Boler tongue jack replacing?

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Hi there.

The tongue jack on my 13' Boler is really sloppy in that when you click it from horizontal to the tongue to vertical in preparation for jacking, once it clicks in vertical there's quite a bit of play. Still safe I believe, but when you transfer the 1/2 - 1" play, it probably makes a few inches of play when the Boler is jacked up on the front.

1. Is this usual?
2. Can this be fixed or do you just replace the jack?
3. The jack looks like it's base is welded to the front - is this tough to replace - and also, where can you get a decent replacement?

Thx.

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Not sure where you're located, but Princess Auto has trailer jacks at reasonable prices. As for the mechanical part of it - sorry, not my specialty these days. If you're just jacking up to get the tongue off the ball but then placing separate jack stands, maybe your tongue jack will still do the job for a while?

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I'm not sure how your tongue jack is attached, but mine is held on by three bolts. Fairly inexpensive to purchase; Very easy to replace. Took about ten minutes.

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My Boler used to have a welded-on jack like that. Some previous owner removed the jack's mechanical elements (held on by a big ring) and bolted a new on onto the other side of the tounge. I've never tried - but if these things have remained fairly standard, it might be possible to put a new jack onto the old mounting plate. If not - not great loss to have an extra plate stuck on there.

mkw

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Orginally posted by rproudman

Hi there.

The tongue jack on my 13' Boler is really sloppy
Thx.

Howdy, Hope you have a friend with a welder because if I`m right it`s a about a 10 cent fix..Get a thick 5/16 flat washer and drill it to the size of the pin (about 3/8"), which protrudes about 3/8" trough the assembly when in the vertical position. Slip it over the pin and get it buzzed on the fixed part of the jack assembly. Should work just fine if the play concerns you and the play is in that portion of the jack...Good luck, Benny

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great idea i think i will give it a try .:cheers

:cry washers are to thick to fit inbetween plates and going with outside i can only get to one pin hole othe is covered by frame .

so for me it looks lke a weld build up then redrill most annoying!!

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If you're going to get a jack from princess auto (or anywhere else), make sure you measure the vertical distance from the bottom of the boler frame to the ground, when the boler is hooked up to your tow vehicle and tow vehicle has it's fully loaded wait in the trunk or whatever. Also subtract a couple of inches from that to compensate for any ground irregularity that you might encounter at the campsite.

I bought a new jack with a wheel on the bottom and despite careful measuring, still find myself occasionally having to dig out a few inches of ground just to get the wheel down, or using one of my jacks to lift the tongue up just so I can get the jack to lower down.

Also make sure you get one with enough travel distance.

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Good point Herb!

My dad put a new jack on mine when I picked it up. He used the wheelless type, but I needed the wheel to lug it around, so I (thinking I was soooo smart) went out , got a castor wheel from Princess Auto, bolted it on to the bottom foot, went to turn the jack down, and ..... well you guessed it - too high! Boy did I feel silly!

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In my case, it was further complicated because I'd built a storage rack on the front of the tongue to hold batteries, propane tank, cooler, and firewood. So I had to get a jack that fit in front of this rack, would still allow the handle to turn while clearing batteries and firewood, had enough travel to level the trailer, wasn't too tall so I could still swing the jack down, and would also swing up and store underneath the rack, and finally, had a wheel so I could move the trailer around on my sloped driveway.

It was like solving a quadratic equation and I suck at math.

I did manage to find one that met all these qualifications at Princess Auto amazingly enough.

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I had to replace the tongue jack too. My plate was welded to the frame and I didn't want to re do that. So I bought a new jack, removed the new plate from the new jack by taking off the split-ring retainer and put the new jack onto the old base. I found that they are not all standard and that the space for the split ring was partially covered by the new jack. I had to get a thinner split ring.
That worked well except that the retaining pins were a different size. the new pin was larger than the holes in the old base. Had to drill them out some to fit.

Then I found that it was too tall to use to remove the tongue from my car hitch. I cut a few inches off the tube that is the foot.

Now all is great! Still, I wanted a wheel too. but I decided to use the tongue dolly that I already had. IT is better than a single wheel on the jack. These dollys are available at Harbor Freight. Got mine for $39<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3f0c4915bc090dolly.gif/>

Then I made a mount on the tongue for the dolly so that it is always with me.<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3f0c49e8d6e88tongue-dolly-mount.jpg/>

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Make sure you check the diameter of the new jack if you get it. I bought one and the hole where it goes is 3/8 of an inch or so narrower than the replacement jack. I returned the jack to the store and asked about getting a thinner one... nope... nada... don't make 'em. I ended up buying a bolt on swing away jack that is actually for a boat trailer. I had to cut off the base plate for the propane tank so I would have the room to place it on the frame. No biggie as I was going to get rid of the 20lb tank anyway and just go with the 1lb disposables. Amazing how you start off thinking ahhh, 10 minute job... and two days later your still rigging things up ;)

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[quote]Orginally posted by Al V

great idea i think i will give it a try .:cheers

:cry washers are to thick to fit inbetween plates and going with outside i can only get to one pin hole othe is covered by frame .

quote]Hi again...Guess that I was wrong...If your jack is like mine it will cost you 30 cents or so....If you look at the locking pin where the spring is there is a cotter pin holding everything together. Block up your tongue and then remove the cotter pin and then the lock pin will come right out. Remove the existing washer and the spring also....Now you can weld a washer in each of the three pin holes...Put the pin back in without the spring and tack in the washers..remove the pin and finish the welding. If the holes are too tight you can run a drill through all three holes of the same size as the lock pin and then if still tight just touch up with a round file...Reinstall the pin, spring, washer and cotter pin and all should be good as new unless you have a different jack...then disregard all the previous info and happy shopping...Let me know...Good luck...Benny

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Here is a mod. I did to our Boler. From Princess Auto for $89.00 + tax. It is removeable and adjustable for hight, has 10" travel, wrachet action drive in foward,reverse,netural,and park. It swivels and has a removeable handle and holds 500 lbs. works real slick!!!<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3f1873686b6daBoler Mods 001.jpg/> <img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3f18738e94ee2Boler Mods 002.jpg/> <img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3f1873c629823Boler Mods 003.jpg/> <img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3f1873e4d1f75Boler Mods 004.jpg/> <img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3f18740604e3aBoler Mods 005.jpg/>

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My Burro had one of those welded on side jacks that was really crooked an wobbley.
Lucky for me I had the hole in the tongue for the tongue jack. I just bought a standard tongue jack with wheel and made shims of hard oak to take up the space between the jack mount and where I really wanted it to line up with the ground. It works great. Oak shims (3) are about 3/4 inch thick and approx 4 by 4 inches. I slathered them with several coats of poly before painting them black. I't all very rock solid.