Trailer Tongue Jack disassembled itself

[Greg]

The trailer tongue jack disassembled itself yesterday while we were rounding the Capitol Beltway. Luckily I had a hacksaw with me and was able to cut it off to keep it from dragging. Anyone experienced this and any suggestions for replacement?

[richandlori]

Greg,
Do you mean that the wheel "lower" itself and was dragging?

Rich

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

So far the jack on mine keeps on working, although the sounds it makes at times lead me to believe it may not be long until it fails.

I would think any on the bolt on ones would work. I'd replace mine with one that pivots so I don't have to remove the wheel all the time.

I never leave the wheel on while trailering, the clearance is too low. Even backing the boat into it's slot in my backyard the wheel is too low going over the gravel between the end of the driveway and the grass in the backyard.

[Frank C]

I haven't looked closely at mine, but I recall an owner said his just fell apart. There may be a simple roll-pin that holds all the internals within the welded jack tube. Agree w/Duane, I'd just as soon have a bolt-on pivot model. If I ever get the trailer close enough to a welder, may just have that factory jack unit zipped-off the rail.

[Greg]

When I hitched the trailer to the truck, I removed the wheel from the jack (like always) and my daughter cranked it up while I finished packing. She said she did not force it when it was up all the way. We had gone appx 25 miles when we heard a ting ting ting then a louder noise. I stopped and found the part of the jack that the wheel slips on (retractable tube)had fallen down and was kinked rearward from dragging. Inside the tube a threaded rod was floating free against the asphalt. Not wanting to take the risk of being hit on the roadside of a busy highway (my wife's cousin was hit and killed while changing a tire for someone on the interstate), I drove to the nearest point where I could safely cut the tube off. We continued and launched for our first day trip on the Chesapeake Bay and had a good time while on the water. The day ended with the winch strap breaking when I pulled the boat out of the water. The funny thing is, I bought the boat in June and trailered it 1200 miles to get it home, worked on it for a month prepping it for our vacation, then trailered it 2000 miles though New York and Ohio... no problems. The first trip 50 miles from home, one thing after another. As long as it ends on an even keel.

[jklightner]

My factory jack is FUBAR, and I have added an after market pivioting one from Boaters World. Then I took a sawz-all and whacked the old tube off. This has worked ok for me, however, my neighbor who does welding, made a stand for my trailer which sits under where the three rails come together. So the jack doesn't have to support the weight often. Only when taking it off or on the stand and my Jeep.

[Rusty]

I had a 1978 Mac25 for a couple of years (read 1978 - 1980) and never had a problem with the jack. Of course, back in the day we didn't have computers let alone a wonderful forum like this. I used automotive jack stands when the unit was in the driveway and only used the trailor jack to raise and lower the trailor on/off the car. I didn't even consider the possibility of the dang thing falling apart!

As I said, this is a wonderful forum for sharing horror stories as well passing along great information. I am collecting all these great nuggets of information for the eventual purchase of another Mac. Maybe in a year of two.

Rusty