Why something simple can be so complicated!

larrygon

I am a proud owner of a 2015 TAB. (please hold your applause!)
My TV is a 3.6 L Outback. When connecting the TAB to the TV, I have very little room to remove the wheel from the tongue jack. My first idea was to use a swing out jack like one used on boat trailers. Found one and went to mount it but nooooo it does not fit! The trailer is too wide for the mount. I would have to drill holes to accommodate it. Back in zee box! (yes I am dating myself). Someone in another thread suggested the Jack-E-Up. Found one and went to mount it but nooooo the bolts on the tongue do not allow it to sit flush. Argh! What to do? Well for now I put a few washers under the Jack-E-Up to bring it above the bolt heads. I have plans for other modifications so this will have to do for now. To be continued.....

Nomad

You did the same as me - spacer washers. Have had the Jack for nine months and it works better than any other jack mount I tried or looked at. The other thing that may bother a new user is the wings don't match up exactly, just line the bolt heads up with the slots and it holds just fine, nice and stable.
I also have the tire mounted on the tongue so even with the Jack out of the way my Jeep tailgate is a little long to totally clear the tire so if I need to get full access I need to angle the Jeep to the driver's side. With all that, I'd still set it up the way I have it.

Dalehelman

You could cut off an inch or two from the bottom of the jack. It may require drilling new holes.

Rad

Is the top of your hitch ball 14" off the ground?  It should be,  and if you still can't get the jack high enough, it is the wrong length jack.

Nomad

Rad - Thought it was 16"

Rad

PXLated said:

Rad - Thought it was 16"

16" for the outback, do they have an outback?

mash2

It is 16"

mawebb

I'm sure it's 16 as well. Something is not correct if there is insufficient space to remove the wheel at 16 inches, there's lost of space when the jack is fully retracted. Sound olive either the jack is too long or the ball is to low to the ground. 

Nomad

larrygon - What height is the top of your ball? If on level ground, you shouldn't have a problem getting the wheel to drop off.

Cyclonic

The top of the ball should be 16" in order for the T@B to sit level while hitched. You should get a drawbar with a rose that will bring the ball to that level, should solve the problem.

Mercator

larrygon said:

<snip>... I have very little room to remove the wheel from the tongue jack. My first idea was to use a swing out jack like one used on boat trailers. ....

I have had the same problem removing the dolly wheel.  My solution is to use my cordless electric drill to lower the stabilizer jacks on the front of the trailer while the tongue jack is still lowered and then raise the tongue jack and remove the dolly wheel.  This allows me to quickly remove the dolly wheel and then raise the stabilizer jacks to the stowed position.  It takes about thirty seconds.  I use a similar process to re-install the wheel at the camp site, but here I use lower the stabilizer jacks first, raising the tongue about an inch to facilitate installing the dolly wheel, then lower the tongue jack to remove the hitch from the ball and raise the stabilizer jacks so that I can position and level the trailer as needed before lowering the stabilizer jacks again.  A fitting for the electric drill makes raising and lower the stabilizers fast and easy.  (I am contemplating changing out the hand crank on the tongue jack and replacing with a bolt so that I can use my cordless drill for raising and lower it too. Here is a link on how to do that job.)

LARK

Back the rear wheels of your TV onto (2) 2x6's (each side). Then hitch the trailer, turn jack all the way up and remove wheel. Then pull forward and remove 2x6's from the ground and place in zee TV!

LARK

Re-thought: Maybe you could use those stackable squares that is used for leveling the trailer. Then you wouldn't have to carry around cut 2x6 pieces.

Rad

So, do we know what height his hitch ball is?  No question about it, with proper ball height and the proper jack there should be plenty of room to remove the wheel.  

Mercator

Rad said:

So, do we know what height his hitch ball is?  No question about it, with proper ball height and the proper jack there should be plenty of room to remove the wheel.  

With my TV and hitch receiver, the only ball mount that t could find that was close put the top of the ball at 15.75". When the hitch is placed on the ball the tongue weight of about 160 lbs depressed the hitch a bit lower. As the generally accepted thinking is that the T@B should sit either level or slightly tongue low there is usually a problem removing the dolly wheel. This can be exacerbated with un-level ground. 

Rad

Mercator said:

Rad said:

So, do we know what height his hitch ball is?  No question about it, with proper ball height and the proper jack there should be plenty of room to remove the wheel.  

With my TV and hitch receiver, the only ball mount that t could find that was close put the top of the ball at 15.75". When the hitch is placed on the ball the tongue weight of about 160 lbs depressed the hitch a bit lower. As the generally accepted thinking is that the T@B should sit either level or slightly tongue low there is usually a problem removing the dolly wheel. This can be exacerbated with un-level ground. 

It could mean that the vehicles rear suspension is to soft if the proper tounge weight has  not been exceeded.  

Nomad

Once again the simple turns complex with unknown variables - ball height, tongue weight, suspension stiffness - to give a nice clean answer :-(

Mercator

Rad said:

Mercator said:

Rad said:

So, do we know what height his hitch ball is?  No question about it, with proper ball height and the proper jack there should be plenty of room to remove the wheel.  

With my TV and hitch receiver, the only ball mount that t could find that was close put the top of the ball at 15.75". When the hitch is placed on the ball the tongue weight of about 160 lbs depressed the hitch a bit lower. As the generally accepted thinking is that the T@B should sit either level or slightly tongue low there is usually a problem removing the dolly wheel. This can be exacerbated with un-level ground. 

It could mean that the vehicles rear suspension is to soft if the proper tounge weight has  not been exceeded.  

I think most car suspensions will depress an inch when weighted with 160 lbs at the bumper. Perhaps this wouldn't happen with a truck, but I would be surprised if it didn't depress. I would rather have to fiddle a bit to get dolly wheel off rather than hav trailer tongue too high. 

Rad

Mercator said:

Rad said:

Mercator said:

Rad said:

So, do we know what height his hitch ball is?  No question about it, with proper ball height and the proper jack there should be plenty of room to remove the wheel.  

With my TV and hitch receiver, the only ball mount that t could find that was close put the top of the ball at 15.75". When the hitch is placed on the ball the tongue weight of about 160 lbs depressed the hitch a bit lower. As the generally accepted thinking is that the T@B should sit either level or slightly tongue low there is usually a problem removing the dolly wheel. This can be exacerbated with un-level ground. 

It could mean that the vehicles rear suspension is to soft if the proper tounge weight has  not been exceeded.  

I think most car suspensions will depress an inch when weighted with 160 lbs at the bumper. Perhaps this wouldn't happen with a truck, but I would be surprised if it didn't depress. I would rather have to fiddle a bit to get dolly wheel off rather than hav trailer tongue too high. 

I have to say it makes no sense to me to have a set up that does not perform properly.  

larrygon

Sorry for getting back so late in the conversation. Yes to 16" at the top of the ball and Yes to very level when hitched. ( very little if any TV suspension sag ) When the jack is cranked all the way to the top, the wheel will drop off with maybe an 1/8 of an inch to spare to remove the wheel. Yes trying to remove the wheel is exacerbated when not on level ground.
Modifying the jack is one option but I was looking for an easy quick fix. My frustration is the "off the shelf" options did not work correctly due to physical issues and lay out of the T@B trailer tongue. The Jack-E-Up is working for now. Will see how much I still like it in a few trips!

Rad

Glad you have a solution.  It is strange that with the proper height and very little TV sag that you have so little room.  The jacks come in many different lengths.  A call to etrailer might be a way to find one that works better.

Dalehelman

Take the wheel off. Then cut an inch or two off, redrill holes.

mawebb

Yes, it sounds like the Jack on your trailer is a bit too long. 

Normfun

We leave the wheel in the TV and simply use a foot on the tongue jack.  Cheap and easy.  Unless you like to roll your trailer around.

Nomad

On my jack, you can't cut some off and drill new holes - the diameter of the Jack is narrower where it accepts the wheel.

vito

Being more than new at this, since I have not yet received my new T@b (will be my first RV), but expect to in the next few days, this entire thread is like a foreign language to me. My dealer will be installing the hitch to my 2011 Outback along with the electric brake device while I get the T@b orientation. Since this dealer is brand new to selling T@b's (but is a very large RV dealership), can anyone help me here with what I should be telling him about the hitch when it is installed, so that I don't have the problem described above? But I'll admit, I don't really understand at all what the problem really is, but obviously want to avoid any problem when I get the T@b. Thanks much for any possible help. Hope I'm not gettting in to more than I can handle on my own. 

gilbutler

I had some trouble removing the tongue wheel while putting my T@B in my driveway.  The combination of the sloped driveway, curvature of the street upon which the TV front wheels rested while the rear wheels were on the driveway, the gutter and sidewalk, caused the hitch to be slightly too close to the driveway.  I used the TV scissor jack to raise the trailer hitch VERY SLIGHTLY ( I was even able to turn the scissor jack screw by hand).  I've now found a distance to back into the driveway that avoids this problem.  I did encounter a similar problem camping once, but already knew the scissor jack approach and didn't panic.  These instances were before relocating the spare to the tongue.  My problem seemed to be not having the TV and T@B level enough with each other.  I have not had this problem during the last eight camping trips and several trips to and from storage. 

Nomad

Vito - Just make sure the T@B is level when hooked to the TV - The height from the ground to the top of the ball should be 16". If it is, when hooked up, you'll be relatively level when on level ground.

wizard1880

I tow my 2014 CS with a lowered Jetta TDI and there's plenty of room to get the jack wheel off. It's possible they've put a different type of jack on there. Is the T@b nice and level, front to back, when its hitched up ready to go? If so, definitely the wrong length of jack.

Rad

PXLated said:

Vito - Just make sure the T@B is level when hooked to the TV - The height from the ground to the top of the ball should be 16". If it is, when hooked up, you'll be relatively level when on level ground.

Yup, all that really matters is that you have a fairly level trailer and TV when towing.  However, that may not address the jack wheel issue if the jack is to long.

Nomad

No it won't - You could have/make the dealer hook and unhook to make sure the jack wheel will drop off when level. If not, "get me a proper jack" Mr Dealer.