DutchmenSport wrote:
SoundGuy,
You do know if you raise the tongue jack high enough (while hitched up to the tow vehicle), you never have to use a cheater bar at all to lift those snap up handles. The higher it's jacked up, the less effort it takes to snap them up.
Yes, I do ;) ... the higher one lifts the tongue jack the higher one also lifts the rear of the truck and much greater is the force that's transferred to the truck's front axle. :( I also park our trailer on our noticeably sloped driveway so it's a bit of a dance to hitch up and not run out of tongue jack extension anyway. I use triple 6" stacks to solve this problem but I still have to extend that tongue jack quite a bit if I want to relieve tension on those spring bars for hitching up - a longer snap up bar solves this problem nicely, as it will also solve the OP's situation by significantly reducing the amount of effort it takes to lift those spring bars into position. :B
FWIW, an alternate solution is to replace the weight distribution chains with a
Lippert Strap-Tek winch system which eliminates the need to lift the tongue jack at all. I tried it but didn't like the fact that the winch assembly is so large that the bars would hang much lower to the ground than currently is the case with my chain system and not sit parallel to the ground as they should. Yes, I could have lowered the hitch head so the bars would once again sit parallel but ultimately I decided this was more trouble than it was worth and wasn't the solution I was looking for. A longer snap up bar which does reduce the effort needed to lift those spring bars into position is for me the best solution. :B
