Ease of changing to an electric tongue jack?

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J&DLV

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2012
Posts
14
Cranking the manual tongue jack on our TT has already gotten old after just a few trips so we'd really like to replace it with an electric jack. My husband is an auto mechanic so he's pretty handy - is this something he can tackle himself? We have access to a welder (the equipment and the person!) if necessary!

Also any recommendations for good brands and models would be welcomed. Our TT is 8,000lbs GVWR if that helps.

Thanks in advance!
 
Not sure what you have at present but the last time I changed one years back it was just 3 bolts and wiring, not much work at all, just be sure to block up the tongue of the trailer.
 
Changed mine last year.

3 bolts and wire it up. 

As stated just block up tongue or use stabilizer jacks.
 
Sounds like the husband could handle it - thanks for the advice!
 
There are several tong jacks but the most common is as described above, 3 bolts, That and the wires (use fairly heavy wire) is all there is.  And do not forget the fuse.
 
A little late to the party here but I concur: "it's easy". The wire that came with mine just had a bare end so I soldered on an eye to make better contact with the battery post.
 
Don't use the stabilizer jacks to support the front of the trailer - they're not designed to support that much weight.

When I changed out my jack I did it while the trailer was hitched to my truck, and it was a piece of cake.

Like others have said, if you have a similar through the top plate manual jack, it's just a matter of unbolting the old jack and bolting on the new.  Then run the hot wire to a convenient source of 12 volts.  In my case I was able to tap into 12 volts at a tie post that was in the charging line coming from the tow vehicle - it's hot with voltage from the trailer batteries when the tow vehicle is disconnected.

Or take it to the positive post of a tongue mounted trailer battery.  Be sure to put an appropriate fuse in line, though.
 
Super easy.  I did mine like Lou.  Hooked it to the truck, removed the old jack, put on the new one, wired it up.  Took all of about 30 minutes.  One of the easiest and most useful mods you can make.
 
When I did mine a few years ago I used jack stands under the tongue. As already mentioned do not use the stabilizer jacks to lift the trailer. Very easy job to do.
 

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