Atwood Fifth Wheel Jack - Electric Motor instead of Hand cranking - Fiberglass RV
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Old 07-19-2009, 09:20 PM   #1
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Trailer: 2004 19 ft Scamp 19 ft 5th Wheel
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Has anyone added the optional motor to the front jacks on the Scamp 5th Wheel instead of hand cranking?

If so can you let me know if this works well or not. I am looking for something different than having to hand cranking it all the time.

If you have installed the motor and you did it yourself can you let me know the difficulty level.

Also if anyone else is using a different idea to getting the "landing gear" up and down I would be open to those ideas too

Thanks.
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Old 07-19-2009, 10:55 PM   #2
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I got the motor (used on eBay) just before leaving for the Oregon Gathering last week. My shoulder just isn't up to cranking the trailer up and down anymore, and I had to do something about it.

I bought my motor on eBay and a "DPDT Momentary-On" switch and project enclosure from Radio Shack, and wire (5 feet each of 12g stranded black and white wire) from Home Depot. I got the switch box and wires put together before heading out, but had to go to a specialty hardware store to get two M8-1.0 bolts that weren't included with the used motor. I took the whole mess to Bandon and had planned to install it during the gathering, but discovered the 100mm I bought bolts were 10mm too long. They should have been 90mm.

I'm hoping to avoid cranking the trailer off the truck when I put our 5er into storage tomorrow, so this evening after getting back from Bandon I shortened the bolts with a hacksaw and bolted the motor in place, then the sun went down. I'll install the wiring harness tomorrow and tell you how it goes.
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Old 07-20-2009, 09:23 AM   #3
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Order a new handle, cut the handle off the shaft then use a battery powered drill to raise and lower the trailer. Works great.
I keep a manual handle available if drill motor batteries run down or for leaving camp grounds early in the morning.
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Old 07-20-2009, 01:22 PM   #4
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Gail - Eddie's idea is great. And, anyway, I ordered a second one **just in case** - if you lose one - not only up S*** creek with no paddle, I think you are up with no canoe! So, we bought a spare and keep it in the cabinet above the bath (we have front bath) which is accessible from the loft.

I **MAY** have to get another one for the drill... hmmmmmmmmmm.......



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Old 07-22-2009, 12:09 AM   #5
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Order a new handle, cut the handle off the shaft then use a battery powered drill to raise and lower the trailer. Works great.
I keep a manual handle available if drill motor batteries run down or for leaving camp grounds early in the morning.
You may also have to get a different chuck for your drill or have the shaft turned down. My crank has a larger diameter than th 3/8" max size for my B&D cordless drill.

And the loft lift motor experiment? It was a blazing success! Then, as happens with blazing things, the cheap Radio Shack switch I was using broke, and would only crank the trailer up, not down.

Sigh. Cheap ass switch. I'll order a better quality switch and try again. I have confirmed, however, that the motor does not interfere with using the hand crank to raise and lower the landing gear.
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Old 07-22-2009, 05:40 AM   #6
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You may also have to get a different chuck for your drill or have the shaft turned down. My crank has a larger diameter than th 3/8" max size for my B&D cordless drill.

And the loft lift motor experiment? It was a blazing success! Then, as happens with blazing things, the cheap Radio Shack switch I was using broke, and would only crank the trailer up, not down.

Sigh. Cheap ass switch. I'll order a better quality switch and try again. I have confirmed, however, that the motor does not interfere with using the hand crank to raise and lower the landing gear.

Peter, I glad to hear the motor worked great. Sorry about the switch. I will admit I didn't wait for your response but ordered a complete Atwood 5th Wheel Jack 12v DC Motor Kit 75391 from ebay for 1/2 retail price. I decided it was only money and I was worth it.

I am looking forward to not having to hand crank all the time and I know my shoulder will thank me. It doesn't quite work the same after I broke it. The motor is suppose to be here on Thursday. May install it this weekend.

I was all prepared to do the "drill" thing but was concerned it wouldn't work as well as I wanted it to. Also I know me, no matter how much I try my luck the drill would be "temporarily" borrowed and never put back or the battery would not be charged, etc just when I need it.

Thanks for everyone's help. Whenever I have an idea for my camper it is great to know that I can come here and get awesome advice and know someone else has probably tried whatever idea I have come up with.

See everyone on the road or in a campground.

Gail
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Old 08-03-2009, 07:06 PM   #7
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Reporting back on adding a motor to eliminate hand cranking.

This weekend with my dad's help the motor and switch were mounted. It wasn't difficult.

I am happy to report that it works great!!!!!!

It was really nice to unhook everything, lower the legs and then push a switch and up came the camper off the ball. Pulled forwarded and then lowered the camper back down to level it out.

I now am wondering what took me so long realize what a pain the hand cranking was.

You know what they say about hindsight being 20/20.
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Old 08-03-2009, 09:57 PM   #8
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After another 31 days on the road with the Scamp 13 one of the things I returned with on my list for winter mods, was a power tongue jack.... If I'm tired of cranking the lil 13 up and down, I can imagine what you 5th wheelers are going thru.
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Old 08-04-2009, 12:30 AM   #9
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Hmm. I think the folding type of tongue jack saves a lot of cranking because it folds down into near earth contact. Then a few turns and, voila!
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Old 08-04-2009, 02:31 PM   #10
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Hmm. I think the folding type of tongue jack saves a lot of cranking because it folds down into near earth contact. Then a few turns and, voila!
I had one of those originally Roger and there was indeed less cranking. However, after banging and skinning my knuckles on the propane tank I changed to the center A-frame tongue jack with a front crank. On our trailer at least, the center jack seems to have much better stability then the side mounted jack did. Now, I'm thinkin I want to just hit a button....
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Old 08-04-2009, 05:47 PM   #11
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I'm with Greg. I've left enough blood on the propane tank... you'd think all the red was some sort of racing stripes!
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Old 07-30-2013, 11:28 PM   #12
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Order a new handle, cut the handle off the shaft then use a battery powered drill to raise and lower the trailer. Works great.
I keep a manual handle available if drill motor batteries run down or for leaving camp grounds early in the morning.
Or you can go to Home Depot or Lowes, buy a 1/2-inch keyless chuck, thread the handle that was cut off for the keyless chuck, and if necessary, "reassemble" the two parts into a manual handle should the electric drill battery die. You don't have to buy a second crank.
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Old 07-31-2013, 06:26 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by CPW View Post
Quote:
Order a new handle, cut the handle off the shaft then use a battery powered drill to raise and lower the trailer. Works great.
I keep a manual handle available if drill motor batteries run down or for leaving camp grounds early in the morning.
Or you can go to Home Depot or Lowes, buy a 1/2-inch keyless chuck, thread the handle that was cut off for the keyless chuck, and if necessary, "reassemble" the two parts into a manual handle should the electric drill battery die. You don't have to buy a second crank.
Old thread, and I don't think there's enough room to thread one side and grip the other if you cut it. There's a proper motor already built for it that works great, requires no setup, and runs off the trailer battery, so you don't have to worry about carrying a drill or having barged batteries. Plus, the drill chuck would have to be changed to 1/2", also. By the time you get two good chucks, you're getting close to spending as much to Mickey Mouse it, as it takes to put the right part on.
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