Happijac lubrication
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Forum Discussion
After soaking with Blaster, I got my Acme screw unstuck. The Acme rod was bone dry and at least the top 12" was rusty. If HappiJac thinks they are "lifetime" lubricated, I hope they don't put those guys in charge of our new national healthcare. I see no remnants of grease anywhere along the Acme threads.
Does the Acme rod come all the way out? I backed mine out as far as it would go without forcing it. I measure the exposed rod at around 33", which is the same as the distance from the bottom of the inner leg to the red "eek-you've-gone-too-far" label.
A tip for backing out the rod: If it is sticky like mine was, instead of buggering up the square end with a wrench, I stuck about a foot of 1/4" hot rolled round stock through the hole in the shaft and used it as a "T" handle. Lots of leverage and no slipping. A phillips screwdriver would probably work too.
As for new grease, I'm thinking about the Lubriplate white grease I use on my screw drive garage door opener.
Also, it "seems" that the part of the rod that was rusty is equivalent to how far my jacks are extended when the camper is stored. I set it down on a 2' high, 4'x8' platform, but I extend the jacks down snugly to the ground just for a little added stability. Maybe that leaves it exposed to moisture, so I'm thinking from now on I'll retract them all the way.
One last question. Does anyone have the cutaway pictures that 54suds posted, or know where they got moved to?
I'll definitely be tearing apart the other 3 jacks after seeing how bad this one was.
-jj
Does the Acme rod come all the way out? I backed mine out as far as it would go without forcing it. I measure the exposed rod at around 33", which is the same as the distance from the bottom of the inner leg to the red "eek-you've-gone-too-far" label.
A tip for backing out the rod: If it is sticky like mine was, instead of buggering up the square end with a wrench, I stuck about a foot of 1/4" hot rolled round stock through the hole in the shaft and used it as a "T" handle. Lots of leverage and no slipping. A phillips screwdriver would probably work too.
As for new grease, I'm thinking about the Lubriplate white grease I use on my screw drive garage door opener.
Also, it "seems" that the part of the rod that was rusty is equivalent to how far my jacks are extended when the camper is stored. I set it down on a 2' high, 4'x8' platform, but I extend the jacks down snugly to the ground just for a little added stability. Maybe that leaves it exposed to moisture, so I'm thinking from now on I'll retract them all the way.
One last question. Does anyone have the cutaway pictures that 54suds posted, or know where they got moved to?
I'll definitely be tearing apart the other 3 jacks after seeing how bad this one was.
-jj
