BAL - bent it!

[DogHaus]

Yikes, had trouble lowering the BAL last time around, and when I pulled it out found that I had bent one of the tabs that holds the screw part in place. It had shifted and come part way out. That would have been an accident if it had come all the way out!
So, has anyone had a similar experience? I think we can bend it back easily enough, but I'm wondering how strong it will be after being bent back and forth...

[DogHaus]

here are pics of the bent part...

[iplumb]

Mine came bent like that, i thought it happened in shipping. I bent it back and never looked back...

[Roy in TO]

I'd take the pieces apart and straighten the tabs, then reassemble. Strengthwise you are dealing with compression rather than tension or torque. Big difference.

[rabbit]

You can cold set (whack it straight) the hanger for the barrel nut. What interests me is your inititial statement. What trouble did you have lowering the jack? Jackscrew turning unusually hard? If that's the case AND you had a site on loose sand or dirt AND you had rain during your stay, probably a good deal of grit splashed up on the threads exposed below the barrel nut and created resistance in the threads.

This is one of the times when you don't wait to get home to overhaul, clean and lube. Brush the sand out of the screw threads with a scrub brush or dust brush. Squirt some water on it if you've got a bike water bottle, or spray it off with your water hose if you're on city water.

Actually grease or oil is the last thing the screw needs (attracts and holds dirt and grit). Ok to dry it off later and maybe a bit of Teflon dry lube or even a wipe down with an oily rag to prevent rust. You'll have less of a workout with the ratcheting wrench and won't grind the threads off your screw if you do this one little in-use maintenance task.

jack

[DogHaus]

Rabbit: it was turning VERY hard, and it was dark and raining, so I tried adding a little grease and kept turning it...but I knew something was wrong. when I got it out from under the wheel I saw that it had come part way out of the tab and the threads were grinding on the tab itself. I think I bent the tab out when I had to use the BAL to lift the camper up enough to get the tongue jack to swing...did you see my other thread about tongue jack too low? I was trying everything I could to hitch up that night, and in the end just pulled the camper forward with my hands on the tongue to get it to line up with the ball. Let's just say I was at the end of my rope.