2020 26dbh power tongue jack

[Kallen425]

I was going to rotate my power tongue jack so I can open my truck's tail gate all the way. When I went to do this, NONE of the bolt holes would line up. So I looked at rotating just the head of the jack and that has a rectangular mounting plate so no rotating that just 90 degrees. Did Forest River change the style of power tongue jacks on the 2020 models? It appears I cannot just rotate mine. Any ideas? Thought about drilling new holes in the jack's mounting plate but was worried it would weaken it too much.

[palusza]

What brand jack do you have?

[Robbie D. Camper]

You piqued my curiosity so I took a look at mine (2019 26dbh limited). I would not drill new holes. I think you're right to worry about the effects on the strength of the plate on the a-frame. Maybe you have a different jack than ours? I think the jack head wouldn't clear the lp tank cover if it was rotated, either.

[Kallen425]

I am not sure on the brand of jack. It does not have a brand name on it anywhere and there is not a manual for the jack in any of my paperwork that came with the trailer. I'll get some pictures soon.

[Kallen425]

Here are some pictures, not sure why they are sideways and I cannot rotate them.

[lorenc]

I rotated mine 90 degrees and just drilled and tapped two new holes works fine.
Don’t understand why they can’t locate then at the factory an inch or so back!

[Tundra 2014]

Mine is the same way, V-front 275 VSL. I tried rotating 120 degrees, holes did not match and already close to front V if turned. Disappointing that the engineers that designed the whole trailer can not figure this out. If they had even drilled holes exactly @ 120 degrees, it would have worked w/ switches to one side. I may weld a plate on w/ the correct tongue holes and bolt current jack bracket to that.

[bikendan]

Its the jack manufacturers fault, not the RV manufacturers. They all use a standard hole pattern for the jack.

[Kallen425]

Well if the holes in the trailer are all standard, what brand jack can i get that allows me to just rotate the head of the jack?

[Tundra 2014]

If all jacks use the same bolt pattern, which makes sense for replacement. Then Forrest River could move the holes for the jack back 1". it would solve the problem for most cases. My previous brand of trailer, was not a problem. I would bet they have heard this before. Really a pain having to lift over the tailgate, because it can not be put down w/ trailer attached. They could even save an inch of wire per trailer. LOL
Yeah, I know the jack comes w/ the wire loom.

[MR.M]

I just installed the husky jack recently and to rotate accommodate the tail gate required drilling 2holes on the jacks mounting plated . Works great. I,vet read where the lippert jack head can be rotated

[wabakami]

If an inch is all you need then buy a longer shank, have a machine shop drill the pin hole an inch further along and cut off the excess shank, or just use the longer shank as it is!

TT manufacturers cannot guess at the shank length people will have, or the WDH design/manufacturer, or whether the receiver is a factory mount or OEM; these all come into play in how far the tongue jack/hitch ball will be from the back of the TV. They in most cases cannot move the jack back as it will crowd the propane tanks, also the further back the mounting plate is from the "V" of the tongue frame means more steel required to stiffen and stabilize the jack mounting plate. (additional weight and costs).

Two years ago I bought an Equalizer 4 Point WDH to replace my older Curt, when I assembled the system I found I could no longer lower my tailgate all the way (same truck, same trailer); I switched the EQ shank for the Curt shank and cured the problem. The Curt shank's pin hole was 1 1/2" further along the bar compared to the EQ shank.

Keep in mind that with the longer shank you will affect the spring arms and the leverage on the hitch head so you may have to adjust your chains.

Now, lets wait and see how many armchair engineers are out there when it comes to drilling the shank. Done the drilling 3 times in 40 years with no issues (sorry, a machine shop has always done the drilling).


Geoff
.

[bikendan]

On my Ultrafab jack, I was able to rotate the motor head 180 °. Tailgate cleared easily.

[Kallen425]

I ended up buying a Reese 3214 hitch, which moved the the ball 2 3/4" away from my truck. As a result, I had to lengthen my safety chains. Well worth it in my opinion. I would have stayed with a longer equalizer brand shank, but their only option would have moved the ball 6" away! Felt like that would have messed with the WDH, tongue weight, and towing dynamics.

[SameSpeed]

What is your tow vehicle? I have a '17 GMC SIERRA 1500. My gate opens fully. May be just the tow vehcles vs. Jack issue. There are dofferent electric jacks you can switch out with a different profile.