Low cost rear electric jacks on my Class B/C

[grimmrlg]

When I acquired a newer Trail-Lite 27 Class B+ coach, it had no leveling system and I had installed manual scissor stabilizing jacks to the rear of my previous coach but hated cranking them down and up. My Trail-Lite has a huge rear storage compartment across the entire rear bed, it is 34" high, 42" wide and spans the width with access door on both sides. Noting that the rear chassis frame is directly under this space, I searched and found electric jacks from Husky, model HB4500 rated at 4500 lbs on Amazon for $185 each. These are design for trailer tongue use but I welded up some frame bracket and installed two of these inside the storage bay. They work great can easily lift the entire coach rear off the ground. I additionally added a remote control to replace the included up/down switches, all at a total cost of about $400. If anyone is interesting, I will include some pics of the install.

[grimmrlg]

rvrev2 wrote:
Hey Rick, can you give us an update on how well your electric jacks have worked this past summer/fall?

So far they worked out great, camped at about a dozen different sites in the last year and at most sites, I only used the rear jacks for leveling since it seems most sites were lower at the rear. As with any rear only jack solution, occasionally I had to block the front wheels to raise the front, but I only carry a third the number of blocks now. It has been really nice to use the remote control to level it as well and I have had no mechanical or electrical issues with the jacks.

Thanks for asking!
Rick

[rvrev2]

Hey Rick, can you give us an update on how well your electric jacks have worked this past summer/fall?

[grimmrlg]

The bracket is bolted to the C channel frame with 4 - 3/8" bolts. I considered welding directly to the frame but wanted to be able to remove if necessary. Since the storage area floor is made up of 1/4" ply sandwiching 1" styrofoam, the jacks go through a large clearance hole and bolt directly to the bracket from the top with 3 - 3/8" bolts as supplied with the jack. No issues with strength of the 1/4" gussetted brackets.

[Winnipeg]

It is a great idea. I love the concept to use parts that are readily available and proven in the application. You know the parts can handle a life on the road.

I am curious what you welded the bracket to and if it is strong enough? (You cannot see everything from the pictures, so forgive me if I am way off on this). The sheet metal at the bottom of the storage area is likely pretty thin. And the bolt you put in the frame looks small.

If you have question about the structure, maybe you can weld the bracket directly to the frame.

Well done.

[93Cobra2771]

Great writeup and well done. Very good idea for those that have enough room in their storage.

[Naio]

Awesome!

[Oldme]

Very nice.

[MrWizard]

Nice work...real nice

[grimmrlg]

Sorry to take so long to get these picture posted but here they are. Starting with a view in the storage bay of the two jacks sticking up though the floor. I modified each jack for relay control so they could be run by a remote control.


Here is the bottom view, I welded up the right-angle brackets of 1/4" steel and bolted to the frame, the hole and 3 mounting bolts are the same as a trailer tongue to accept the jack bolted from the topside.




Inside by the power converter I mounted the remote control (white box) that runs the 2 relays on each jack. The 4 channel remote control is the small brown fob.



To prevent accidental lowering while traveling, I added a disable switch by the inside the convert door (on the right side)


Let me know if you need any additional details.

Rick

[Oldme]

Outstanding idea.
Yes, we would like to see the pictures.

[pianotuna]

What a great mod to make. Yes let us see them please.