Electric jack - how do I select one?

I bought a Barker VIP 3500 which I love and had not let me down, but after seeing the Bulldog ones, I wish I would have gone that route. I like the fact that the foot is telescoping which will give you added stroke to the jack.

hilandfrog wrote:
Funny the break away thing is such a big deal... Seems our 1977, 16' road ranger "diddums" does not nor does it appear to have ever had one.

We do have 2 really thick chains ???

Repo

Rule of thumb: If your trailer has electric brakes due to size, weight, or mfr installed, you must have a breakaway cable and charged trailer battery to activate them in case of a break away.

Now, you don't have to have a camping style battery. One of these should be acceptable in the $30-$60 range.

https://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Trailer_Breakaway_Kit.aspx

They belong on your non-camper trailers over (2500lbs?) here in PA. I'm not sure if that is the weight regulation for brakes or not. IIRC, that is the 'needs to be inspected' weight...

hilandfrog wrote:
Funny the break away thing is such a big deal... Seems our 1977, 16' road ranger "diddums" does not nor does it appear to have ever had one.

We do have 2 really thick chains ???

Repo

Hey Repo,
How is your Diddums? I bet you're getting her ready for ski season out there.

I think you're going to find out what some on the Forum think about not having a break-away system, lol. Probably best to check out your State laws on it, the fines can be big and, in this State, you could be leaving your rig on the side of the road with a red tag on it.
FWIW, I used a small SLA battery that is independent of the trailer system. If my trailer batteries die, the breakaway function will still work.

Funny the break away thing is such a big deal... Seems our 1977, 16' road ranger "diddums" does not nor does it appear to have ever had one.

We do have 2 really thick chains ???

Repo

Thanks for the heads up on the breakaway switch. For some reason, I had it in my head that it drew power from the 7 pin harness. Thinking that through, in the event of a breakaway.... duh! :S

I'll remedy that before the next outing.

I will also look over several options on ebay / Amazon and pick something. Thinking I'm getting tired of the cranking.

I got the Atwood 80718 for $173 from Amazon w/free shipping. I see it's out of stock now. They have one 2500lb 80761 left at $159. The Atwood was a bit more than the cheap jacks, but cheaper than the Barker and Brute Power (Husky). And it's made in the USA.

Get a 3500# Jack of your choice, they all do the exact same thing. If it raises and lowers your trailer then it's a good jack.

get one with lots of power so you don't wear it out lifting up the truck to put the weight distribution bars on.

And I recommend you get a long extension version - every once in a while you end up on a bit of a hill and you have to jack up the front pretty high to level things out.

I bought the Barker 3500 with 24" stroke about 1 year ago and it works great.

I don't know if the jack will work from just your trailer 7-pin connector without a charged battery on the trailer tongue connected to it. And I plan to never find out as I always travel with a charged battery for many reasons (including it is required by law as others have stated already).

Ed

Yeah, get a battery in there, also, don't think so hard. Just pick a jack, install it and be happy with it. They all pretty much work the same. . . there's up.....then there's down. I have a Barker VIP 3500 with 24" stroke. Installed pretty easy. Has manual crank and light.

Extremely dangerous, and illegal to tow without a functioning battery on your TT. You're break-away brakes will not function in a catastrophic separation.