Electric tongue jack

[Bobo]

Toying with the idea of installing an electric tongue jack on my T-2499. Anyone have a recommendation of a brand, weight rating ? And how hard is it to install one?

Maybe if I am lucky, Santa will bring me one for Christmas.

Thanx,

Bobo

[Poppy & Nana]

Bobo,

We have one - but can't remember the brand and the TT is tucked away for the winter.....I do know we bought it on e-bay "cheap"...got it and it didn't work! DH was furious - anyway I took it apart - realigned the head and miracles happened...it has been working ever since.

Leo had to "modify" the shaft hole "just a bit" to accept the jack and he mounted the head sideways so he can open the tailgate of the truck!

I do know that I can now level the trailer without a broken arm!

Hope Santa brings you what you want for Christmas!

[kanyonkitty]

Bobo,

Installation is easy. Hookup your trailer to the TV, remove the 3 bolts from manual jack, remove manual jack, install the new power jack, reinstall the 3 bolts, and run power line to battery.

Forget my brand, but it's the same as Jons. And it has been on about half a dozen different Sunlines.

[Bobo]

Been looking at the Camping World site. The Ultra 3502 is on sale for $199.00. 3500# lift capacity is more than enough for now and room to grow. Anyone add to this info? Good/ bad?

Bobo

[Sunline Fan]

Originally Posted by kanyonkitty

Hookup your trailer to the TV

Bobo, you don't necessarily need to do that. If your hitch stuff is tucked away around Christmas time, don't worry. A good jack stand (or even your scissor jacks, if you trust them) will hold the weight long enough to install the new jack. The jack self grounds internally, so bolting it to the frame will ground it. As Kitty said, just run the one wire to the battery.

Originally Posted by kanyonkitty

Forget my brand, but it's the same as Jons. And it has been on about half a dozen different Sunlines.

I have an H&H jack. The one that came on my 270 is sounding a little tired...I need to pull it apart and see what gives. But, we've got another identical one on another trailer that was originally on the 2653 and has worked great the whole time. I suspect the one on the 270 needs a little internal cleaning and a date with some steel wool and grease. That should make it work like new.

Jon

[Hematite]

Bobo,

The factory equipped power jack is the Atwood Heavy Duty/ 3500 lb rating with light. At least that is what Sunline put on my 2006 T2499. I can't imagine what it would be like to hand crank a manual jack. By the way, this jack also has a manual crank option in case of an emergency.

My observation is that the jack is incredibly powerful for the task at hand but I would much rather have it that way.

http://www.etrailerpart.com/electricjacks.htm

[JohnB]

Bobo

Last year Santa brought me an Atwood 3500. WOW way cool and I will never go back to the manual one now.

The 3500 models go to a ball screw at least in the Atwood’s. The Atwood also has a light on it which helps at night and it has an internal ratchet clutch for full up or down.

The Atwood has a hood type cover so rain does not get in as bad, But even then, a cover is best, Can make one or buy one. Camping world sells the covers.

My new to me T310SR came with a Barker 2500 on it. It strains big time. The 2500 rating I belive it waht is doing this, not the jack as you are jacking the truck up as well. I will switch my Atwood on to the T310SR and put the Barker on the T2499.

There is another thing that I really do not like about the Barker that came on the T310SR. This jack unscrews under load. Yes, you let off the button and you can hear the jack unscrewing inside and the tongue goes down. Not all the time, but enough times that it will not be on my TT very long. Once the stabilizers are down, then no worries. I do not know if this is unique to the brand or just what happens with a 1,200# tongue or that is a 2004 model.

The Atwood 3500 on the T2499 with a 1,200# tongue stays rock solid si I expect it to do the same on the T310SR with it’s 1,200# tongue.

Atwood, Barker and Ultrafab are 3 of the big names. And from what I have heard from others, they all work well and they like them. Yet I will not get a Barker now after seeing what I have.

Good luck

John

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by Sunline Fan

Not sure what you mean about the internal rachet clutch for full up or down. All I know is I MUST put it up all the way to get the bars on, and it does take a few seconds.

I know what you mean about the unwinding. The one on my 270 does that occasionally. It really gets annoying, but it makes me get those bars on real quick!

Jon

If you reach full extend or retract or go way over 3500# the jack screw will stop, the clutch slips and ratchets and the motor runs. It is a anti self destruct system/don't pop the fuse when you reach full stroke approach.

So your jack also unwinds.... H'mm this is more common then I thought. The manual one rated at 2,000# never did that, but this Barker 2500 sure does.

John

[Sunline Fan]

Originally Posted by JohnB

If you reach full extend or retract or go way over 3500# the jack screw will stop, the clutch slips and ratchets and the motor runs. It is a anti self destruct system/don't pop the fuse when you reach full stroke approach.

Now I know what you mean. That's that annoying clicking sound that makes me jump every time it gets there and I'm not paying attention.

Originally Posted by JohnB

So your jack also unwinds.... H'mm this is more common then I thought. The manual one rated at 2,000# never did that, but this Barker 2500 sure does.

Next year, I plan to take it apart. I has sounded a little tired lately and I know the battery is fully charged because last time I had it out, I put the slide out on the battery just after I unhooked and leveled the trailer and it worked fine at the normal speed. Hopefully cleaning it out and regreasing will speed it up. I guess I'd be slow and tired if I sat outside uncovered for 10 years .

Jon

[HappyCampers]

I'd definately go with the Atwood 3500 jack. Our 295 had one and it was great. My buddy just put one on his 28' Dutchman this Summer. He was going to buy the cheaper Barker, but I talked him into the Atwood.

[Bobo]

Santa did'nt come through so I guess I have to buy. Looking at the CW catalog, they have a Ultra brand 3000 cap. on sale for $159. The reviews were mixed on the product, especially on the reliabuility. They also offer an Odyssey brand at the same weight rating for about $225. Has anyone out there have any experience with these brands or should I look for an Atwood somewhere else. My Presidents Club discount runs out this Saturday so I need to make a decision right quick .

Bobo

[JohnB]

Bobo

Don’t know on the 2 other brands. But the Attwood 3500 I have is very good. And the thing does not unscrew itself.

When we bought the T310, it had a H & H Engineering on it. They are a division of the Barker jack company. A 2,000# one. It is not the exact Barker but a sub company of them. The T310 at the time had a 1,260# tongue. And that H & H will unscrew it self. Hit the up button, let go and whizzz the thing unscrews itself. I have never experienced this on the T2499 with the Attwood 3500. It locks.

Then asking around Sunline Fan said his jack drops too some times. Don’t know the brand. So this may be a more common thing then I realized.

So I moved the Attwood off my T2499 to the T310, Now no problems.

Also the H & H did not have an aux handle to use to hand crank like the Atwood does. If you pull the battery out for storage and want to move the camper and no aux crank … well if shows up real quick what you use the manual crank for. Also if the jack ever dies while at a camp ground you can at least hook up easier with the manual crank verses pulling out you truck jack to hitch up.

So here is my 2 cents to maybe help.

With your T2499 pending how you load it or if you haul fresh water, you can have a 1,200# tongue. I have found this to be the case.

Get the highest capacity you can afford. Even my Attwood 3500 growns when the jack gets close to full up lifting the truck. The 2000# H & H really strained.

Get a brand with an auxiliary handle that can be used. It does come in handy. Side mounted aux handles may be better for water not getting in verses the top entry ones. But a jack cover can fix that too.

The brand you select, ask around if any one has one, does it unscrew on itself and what tongue weight TT do they have? The same H & H I transferred back to the unloaded T2499, now about 800# tongue and it does not unscrew. So weight is sort of needed in the comparison.

Sorry I can’t help you on the 2 brands you listed, they may be good too, don’t know. But you will not be unhappy with the Attwood 3500.

Good luck

John

[Sunline Fan]

Mine is an H&H, but I do have an manual crank. It goes in on top.

I just realized I hadn't updated you guys- when I had it out that one day in late December, I went to hook the battery up and got no response from the jack. I go open the door to see if a light will turn on (I have no utility lights) and the OH fixture comes on very bright. I dig out the jack handle and try to manually crank the thing- it won't even move at all. I dragged the floor jack all the way out there and it finally worked with the power, but only once I took the pressure off of it. I've never had any problems with the other one that's identical, so this is very surprising.

Add it to the list for spring...

Jon

[rich2500]

I have an ultra-fab 3502,I will say it does the job,but i don't think it's the quality of the atwood it replaced,most important thing with the ultra fabs is to keep it covered so water can't get in.I installed mine and did not now they where calling for a rain shower that evening so I did not cover it,pulled the top cover off and sure enough it had water inside which appeared to come in the cap for the manual handle.I cleaned the water out and put a thin coat of sealer on the manual crank plug,and now it is always covered and has been working fine.

[Bobo]

Well, I purchased the Ultra 3002 for $147. Spent an extra $20 and got a full replacement warranty for two years after the manf. warranty runs out.The reviews on the CW website were split 50/50 on the product. The main negative complaint were for part failures. Of which Ultra replaced the whole unit free of charge. At $75 off, I could not pass up the deal. To play it safe though, I think I will carry the old crank style in my truck's toolbox just in case.

Bobo

[rich2500]

congrats on the new jack you will love it,just keep it covered and I bet your jack lasts a long time,I would bet that most of those part failures are due to water intrusion.

[Bobo]

I know this is a follow up on an old post on electric tongue jacks.

I had purchased an Ultra model 3002 from Camping World back in 2008. Not even two years later, it has spit the bit. First sign last Friday was it would crank up but not down. Broke out the back up crank, you can only turn it halfway at a time due to the LP tanks. Drive two hours to the SP and wouldn't ya know, nothing moves. Good connection, jack lights still work. Well, I'll leave it hooked up. Only six inches too high in the front. Set everything up. I have the indoor/outdoor digital thermometer. I use the outdoor sensor to monitor the fridge. NOT GETTING COLDER . Go out, raise the stabilizers, take off the tanks, crank it up by hand, unhook, crank it back down, reset everything. I thought that camping was suppossed to be relaxing ? Of course I had to do it all again Sunday, in the pouring rain of couse .

On the better side, I had bought the full replacement warranty. Best twenty bucks I ever spent. Swapped it out for a new one. No problems with CW. Just installed it. Placed all new terminal connections going to the battery due to corrosion. This time I used Di-electric grease and shrink tubed all connections. I saw that Ultra had made some improvements to the switches and the cap design for the back up crank.

The moral of the story is, if you can't afford the better quality product, always cover your butt with protection against failure.

Oh yeah, of course I bought the extended warranty for the new jack.

Bobo