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04-14-2021, 07:35 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Seattle, Washington
Trailer: 2018 17A
Posts: 149
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12 volt electric jack
Has anyone had experience, good or bad, with the little 12v jacks? Scissors or hydraulic? Seems a lot easier than crawling under to crank.
The jacks featured on Amazon seem wonderful until you read the one- and two-star reviews.
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04-15-2021, 06:37 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Tampa Bay Area, Florida
Trailer: 2015 Escape 5.0TA (Little Elsie) Extensively Personalized
Posts: 2,960
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My experience with any 12 vdc “accessory” (or 120 vac, for that matter, is that once they fail, you are often dead in the water. While manual operation may be less convenient, it is more reliable. It doesn’t matter if it is a vehicle’s power window, starter, or even a blender. In the case of the blender, it is likely frozen drinks won’t be happening. I’ve never “crawled under” to crank, simply squatted. And I do not use an electric drill to operate the stabilizers because they are intended to make contact and the be turned another 1/8 to 1/4 turn. Using an electric drill does not allow me to “feel” the tension. And honestly, if I’m on the road for three months making multiple stops/set-ups, I seriously doubt I spend even 5 minutes total on one knee cranking stabilizers up and down. Converting to powered 12 volt jacks is one modification I personally would not even consider.
__________________
What a long strange trip it’s been!
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04-15-2021, 09:07 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Benton County, Iowa
Trailer: 2013 Escape 21 Classic Number 6, pulled by 2018 Toyota Highlander
Posts: 8,235
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Hi Carl,
Although I own at least 3 12 volt tools that would put my stabilizers down, I too, hand crank them or Rita does it. Same with jacking up the trailer in the shop, I get down on the ground and carefully place the hydraulic floor jack and raise the trailer. A few folks, seeing me on my knees putting the stabilizers down have offered their battery powered drills. Half joking and half serious I flex my puny arms and say “I’ve been 73 years building up these guns and I’m not letting them go to hell now. I don’t lift weights either, I carry big stuff around the yard and wrestle my dog. I do 12 ounce curls at the end of the day. Have a great day, Carl.
Iowa Dave
__________________
Ain’t no trouble jacking a double Burma Shave
Dave
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04-15-2021, 12:01 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Seattle, Washington
Trailer: 2018 17A
Posts: 149
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Sorry; I should have been clearer. I meant the type of jack to raise the wheel, say for changing a tire or adjusting the brakes. Could be used on the tow vehicle as well
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04-15-2021, 04:28 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Tampa Bay Area, Florida
Trailer: 2015 Escape 5.0TA (Little Elsie) Extensively Personalized
Posts: 2,960
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Quote:
Originally Posted by noblets
Sorry; I should have been clearer. I meant the type of jack to raise the wheel, say for changing a tire or adjusting the brakes. Could be used on the tow vehicle as well
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That’s different, if it were being used primarily at home. But again, how often are you going to be needing to elevate the trailer to pack wheel bearings and/or adjust brakes. I have found I can go 10,000 miles w/o adjusting brakes, so I typically do it once a year when two service the bearings. Is it worth the cost to you for occasional use? I once considered an air powered hydraulic jack, but couldn’t justify the cost based on how much it would be used. Consider also anything other than a basic jack such as a 6-ton bottle jack is going to be bulky and heavier. I’m not sure how Donna transports the aluminum floor Jack she displayed. It would seem to take up a lot of space. But like her, I do not care for the jack that Ford provides in the F-150, so I carry a 6-ton bottle jack that is in a carry case in the front compartment of my 5.0TA. Like her, I have the earlier model which had leaf springs rather than torsion axles and as she stated, the correct jacking point is on the axle itself as close to the wheel as possible. I keep a 36-inch 2x4 “block” with very strong magnets countersunk on both ends so that it “grabs” the bottom sides of both axles. The 2x4 provides a stable surface on which to jack and prevents slipping that could occur if a short block was used on only one axle. Unfortunately, the aforementioned comma shaped quick jacks do not provide enough lift with the leaf spring 5.0TAs. If it gets to the point that I have difficulty jacking up the trailer or the tow vehicle, I will probably consider if I should be RVing anymore. But at the age of 72 I can still manage to get down to perform these “low level” tasks.
__________________
What a long strange trip it’s been!
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04-15-2021, 10:56 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Seattle, Washington
Trailer: 2018 17A
Posts: 149
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Well, I'm coming up on 82, and I'm not ready to give up on trailering because I have a hard time getting my bony old booty up off the pavement.
I had a lovely floor jack, nice long handle, left over from a previous life. It did a great job of lifting the trailer for this or that.
Trouble was, it got too heavy for me to lift up out of the basement (no garage, sigh!). So I sold it.
Now, no jack, except for the little puny scissors jack that came with the tow vehicle (Toyota Tacoma).
I had dreams of sliding that little electric WHEEL jack under the trailer, then relaxing in a camp chair with a diet Coke, while the thing did its magic. I also had thoughts of toting it along on trips, because I have had that occasional flat tire on both the trailer and the tow. Why else do we carry spares? Could save some weight if we left them home, no?
I don't have any problems operating the STABILIZER jack by hand, especially with that nice, long handle that ETI gives us.
So, my original question: Has anyone had any experience with the little 12volt WHEEL jacks, either hydraulic or scissor? Thanks for the input
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