tongue jack SPUT!

[wernstriumph]

I was getting ready to hookup the PUP to pull it out of the yard yesterday to get it ready for this weekend. When I started to crank the tongue jack, it suddenly POPPED and slid down to the swivel wheel! After a barrage of curses I jacked up the tongue with a floor jack and slid a jackstand under it. When I removed the faulty jack, I was able to pull the tube with the wheel completely out with very little resistance. Upon inspection I found that the wormgear AND the Big nut inside the tube were absolutely stripped! Lots of rust and dust. There was no grease fitting on this jack so I was spraying penetrating grease down the crank spindle. Apparently it was not getting to the wormgear. Luckily Home Depot had one for 32 bucks and this one had a grease fitting. It is a good thing it happened in my driveway and not at the campground next week. I figured I'd share this stupid pop up trick with you all. NOW I can laugh at it!:D

[SpeakEasy]

I was getting ready to hookup the PUP to pull it out of the yard yesterday to get it ready for this weekend. When I started to crank the tongue jack, it suddenly POPPED and slid down to the swivel wheel! After a barrage of curses I jacked up the tongue with a floor jack and slid a jackstand under it. When I removed the faulty jack, I was able to pull the tube with the wheel completely out with very little resistance. Upon inspection I found that the wormgear AND the Big nut inside the tube were absolutely stripped! Lots of rust and dust. There was no grease fitting on this jack so I was spraying penetrating grease down the crank spindle. Apparently it was not getting to the wormgear. Luckily Home Depot had one for 32 bucks and this one had a grease fitting. It is a good thing it happened in my driveway and not at the campground next week. I figured I'd share this stupid pop up trick with you all. NOW I can laugh at it!:D

I'm not so sure you should be blaming yourself for this SPUT. I think there is a design problem with that tongue jack. Is that the one by BAL? My 1999 Coleman Cheyenne has one by BAL, and last spring I took it completely apart to find out why it was cranking so badly. As you know, I found the worm gear completely dry. IMHO, a person shouldn't have to completely disassemble something like this in order to do routine maintanance.

-Speak

[flyfisherman]

The front jack on my Starcraft is a Shelby and it's a top cranker (vs. having the crank handle on the side of the jack), and I have to give it a little silicone spary about the time I do the lifters. Evidently the spray just runs down the threaded shaft and lubes it for a time.


Fly

[tlhdoc]

All mechanical equipment need routine maintenance, including the tongue jack.  It is simple to maintain the BAL jack.  Just unscrew the bolt at the top and then pull the jack apart.  Coat it with wheel bearing grease and slip it back together.  I do it every spring and it only takes about 5 minutes to do.  It isn't a long or hard job, just messy.

[wernstriumph]

I'm not so sure you should be blaming yourself for this SPUT. I think there is a design problem with that tongue jack. Is that the one by BAL? My 1999 Coleman Cheyenne has one by BAL, and last spring I took it completely apart to find out why it was cranking so badly. As you know, I found the worm gear completely dry. IMHO, a person shouldn't have to completely disassemble something like this in order to do routine maintanance.

-Speak

Yes it was a BAL. It's funny( peculiar not Ha Ha) In all my years of working with trailers, I've never seen a jack just "go" like this before. There was no difficulty cranking or grinding noise or anything. Usually lubing it down the crank spindle does the trick. Well now I have a Reese with a grease fitting and it's a side crank so it feels like it goes without as much effort.

[AustinBoston]

I had a BAL tongue jack fail in this way.  What happened to you is not a real SPUT (which stands for Stupid Pop Up Trick), just an annoying equipment failure.

I found I can get grease on the jack by cranking it all the way up, but that would not likely have helped.  Some of those jacks were defective, and were going to fail regardless.  You and I both got one.

Austin

[SpeakEasy]

All mechanical equipment need routine maintenance, including the tongue jack.  It is simple to maintain the BAL jack.  Just unscrew the bolt at the top and then pull the jack apart.  Coat it with wheel bearing grease and slip it back together.  I do it every spring and it only takes about 5 minutes to do.  It isn't a long or hard job, just messy.

'Splain please!

The only bolt I find at the top of my jack is the bolt that holds the crank handle in place. If I remove that bolt I'll be able to remove the handle. What then? It doesn't LOOK to me like anything else will come apart. There is a cap that covers the top of the main cyllinder, but it looks like it is crimped onto the main cyllinder. Is this not the case? That cap certainly is not moving in any way.

-Speak