How Can the Tongue Jack Be Rotated 120 Degrees?

BrianZ

I am planning to add a bike rack to the ball mount/draw bar on the hitch, and would like to rotate the tongue jack 120° for convenient jack access with bikes onboard, so the jack could be used from one side (we have Dale Helman's bolt mod for using a cordless drill instead of a crank handle).
After supporting the tongue, removing the 3 jack bolts, and rotating the jack tube to either side, I found that only two of the three bolt holes would still line up with those in the base plate.  Moreover, in contemplation of drilling another mounting hole in the base plate for the non-aligned hole, I found that the nuts underneath the base plate seem to be welded on, and it would likely interfere with trying to add a new nut for the new hole.
Has anyone run into this issue and found a solution?  I  tried searching, but fell short.  I thought I remembered @Dalehelman posting a shot of his jack rotated to one side, but couldn't find it.
Also, anyone know what the proper torque is for those bolts?  Will 50 ft-lbs do?

rfuss928

Turn it 90 deg and drill 3 new holes and nuts??

BrianZ

Thanks, @rfuss928, I hadn't considered that, so a viable option.

BogieMeister

I did precisely what you intend to do. After drilling the third hole I used a longer bolt and a large washer. Problem solved.

BrianZ

Thanks, @BogieMeister, but I'm not sure I understand how that could work.  Did you somehow also drill through the nut under the original hole?  It appears in my case that the new hole would almost be touching the old one & therefore the old nut would be underneath & block the new hole.  Was your situation different?  Maybe you were able to remove the old nut? If not, would you be able to provide a photo of the underside?
Thanks.

rh5555

@BrianZ : Have you considered replacing the jack with a top-wind version like this: https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200631767_200631767?

(this is a concept only, I do not know if this particular jack would fit your trailer).

BrianZ

Another good idea - thanks, @rh5555.  I wonder if that could be converted to use a 3/4" hex bolt at top for use with a drill.

BrianZ

I would have considered this idea to flip the drive bolt 180°, but we have a storage bin behind the jack post that would interfere with getting the drill on it...
https://tabforum.nucamprv.com/#/discussion/5350/can-the-jack-handle-be-moved-to-opposite-side
Although, this could work if I inserted some kind of spacer under the jack to raise it about an inch and a half using longer bolts.  Hmm, but how to create a spacer?

BrianZ

Well, it looks like @WilliamA may have the answer I need here..
https://tabforum.nucamprv.com/#/discussion/8569/tongue-or-trailer-jack-too-long
.. by using short pieces of pipe. 
As I see it, the catch would be getting the pipe cut perfectly square; but still, this may be a way to do this at minimal cost & effort.
Also, would there be any problem with not having the entire triangular base of the jack sealed to the surface of the tongue plate?
I wouldn't mind being able to also raise the jack higher if that would result.

BrianZ

So, I went to Lowes in search of 3 standoffs to go under the jack base corners to raise the top of the jack higher than the storage bin behind it, so I would be able to access the cranking bolt from behind with a drill if I reversed the bolt.  Here's what I found..

This 1-3/4" long Coupling Nut should do the trick.  It's half inch threads inside, which was the next larger available diameter than the 3/8" x 16 bolt; and I got a new 3" bolt to replace the original one-inch long 3/8-16 bolt.  They did have a coupler nut of the same length with threads matching the bolt, but I thought having two nuts on the bolt might cause problems with binding & prevent a tight fit against all layers, so figured I'd go with the larger nut & try that first.  Will report back after I've had a chance to try this.

BrianZ

Ok, I successfully jacked up our tongue jack & got our Helman Drill Bolt reversed for control from the rear of the jack (to make clearance for a bike rack to be installed at the hitch..

Propped up the tongue on wood blocks, then removed bolts & jacked up the jack base to make room for the spacers.

Half-inch "Coupler Nuts" added as spacers, with 3/8 x 3" bolts, plus lock washers.

Torqued to about 40-lbs.  It's very solid, thanks to the hefty coupler nuts.

Now the jack is tall enough to clear the storage bin, for access from the back with the drill.  The drill just happens to lay flat at the right height.  Must be my lucky day!

To reverse the drive bolt, I removed the roll pin, pulled out the bolt, and reassembled through the opposite hole.  The only issue was the extra 3/8" of excess space on this side between the back of the gear & the steel housing.  So, back to Lowes to get some bushings to fill the space & keep the gear engaged.  Fortunately, when I first installed the Helman mod bolt, I left it sticking out about a half inch; so I had enough length between the gear & bolt head that it wasn't necessary to drill a new hole for the pin.  I also added a leftover bushing under the head of the bolt.

I found these half inch bushings in the specialty fastener drawers in Lowe's hardware section.  Bushings have a closer fit to the target size compared to washers, which are more oversized at both inner & outer diameters.

Our electric cable actually wraps more neatly around the post with the larger diameter of the three 1-3/4" spacer posts.

Now waiting for the bike rack to be shipped - it's the Curt clamp-on model, for which I had to order a 2" longer draw bar/ball mount for the vertical part of the rack to clear the bumper.

BogieMeister

I stressed out a lot before drilling the new hole. After a bunch of measurements I crossed my fingers and drilled. The hole came through right beside the nut.

TerryV6

Looks great @BrianZ, you are thinking outside the box on that one.  I went with the mod talked about here that allows you to remove the jack and reattach using clips.  That was more in regard to allowing my tailgate to fully drop, without detaching the camper...

BrianZ

Thanks, @TerryV6, but all I did was combine using two other people's ideas to solve two issues.  The only thing new was adding bushings & using coupler nuts as standoffs.  At least they are documented now.
CORRECTION:  Three other people's ideas, including Dale Helman's original mod to use a hex bolt instead of crank handle.
  
It's also a good reminder though, about how much it can pay off to scour the forum for ideas that have already been suggested, and even when one idea only partially solves an issue, there may be a second idea to solve the remaining one if you are persistent.  And thanks again for your idea to use this storage bin from Walmart.

Tomorrow should be bike rack time & the moment of truth whether this mod will be worth it.  It is completely reversible though.  On a similar note to your tailgate issue, I'm still wondering how we will like the bike rack attached to the hitch & blocking the tailgate of our van.  It clamps onto the hitch, so should be easily removeable, but the tradeoff will be not having to load bikes inside & taking up more space.  And since bikes are not mounted on the trailer, they can go with the car if needed.  Might lose some turning radius too.  There's always a tradeoff!