Has anyone added an Ark tongue jack?

Kilometer 31 said:
I think this is the one currently on Vistabules. But wondering if it would be easily mountable on the Camp-Inn frame?
www.arkcorporation.us

XO350R Extreme Off-Road Ratchet Jockey Wheel | Ark Corp US

Experience Smooth Maneuvering with XO350R Trailer Jack. Extended Ratchet Arm, 4 Height Positions, and Rust-Resistant Design. Place your order online now!
www.arkcorporation.us www.arkcorporation.us
Click to expand...

Have to look at this. Seems pretty pricy --- I admit I haven't looked at it more than the static catalog listing...whats the advantage?
 
The ratcheting on this model -- for moving trailer up inclines and such. And just a robust build from an Australian (I think?) maker.
 
ok --- the ratchet is for moving --- duh! Suddenly it makes sense! For some dumb reason, I was looking at it think it was for raising the tongue! That chardonnay must have been higher octane than I thought :D
 
Yes I did this for a couple reasons - the ratcheting was one, the beefier strength another since we sleep a lot of weight in our trailer with the kids in a roof top tent. And finally, (biggest reason) I wanted a better wheel than the hard plastic wheel that seemed to plow the campsite more than it spun.

There’s a way too lengthy write up of my install around here somewhere.
 
dirty6 said:
Yes I did this for a couple reasons - the ratcheting was one, the beefier strength another since we sleep a lot of weight in our trailer with the kids in a roof top tent. And finally, (biggest reason) I wanted a better wheel than the hard plastic wheel that seemed to plow the campsite more than it spun.

There’s a way too lengthy write up of my install around here somewhere.
Click to expand...
....here it is: Tongue Jack Upgrade - Maybe
 
I mounted the ARK350 on my trailer. Elsewhere on the forum there is a post using angle iron pieces. I simplified by making a mounting plate with holes matching the frame holes and holes matching the jack. See pict.
I like it and I dont. It rolls a lot better over gravel and dirt which is a big positive . Turning it is slightly easier. The sideway offset on our trailers is not ideal for a jack. The other issue is that to reach the max height on uneven terrain you have to adjust the jack and you can only do without weight on it, e.g. still on the hitch or tongue supported by something else. It happened to me once on uneven terrain where on the hitch there wasnt enough clearance to extend the jack to the height i needed. So i rolled the camper in place, raised it as far as it could, piled firewood under the tongue and made the adjustment and lowered it again. Adjusting is easy, you pull on the handle on the side and an inner sleeve slides up or down. Most of the time that doesnt happen, so overall I’m still glad I did this.
 

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I have a post on another thread where I installed the Ark 350. Getting the mounted height just right is the trick. Your mounting plate looks great. After several tries I found that the mounting plate for the original jack worked fine.
 
My previous comments (Small front storage boxes) and (Tongue Jack Upgrade - Maybe)
leads me to sharing my "Ultimate" tongue jack upgrade.
I installed the ARK350 last year and initially I liked it. The wheel was wider, rolled well in the garage. But after a season "out in the wild" of NY state parks, it showed its limitations. The 350 is further off from the center line compared to the original jack and that offsets whatever benefit it has. The Trailer was still hard to turn on uneven ground. And the wheel would seize up sometimes around the vertical shaft (I called ARK but got no solution except to loosen the bolt). Needless to say, I'm upset of having spent a lot of money on it.
I often wondered why our trailers have this nice hole behind the hitch coupler. Lo and behold, a lot of standard jacks are made to mount there. The issue is to find one that protrudes the least below the frame. Ultimately (sorry), I ended up with the Ultimate Trailer Jack, available from eTrailer, Tractor Supply, Amazon etc. It has a coarse raise/lower mechanism and the standard crank operates a fine raise/lower. In its most raised position and with the wheel (which I got from Amazon) it still has more clearance than the bottom of our hitch.
I've used it on 3 trips so far and now the trailer can be turned most easily of all three jacks I've tried, because is perfectly centered.
There are some caveats:
1) In the max raised position, the post sticks out high above the trailer. For our CRV it doesn't interfere with the rear hatch but only by 2 inches. When the trailer is turned at a ~30 deg angle to the car it will bump into it but opening the hatch with the trailer at that angle rarely happens. For other vehicles and hitch situations this might be an issue. It is easy to try out. I got one at Tractor Supply, put it in place temporarily and looked at the clearances. I was fully prepared to return it.
2) You MUST remember to put the locking pin in the coarse raise/lower mechanism. But then, the locking pin of the other jacks also has to doubly checked to be fully engaged.
3) It could bottom out in extreme angles going up an incline but a) the Honda CRV is not exactly made for that and b) I can remove the wheel really easily. I would not use it with the non-SUV versions of our trailers due to the lower ground clearance.
4) I had to relocate the trailer brake switch to the side of the frame but that was not difficult.
5) It requires a small additional modification to remove the considerable wobble. I'll describe that a little later as this post is getting too long.
Attached are some pictures.
Rutger
 

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Rutger Puts said:
My previous comments (Small front storage boxes) and (Tongue Jack Upgrade - Maybe)
leads me to sharing my "Ultimate" tongue jack upgrade.
I installed the ARK350 last year and initially I liked it. The wheel was wider, rolled well in the garage. But after a season "out in the wild" of NY state parks, it showed its limitations. The 350 is further off from the center line compared to the original jack and that offsets whatever benefit it has. The Trailer was still hard to turn on uneven ground. And the wheel would seize up sometimes around the vertical shaft (I called ARK but got no solution except to loosen the bolt). Needless to say, I'm upset of having spent a lot of money on it.
I often wondered why our trailers have this nice hole behind the hitch coupler. Lo and behold, a lot of standard jacks are made to mount there. The issue is to find one that protrudes the least below the frame. Ultimately (sorry), I ended up with the Ultimate Trailer Jack, available from eTrailer, Tractor Supply, Amazon etc. It has a coarse raise/lower mechanism and the standard crank operates a fine raise/lower. In its most raised position and with the wheel (which I got from Amazon) it still has more clearance than the bottom of our hitch.
I've used it on 3 trips so far and now the trailer can be turned most easily of all three jacks I've tried, because is perfectly centered.
There are some caveats:
1) In the max raised position, the post sticks out high above the trailer. For our CRV it doesn't interfere with the rear hatch but only by 2 inches. When the trailer is turned at a ~30 deg angle to the car it will bump into it but opening the hatch with the trailer at that angle rarely happens. For other vehicles and hitch situations this might be an issue. It is easy to try out. I got one at Tractor Supply, put it in place temporarily and looked at the clearances. I was fully prepared to return it.
2) You MUST remember to put the locking pin in the coarse raise/lower mechanism. But then, the locking pin of the other jacks also has to doubly checked to be fully engaged.
3) It could bottom out in extreme angles going up an incline but a) the Honda CRV is not exactly made for that and b) I can remove the wheel really easily. I would not use it with the non-SUV versions of our trailers due to the lower ground clearance.
4) I had to relocate the trailer brake switch to the side of the frame but that was not difficult.
5) It requires a small additional modification to remove the considerable wobble. I'll describe that a little later as this post is getting too long.
Attached are some pictures.
Rutger
Click to expand...
Best yet imho.
So, it looks like you can pop the wheel off if worried about bottoming out on bumpy/rutted roads somewhere?
 
Correct, the wheel comes off easily with a locking pin. The Ultimate trailer jack comes standard with a flat foot. I ordered the double wide wheel on amazon.
Following up on the last caveat to this endeavour: the reduction of the wobble. My solution is easy to implement, however, it requires buying something at Trader Joes. Not exactly a main source of trailer hardware but I’ll explain.
Most of the wobble comes from the gap between the main tube and the mount with the locking pin. There is a also play between the secondary tube and the main tube and also between the secondary tube and the foot or wheel attachment. I was determined to find some kind of sleeve or insert. The supplier was of no help. I looked around the house and dove into our recyclables bin to gather every kind of cup, beaker, plastic bottle, tupperware I could find. Cut them up and tried to fit them in the gaps. Alas but nothing worked. Tupperware is way too thick, PET soda bottle plastic too thin. A yogurt beaker came close. The 1st picture is some of the residue of my trial and much error.
A few days later, my spouse threw out a small Trader Joes sour cream container. I hadn’t tried that brand! So I snagged it and went to the garage. Lo and behold, it fit perfectly! If you want to know, their containers are 0.45mm thick and pretty uniform. Wegmans or Aldi’s yoghurt containers are 0.55mm and but vary from 0.50 to 0.60mm so that’s why those didn’t fit. I went to Trader Joes to buy a large container of yogurt, emptied it and promptly made a mistake with the cut. So back to Trader Joes again an hour later to get the same item.
After this came the problem of how to make it stay in place while the main tube is adjusted. It needs to slide up and down. Quite of bit of tinkering with this as well. I ended up cutting the plastic as shown in the 2nd picture. The hole is for the locking pin. The tabs fold over the top of the mount and I fastened it with a stainless hose clamp. It stays in place nicely! Only need to clamp the top part, no need to do anything at the bottom. The polypropylene is slick enough that the main tube slides up and down without binding or much effort. The end result is a rock-stable trailer jack and it is completely centered on the trailer.

The same plastic works for the gap between the main and secondary tubes. See last picture. For the play in the bottom wheel attachment, I ended up using the plastic of a Wegmans sparkling water PET bottle. That says in place with the set screw and with holes for the locking pin.
I have to admit, this mod I’m very proud of. There are thousands, if not tens of thousands of these trailer jacks sold over the years and no one complained or published a solution. The solution is $0, as I consumed the yoghurt for breakfast. The hose clamps I had laying around.
Granted, it’s only been a few weeks. Time will tell if it holds up over years. I can replace the sleeves easily as long as Trader Joes doesn’t change their container packaging. Maybe I should stock up on a few now. Hmmm. At some point I was going to try 0.50mm skived PTFE film. Slippery enough but I’m not sure if 0.50mm is too thick.

Anyway, happy to provide more details should anyone choose to follow me down this rabbit hole.
Rutger
 

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