Mounting The Ultimate Trailer Jack to a Pole Tongue Hymer

[OCJohn]

The trailer jack that came with our Hymer was a cheapo, fold-up deal rated for 1000lbs. Capacity was fine. The trouble was, it's lowest height wasn't always low enough to get the trailer level on uneven ground. After finishing the tongue extension the problem was worse, and it was too low be dropped into place even on level ground.

I found my solution with the Ultimate Trailer Jack. Trouble with that, however, was it came only with a three-hole flange mount for an A-frame tongue... My workaround was to cut off the flange and weld the base collar to my own bracket. Works slick, and the adjustable starting height makes it much faster to raise and lower.

NOW I'm ready for Quartzsite!

[Jon in AZ]

Very nice!

[mary and bob]

Or you could have made a bracket to accept the three bolt flange. I did that with our teardrop camper. Your solution looks good. Since the jack is kind of sloppy in the mounting tube I didn't trust it to stay up while traveling so I have a short chain from the tongue to the jack foot that clips on for travel. I also modified the guide groove so I can pull the jack up out of the base if I want. I do like the Ultimate Jack and it works good for me to open the truck tailgate with the trailer hooked up.

[OCJohn]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

Or you could have made a bracket to accept the three bolt flange.

I definitely didn't take the easy route. But to be honest, the scariest part of the project was drilling the 2 3/8" hole. (I really hate hole saws...)

[Doctor Harold]

Very nice!!

[mary and bob]

That bracket looks great. Did you fabricate it. Had you thought about welding it on the tongue instead of the bolts. Nice work, I like it !

[OCJohn]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

That bracket looks great. Did you fabricate it. Had you thought about welding it on the tongue instead of the bolts. Nice work, I like it !

Thanks. Fab work is mine. It’s just 5x5x3/16” square tube cut at about 30° with a plate stuck on the back. I ruled out welding on the tongue for a couple reasons. One, I’ve never taken nor passed a welding test. So even when my welds look okay (not a given), I’m more confident on items that I can start over on if I screw up.

The other reason for a bolt-on is the Hymer tongue is galvanized and I’d rather not burn off the zinc coating. If I ever get so ambitious that I replace the stock tongue, I might not be so squeamish.

[Timber Wolf]

I put the Ultimate Jack on the tongue of my old Scamp and like it a lot. At the camp ground and site I set up at the most the ground is pretty sloped and the Ultimate makes short work of it. Over the years I have blocked up the low side, then started digging in the high side. But recently I discovered that by canting the trailer in at an angle it is actually level side to side as is! Then I lower the jack till the tongue is a couple of inches off the ground and I am set. It is low enough at the door to do with out an extra step but I usually set one up anyway, but I have to dig it in.

[redbarron55]

When I rebuilt and extended the frame on my 16' Scamp I used a Bulldog hitch with the mounting included like this:

This forms the 55* angle that I used when building the front part of the frame.
This jack works great and I use it to tilt down the trailer to put the rear stabilizers down and then back up to load them.
After that I raise the front and drop the two stabilizers I installed under the frame to help the wobble in the front.

[ThomasC]

Originally Posted by OCJohn

Thanks. Fab work is mine. It’s just 5x5x3/16” square tube cut at about 30° with a plate stuck on the back. I ruled out welding on the tongue for a couple reasons. One, I’ve never taken nor passed a welding test. So even when my welds look okay (not a given), I’m more confident on items that I can start over on if I screw up.

The other reason for a bolt-on is the Hymer tongue is galvanized and I’d rather not burn off the zinc coating. If I ever get so ambitious that I replace the stock tongue, I might not be so squeamish.

Yeah trying to weld Galvy is tough. You really have to grind it off and then it will rust. When I worked for Mercedes they had a great product called Zinc dust to touch up any exposed metal that wasn't covered with the body paint. It was finely ground zinc in some kind of a clear paint base. I worked great. It dried a dark grey and it stopped rust in it's tracks. I bought a quart more than 20 years ago and it was well over $50.00

[OCJohn]

Originally Posted by redbarron55

When I rebuilt and extended the frame on my 16' Scamp I used a Bulldog hitch with the mounting included like this...

Yeah, you've got a lot more options with an A-frame tongue. This is what I'm dealing with:

[WaltP]

John
Nice work. Sure glad I haven't had to deal with a pole tongue. Hope I get to see your rig next week.

Walt

[OCJohn]

Look forward to meeting you Walt. I doubt we’ll be hard to find.

[Raspy]

My solution to the jack not reaching far enough down, was to make brackets that mount it below the frame, instead of straddling the frame. Then I built a foot with extension that telescopes up into the jack. This allows it to either have a wheel, or a foot. The foot has a pin and drops out if not needed.