Newbie (idiot) trailer question?

[Anonymous Poster]

Just how does one go about breaking a trailer jack? I would love to know since I just broke mine! Brand new 18' car trailer came home today (my first trailer larger than a motorcycle trailer). Took the pin out, dropped the jack and went to crank on the handle, it hit a bit of resistance and then snap the handle is just dangling. Feeling very embarrassed, and stupid but mostly just wanting to know what the hell I did even if it causes further embarrassment (highly likely I am guessing - esp. when I call the dealer in the morning)! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Bird]

Sure wish I could see that trailer jack. There are several different types and my experience has been that they rarely brake unless they're left down, hit the ground while in motion, and bend or break. Were you trying to lower the jack at the time; i.e., raise the front of the trailer? And do you know that you were turning the crank the right direction? I watched a fellow wear himself out and have to go take a break once trying to lower the front end of his trailer to pick up the jack and he was at the maximum height and turning the crank the wrong direction. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Mark_in_NH]

I have to agree with Bird. I have replaced the one on my fathers trailer only because the internal guts stopped working, but I have never broken one or seen one brake like you describe.
Is it possible that you were turning the handle the wrong way to lower it ?
If the trailer is new like you say, it's possible you just got a faulty / crappy jack ! It may well require a call to the dealer you bought the trailer from.

 

[Steven]

Bring it back to dealer. sounds like somthing is wrong it should not of broke by just hand pressure. thats what a warranty is for.

 

[Egon]

Bird:

Remember the left and right hand wheel lug nuts on the old Chrysler products.

Egon

 

[Mark_in_NH]

Egon,
I certainly can't speak for Bird, but I remember them.
My 1968 Barracuda had em.

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

my knuckles remember them /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[chrisjbell]

Yeah, I'm with the other folks. Bet you spun it the wrong way and as soon as the threads inside the mechanism came off the guide they popped apart (the snap!) and from then on the handle would just spin because the threaded part was no longer in line with the socket part of the handle.

Uh, this barely makes sense to me /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif. But it's the best I can do... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Oh, almost forgot... I also agree that if you could break something by hand that there was a big problem with something else that you didn't cause. Those things need to be (and are) pretty darn tough. Yeah, you can break 'em - if you use your towing vehicle to slam them into the ground. But you should not have been able to damage it by hand cranking - you should run out of muscle before it runs out of resistance. Kind of like most tractors - enough power, not enough traction /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Remember the left and right hand wheel lug nuts on the old Chrysler products )</font>

Yep, they were common, but the last left hand lug nuts I encountered were on an old Ford pickup (don't remember the model) in Anchorage in '91. They were good strong lug bolts though because I didn't damage them even when I did my best to turn them the wrong way. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Egon]

Back to the jack:

Brand new and then a cracking noise. My quess would be a manufacturing fault.

By the way, remember Franz's description of dumb questions ?

Only an "IDIOT" doesn't question what is perplexing him.

Egon