Hello campers,I recently installed Happijac swing outs on a 2010 EC850. When I extend the jacks while unloading, the foot of the driver's side jack sits 1-1/2" closer to the rear jack than does the passenger side. I purchased the camper new, and I"m not aware of any damage. The brackets show no sign of disturbance, and the jack leg is straight. None the less, the passenger side jack is parallel to the corner of the camper, but the driver's side is tilted back.I spoke with Happijac support and confirmed that the swing outs were installed correctly, and that no adjustments are possible between the brackets (L and Z), the swing out and the jack. The tech was reading from a script that didn't address my issue. He said that, while the tilt wasn't good, it wasn't necessarily bad.It seems like the only way to correct the tilt is to shim the Z-bracket and remount everything.Is that amount of deflection within the acceptable range? If not, is shimming the Z-bracket the best approach? Thanks,Nick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy6gKROASGQCan you loosen the bolts make some adjustment and then retighten them? There will be some slop in those bolts holes that may give just enough movement to get things lined up. If not, maybe a few strokes with a rat-tail file will get you what you need.Bradw

BradW wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy6gKROASGQCan you loosen the bolts make some adjustment and then retighten them? There will be some slop in those bolts holes that may give just enough movement to get things lined up. If not, maybe a few strokes with a rat-tail file will get you what you need.BradwThe bolts have square shoulders, so they force-center into the holes - that's how they keep the faces from rotating. No adjustment is possible. I was thinking of grinding off the shoulders on the swing out bolts and opening up the holes in the brackets to get more play. To prevent rotation, I could dowel the swing out and the brackets using 0.250" pins. I really want to avoid having to shim the Z-bracket, because that might require new holes next to the old ones in the corner of the camper.

Are the holes in both plates square? Or just the plate with the bolt head?

If you can get to both sides, you could drill out the square holes for the carriage bolts and go to the next size hex bolt.

BradW wrote:Are the holes in both plates square? Or just the plate with the bolt head?You wouldn't need to file on the square hole side with the bolt head; just the thread side hole. Those jacks are so long, you wouldn't need to remove much metal to get 1-1/2" at the bottom.

Happijac alignment issue | Good Sam Community

nick_m
Explorer
Sep 05, 2018
I ended up slotting the upper and lower holes about 1/16" each, and wedged the hinge before torquing the bolts. That brought the foot within about 5/8", so I just pushed it forward before putting weight on the foot. It works great now.
nick_m
Explorer
Aug 31, 2018
AnEv942 wrote:
nick_m wrote:
...Can you clarify what you meant about "try loosening the 6 bolts... to see if it would move"? No matter where I moved the jack prior to tightening the bolts, the round hole square peg arrangement always forced it back to the same orientation.

The 3 bolts at either side of extension, between ext and jack and the 3 between ext and camper mount flange. IF there is any clearance of thru holes and bolt diameter, might gain a bit. By your description though sounds like maybe pretty snug. I dont know how tight the tolerances are. Going to take a small file to open hole horizontally without enlarging to much. Dremel would work but only 2 holes.
When jacks were bolted direct to camper flange was this 1 1/2" noticed?

Yes - there is clearance, and I can plumb the jack when the bolts are loose, but the square shoulders on the bolts force the jack back to the same orientation when tightened. I could eliminate the forced-centering by filing off the shoulders, but then only friction between the plates would prevent rotation - that's why I considered using dowels.

I never noticed an issue with the direct connection. The problem with the swing outs is the tolerance stack up: you have two additional interfaces, plus the slop in the hinge itself.
AnEv942
Nomad
Aug 31, 2018
nick_m wrote:
...Can you clarify what you meant about "try loosening the 6 bolts... to see if it would move"? No matter where I moved the jack prior to tightening the bolts, the round hole square peg arrangement always forced it back to the same orientation.

The 3 bolts at either side of extension, between ext and jack and the 3 between ext and camper mount flange. IF there is any clearance of thru holes and bolt diameter, might gain a bit. By your description though sounds like maybe pretty snug. I dont know how tight the tolerances are. Going to take a small file to open hole horizontally without enlarging to much. Dremel would work but only 2 holes.
When jacks were bolted direct to camper flange was this 1 1/2" noticed?
nick_m
Explorer
Aug 30, 2018
AnEv942 wrote:

Huh captured carriage bolts...You could slot the hole that threaded portion of bolts go thru. At the mounts likely only
need 3/16 to 5/16" to rotate end of leg 1 1/2". Or split the difference between the 2 flanges. Drilling larger holes would
accomplish, I wouldn't, think load wise vertical height should remain.
Id lean toward slotting the square holes if mine. File top hole & bottom holes in direction needed, making square slots,
pivot on middle hole. Require disassembly but retain contact, non rotation of bolts while allowing jack to pivot.
I'd try loosening the 6 bolts 1st(not camper mount) to see if it would move.

As to capacity, simply replacing bolts, if that would solve and there is clearance between head and barrels would be easiest and first choice. A LOT stronger than a carriage bolt.

Slotting - that's brilliant. The carriage bolt heads are recessed, so slotting the squares would be too involved, but slotting the upper and lower holes on the brackets would be straightforward. Maintaining the same hole diameter (slot width) would also allow the carriage bolts to lock into the material, so I wouldn't need to use dowel pins. Sounds like the least amount of work.

Can you clarify what you meant about "try loosening the 6 bolts... to see if it would move"? No matter where I moved the jack prior to tightening the bolts, the round hole square peg arrangement always forced it back to the same orientation.
BradW
Explorer II
Aug 30, 2018
https://north40.com/life/how-do-i-determine-bolt-grades
Mandalay_Parr
Explorer
Aug 30, 2018
Bolts are either grade 2, 5 or 8 with 8 being the strongest.
They are identified by marks on the head.
Take one to the hardware store and they can tell you.
AnEv942
Nomad
Aug 30, 2018

Huh captured carriage bolts...You could slot the hole that threaded portion of bolts go thru. At the mounts likely only
need 3/16 to 5/16" to rotate end of leg 1 1/2". Or split the difference between the 2 flanges. Drilling larger holes would
accomplish, I wouldn't, think load wise vertical height should remain.
Id lean toward slotting the square holes if mine. File top hole & bottom holes in direction needed, making square slots,
pivot on middle hole. Require disassembly but retain contact, non rotation of bolts while allowing jack to pivot.
I'd try loosening the 6 bolts 1st(not camper mount) to see if it would move.

As to capacity, simply replacing bolts, if that would solve and there is clearance between head and barrels would be easiest and first choice. A LOT stronger than a carriage bolt.
nick_m
Explorer
Aug 30, 2018
BradW wrote:
BradW wrote:
Are the holes in both plates square? Or just the plate with the bolt head?

You wouldn't need to file on the square hole side with the bolt head; just the thread side hole. Those jacks are so long, you wouldn't need to remove much metal to get 1-1/2" at the bottom.

The holes in the brackets are round and the ones in the swing out are square. The bolts are round with square shoulders, and roughly 1/16" of the square shoulder engages with the round hole to keep it centered.

If I remove (file) the 1/16" shoulder, I could use the excess tolerance in the round hole. If I used round bolts, I'd have the tolerance of both the round and square holes, but I'm reluctant to replace HJ's bolts without knowing their capacity. I suppose that's the next call.
BradW
Explorer II
Aug 30, 2018
BradW wrote:
Are the holes in both plates square? Or just the plate with the bolt head?

You wouldn't need to file on the square hole side with the bolt head; just the thread side hole. Those jacks are so long, you wouldn't need to remove much metal to get 1-1/2" at the bottom.
BradW
Explorer II
Aug 30, 2018
If you can get to both sides, you could drill out the square holes for the carriage bolts and go to the next size hex bolt.