My new trailer has an electric tongue jack. I just went over to drop something off. The battery is dead. What does that mean for the tongue jack? Will I have to use a manual crank? Or, will it run if I hook it up to the truck?I'm not all that impressed with the electric tongue jack. Takes forever to go up and down.

Should work off the tow vehicle power. Had a rental this summer that had no battery on it, and was able to run the jack and slide off the truck.

Yes, hooking to the TV will energize the jack. As to the utility of as tongue jack, I would not consider owning a trailer that did not have one. They make it easy to hook up spring bars, and if you think it's too slow, try turning that hand crank on a hot day with bug buzzing around, and the coupler doesn't want to go on the ball, and you gotta raise it up again...

After my crack jack failed, I replaced with an electric. I thought having an electric would be nice. Now that I have an electric, I think about how nice it is every time I use it.

My cranking days are over.The only thing "cranky" was my wife (and me).I remember Kentucky in August98 degrees, 98% humidity.End of an 8 hour tow and mosquitoes.Camping is suppose to be fun.

Have used an electric drill in the same situation, worked well. I forget what size socket it took but there was a rubber plug on top of the electric tongue jack that pops out to expose the hex stub so you can attach the socket.

Electric tongue jack...Dead battery???? | Good Sam Community

dodge_guy
Explorer II
Nov 29, 2016
rbpru wrote:
Come on guys, twenty years ago people our age did this kind of stuff and a lot more. That is why they invented these gadgets to make things easier.

My point is, it is not the end of the world if you find yourself having to do something that is a real pain. You just do it. You will eventually find the easiest way....in fact you might invent a better electric tongue jack. :)

True! But I`m too lazy for all of that! :Z
rbpru
Explorer II
Nov 29, 2016
Come on guys, twenty years ago people our age did this kind of stuff and a lot more. That is why they invented these gadgets to make things easier.

My point is, it is not the end of the world if you find yourself having to do something that is a real pain. You just do it. You will eventually find the easiest way....in fact you might invent a better electric tongue jack. :)
TomG2
Explorer
Nov 29, 2016
Do we have to turn in our man cards when we start using impact wrenches to change tires, cordless screwdrivers and drills, electric air pumps, and those girly jackhammers?
IBcarguy
Explorer
Nov 29, 2016
SoundGuy wrote:
IBcarguy wrote:
Plug in your truck and it will power up your tongue jack.

Not if the inline tongue jack fuse itself is blown it won't. :R

Nor will it work if your TV battery is dead, or if your wiring harness has been chewed in half by a rabid rodent, or if your rig is submerged in a flooded campground, or.....
GrandpaKip
Explorer II
Nov 29, 2016
They took my man card away with my old camper, I guess. Our new to us camper came with a power jack. Really haven't missed the manual one. Haven't missed the man card, either ;-)
dodge_guy
Explorer II
Nov 29, 2016
Huntindog wrote:
rbpru wrote:
If you cannot crank a manual jack 30 rotations up to pre-load the bars, you loose you man card. :) I am 72 years old and just do it because it needs to be done.

I suspect the manual jacks are on their way out because the electric model is a popular feature that can be advertised as "standard" and the market will accept the price.

Like power windows in autos, they are handy and popular enough to be installed on all models.

However, to say a manual jack is some form of drudgery is bit of an overstatement.
I would like to invite you to Phoenix next summer, when I am hitching up. I will install my factory manual jack just for you. If you can do it, I will buy the beer. My 1 ton crewcab dually fully loaded with 3-4K in the bed, plus 1400# of TW..... Oh yeah, it will be around 115 degrees.

I will watch you cry as you surrender your 'Man" card.

I agree 100%! I did it for 5 years. 4yeara was with 800lbs TW, not bad, but still a good work out especially with temps in the upper 90's! Then I did it one summer with my current trailer that had 1200lbs TW! After that I got my power jack! Money well spent! I still get my work out carrying out my coolers and mini fridge along with other stuff I probably don't need! Not to mention I'm on vacation and I lift enough heavy stuff at work!!!
jjjandrbaker
Explorer
Nov 29, 2016
I camp every two weeks. The old camper never had a problem with running down the battery in that time. This new one has a lot more going on. It's a learning experience. I will disconnect the battery from now on. The battery is just drained too much to operate the jack. There are some very dim lights inside the trailer.
jjjandrbaker
Explorer
Nov 29, 2016
dodge guy wrote:
Having said that, it's time to find out why the battery went dead!

I totally agree with you on that! It only stayed at the storage lot for two weeks. I can't think of anything that was left on that could have drained it. Next time, I will disconnect it before storage.
Huntindog
Explorer
Nov 28, 2016
rbpru wrote:
If you cannot crank a manual jack 30 rotations up to pre-load the bars, you loose you man card. :) I am 72 years old and just do it because it needs to be done.

I suspect the manual jacks are on their way out because the electric model is a popular feature that can be advertised as "standard" and the market will accept the price.

Like power windows in autos, they are handy and popular enough to be installed on all models.

However, to say a manual jack is some form of drudgery is bit of an overstatement.
I would like to invite you to Phoenix next summer, when I am hitching up. I will install my factory manual jack just for you. If you can do it, I will buy the beer. My 1 ton crewcab dually fully loaded with 3-4K in the bed, plus 1400# of TW..... Oh yeah, it will be around 115 degrees.

I will watch you cry as you surrender your 'Man" card.
rbpru
Explorer II
Nov 28, 2016
If you cannot crank a manual jack 30 rotations up to pre-load the bars, you loose you man card. :) I am 72 years old and just do it because it needs to be done.

I suspect the manual jacks are on their way out because the electric model is a popular feature that can be advertised as "standard" and the market will accept the price.

Like power windows in autos, they are handy and popular enough to be installed on all models.

However, to say a manual jack is some form of drudgery is bit of an overstatement.