a three foot tall jack.

Price and quality are usually not always proportionate. I'll dig deeper into the Felton, Eclipse, and Reese brand(s). FWIW, the Reese marine jack at TSC had China stamped on a coupla parts. No big except that HF sells China stuff also. One of the websites had a 15# and a 23# jack. Large spread.

Thanks for the replies. Other comments are welcome.

Here is a link that shows dimensions. The "A" dim is what I think is important for a given trailer? Maybe they're all about the same.
http://www.southwestwheel.com/store/p-5 ... 00101.aspx

Shipping wt on this one is 14#
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002GWE25O/ref ... B002GWE25O

The sdtripper's page is great. Thanks

[regis101]

I ended up getting a Fulton 800# because I was at U-haul and saw it there.

It seemed pricey at 60 bones but I felt the money was well spent due to some other good info about trailer wiring from a TTT member and U-haul employee. It's a karma thing.

At first I had it installed with the optional bolt holes on the bottom. I then noticed the center hub was off center as compared to the tongue tube and it raised the tongue. After I reversed it, the hub is center of the tongue and the trailer sets level. I lucked out since the trailers coupler is only 12" from the floor when the trailer itself is level.

Then..I played with location by sliding it back and forth along the tongue tube. Moving it far forward added 5 more pounds of TW than when it is centered or a bit back toward the trailer.

Tongue weight is now at 38 lbs with the TSC 4 x 8 open floor 1500# model.

Inquiring minds need to know these things.

[regis101]

And... then I put the spare ( 20 lbs. ) on the rearmost crossmember. The tongue weight went down to 30 lbs. Fun with tongue weight.