Exactly how do the current electric rear jacks work?

dennylm

Active Member
Well, we've made the decision to go with the 3055! (Sorry Sunnybrook!) Still need to get some questions answered regarding options. I looked through the other threads and am still confused about whether or not I want the electric rear jacks since I have no experience with them.

Do they "self-level"? In other words, say I'm on a site that slopes left to right and I've already leveled the trailer as best I can with boards under the tires on the left side, but the surface back where the rear jacks are is slightly more sloped. When I lower the electric rear jacks, will the pads hit the ground at two different times before they attempt to lift the trailer? Or do I first have to make the spots level with blocks where they will hit the ground? If I have to do that, it seems it would make more sense to just go the 18v drill route so I can drop each of them separately for fine-tune leveling without having to first adjust the heights of the pad blocks.

If that made ANY sense to anyone :eek:, I'd appreciated knowing how the current electric jacks function.

Thanks! What a GREAT site!

Denny
 

cdbMidland

Past Michigan Chapter Leader
Denny, on my unit, the pads go down at different times and can be moved a bit during the lowering process. I love the convenience of the electric jacks.
 

dennylm

Active Member
Thanks Chuck (or Saundra?)!

Let me be sure I understand. As they are lowering, when the first pad hits the ground, the system waits until the second pad has arrived before trying to lift the trailer? If that is the case, then I guess there isn't any fine-tuning of level since it sounds like they are just doing their job of stablization?

Maybe I'm making too much of this level fine-tuning? Do you actually try to fine-tune with the jacks or simply stablize what's already level?

Denny
 

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
Denny;
Your understanding is correct. When you are lowering the jacks, as soon as the first pad hits the ground, it waits until the other side hits and then they lift with equal force on each side. They aren't super fast but I won't go back to the individual jacks again.
John
 

sailorand

Past British Columbia Chapter Leader
electric jacks

We have them a really like them. The motor is not strong enough to lift the aft end of the unit very high so do not use them to level the unit. I use the front jscks to level as the motor is stronger
 
K

Ken Washington

Guest
You will never be sorry about getting them!

Ken
 

dieselengineer

Charter Member
The whole motor drive unit is on a slide. The arms are at a fixed point on the frame. So when the drive screw moves the center of the leg and one leg touches down the whole motor drive will keep moving until the other leg touches down. The negitive this operation is if one leg (say the blocks slip) the other leg is also not supporting the load. The plus is they are easy to use.
 
Wow great responses as the trailer I am looking at has these and the salesman did not explain it like you guys. I thought at first like the original poster
 

cramor

Member
electric rear jacks

dont put to much stress on them, i just noticed that our unit is bent in the middle. i think what happened is when we took deleivery of our trailer the ground was frozen. parked the rig for the rest of the winter and the ground thawed. trailer sank about three inched putting to much weight on the stabilizor jacks bending them. they still work but cant take hardly any weight so rear of tralior isnt as stabile. plan on taking it off and straighting it and reinforcing with 2 inch angle iron on both side. will be a whole lot stronger. i am really surprized the screw shaft didnt get bent.
 
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