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Old 01-30-2019, 11:26 AM   #1
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Replacing The Stock Tongue Jack

I didn’t opt for the electric tongue jack on my 21’ Escape, just wish I had. I just saw this Lippert model that makes it easy to use a battery powered drill for power.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...KIKX0DER&psc=1

Has anyone tried it?
I don’t know what the standard jack lift is. It seems that the 14” lift may not be adequate.
I would appreciate anyone’s thoughts.
CC
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Old 01-30-2019, 11:37 AM   #2
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Here in Canada we can get a real power jack for about $110 Canadian on sale at Princes Auto. I am sure in the states you can get one cheaper and not have to worry about the drill.

As for the rise 14 inches is plenty. We always carry a block of wood to put under if not or we don’t want to mark a friends driveway.
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Old 01-30-2019, 12:22 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ccourt9283 View Post
I didn’t opt for the electric tongue jack on my 21’ Escape, just wish I had. I just saw this Lippert model that makes it easy to use a battery powered drill for power.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...KIKX0DER&psc=1

Has anyone tried it?
I don’t know what the standard jack lift is. It seems that the 14” lift may not be adequate.
I would appreciate anyone’s thoughts.
CC
14" lift appears to be pretty standard for A-frame jacks. Note that due to interference issues with the propane tank cover the manual jacks that ETI uses are sidewind, not topwind. So basically if your drill was dead and you needed to manually wind the new Lippert that you linked you might have a problem. Ok with the propane cover off maybe??
On edit: It appears that Escape uses a Braber Equipment BE-130 manual sidewind jack rated at 2,000#. The catalog I found says 13.5" extension.

Besides the above the jack you linked appears adequate for the task. If it were me though (and I didn't have rear hatch/tailgate interference) I would just go electric. It appears that Escape is now using one from Lippert, but my preference would be the Barker VIP. Made in the USA and I like the level disk on top. You have the choice of 18" or 24" stroke with the VIP 3000/3500, but 18" is more than adequate.

https://www.barkermfg.com/power-jacks.html

Or if you are up for modifying your current jack to make it work with a drill you could do this:
http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9...tml#post272352
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Old 01-31-2019, 09:38 AM   #4
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My thanks to both of you. My trailer is stored at a relatives farm about an hour from my home and haven't looked at the current jack in awhile. I think I’ll just get an electric one.
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Old 01-31-2019, 01:21 PM   #5
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My one concern with using a drill is to ask how much strength do you (or anyone else using it) have in your hands? I tried one on the KoJack levelers we use and it about flew out of my hands and knocked the teeth out of both me and Dirk. Not quite, but that's what it seemed like. I just don't have the strength to hold on to it.


The power jack was a definite YES on our build sheet. There wasn't any discussion over that one.



I had a camping neighbor using a power drill for whatever on his trailer. Boy, was it noisy! I was just glad he wasn't using it in the wee hours. If I know I'm leaving early in the morning, I try to hitch up the night before, if at all possible.
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Old 01-31-2019, 04:58 PM   #6
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Using a drill is harder because once there starts to be a load it wants to rotate. If it's spinning fast then, yes, it can try and break your wrist.

Using an impact drill is easier because it just rat-a-tats away without the same kind of arm strain. But, yes, it's noisy and I can stand to use it when others are around.

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Old 01-31-2019, 10:45 PM   #7
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for this sort of thing, you want one of those drill-drivers with the 2-speed gearbox, and put it in the low gear setting, then take your time modulating the speed with the trigger. the older bigger-heavier battery drills are actually better as they have more leverage.
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