UF Ultra-Fab Products 38-944055 Electric Tongue Jack 5500Lb
$508.20 (as of October 17, 2024 22:05 GMT -07:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
A few days ago, as I was hitching the trailer to the truck to leave the campground, something fell out of the tongue jack lower tube. I didn’t see it fall, but Joyce did and pointed it out. She didn’t know what it was, but I did — it was the stop collar to prevent the jack from extending too far. I wrote about our Odyssey 4000 tongue jack in this post. It wouldn’t affect the tongue jack at the time, so I would deal with it once we got home.
How a Tongue Jack Works
It might be useful for my readers to learn how a tongue jack works if they do not already know. Most manual or electric jacks work the same.
There is a lower tube in all jacks that is driven by a thick, long threaded drive screw. Depending on the direction the screw drive turns (whether by hand or a hand crank), the lower tube inside the jack housing extends or retracts as it travels up or down on the threaded drive. As the tube is extended the trailer hitch rises, and when the tube is retracted the hitch is lowered.
To prevent the lower tube from extending too far, which would result in the lower tube separating from the drive and allowing the fully extended jack to collapse, resulting in serious personal injury or death, a stop collar is installed at the lower part of the drive. Ours was a simple thread collar made from a soft metal and crimped on the threaded drive to prevent the collar from turning and stopping the lower tube from extending too far.
Repair or Replace?
I removed the jack and then took the top of the jack assembly apart. It would be a fairly simple repair — just thread the collar back on and weld it in place, or better yet, buy a case hardened nut and thread it on and weld in place.
I decided to call Ultra-Fab to see if they had a better way or replacement parts.
Ultra-Fab Customer Service
I have to tell you, in this time of automated phone systems, long wait times on hold, and even worse service from most companies during the COVID-19 pandemic, my contact with Ultra-Fab was stellar!
First, an actual person answered the phone on the first ring. After asking a few questions, the receptionist transferred me to a tech person, who also answered right away.
Anyway, he confirmed my thoughts on repairing the jack.
Why Did Our Jack Fail?
Was it a product failure? No. looking at the stop collar it was distorted due to over extending the lower jack tube. With a total available lower tube travel of 18″ plus and additional 5.5″ for the footpad (23.5 inches total), it would seem I would never need to lift the front of the trailer that high.
The problem was partially with our old tow vehicle, whose hitch is one inch lower than the new F-250.
On sloped ground, like our drive way at home, we had to extend the jack quite a bit. Also, we often camp in undeveloped areas, which often don’t have nice level places to park.
Given that we tow more than most people, that is, we hitch and unhitch more than most people, the Odyssey 4000 worked well. I just abused it by over extending it too many times.
The jack was originally warranted for 5 years and we have had it for almost 7 years. I’m happy with that fact.
I Decided to Replace the Tongue Jack
Overall, I have been thrilled with Ultra-Fab products. For other reasons besides the collar problem, I decided to purchase a larger capacity jack. But I wanted another Ultra-Fab product and didn’t consider any other company.
This decision was based on our ProPride Trailer Hitch that I discussed in this post on How Much Trailer Can You Tow, and the heavier weight of our Ford F-250 versus the Ford Expedition we used to tow with. Connecting a WDH, like the ProPride, requires lifting both the trailer tongue and the tow vehicle a bit to tension the WDH bars. So you must not only lift the tongue weight of the trailer, but also lift some of the tow vehicle’s weight. So I decided to get a higher capacity tongue jack.
Ultra-Fab Phoenix 5500 Tongue Jack
As you can probably guess, the capacity for this jack is 5,500 lb. versus 4,000 lb. for our old Odyssey 4000. Installation was easy. Remove the three mounting bolts and wiring, install the new jack with the three bolts and wire the jack to the battery bank. A 15 minute job for most people.
Another good feature is this new jack has 3 inches more travel than the old one. The new jack operates smoothly and doesn’t wobble like the old one when extending the hitch rather high.
The new jack has all kinds of features, some I may not even need. Plus it also comes with a remote control. An old guy like me doesn’t need any more remote controls in my life 😉
I haven’t used it other than installing it, disconnecting from the tow vehicle, and leaving the trailer in our driveway to do some post-trip cleaning. So I’ll just copy the blurb from Ultra-Fab’s website.
The Phoenix 5500: The Best Jack Available With Intelligent Memory!
- Electronic Control Panel – No External Switches
- Auto Extend/Retract
- Travels 10” In 47 Seconds 4000 Travels 10“ In 18 Seconds
- Includes Key Fob Remote Control
- 2 Memory Settings: Hitch Height & WDH Height
- 7” Diameter Adjustable Foot Pad Provides An Extra 5.5” Of Travel
- Built-In Led Light For Night Operation
- Emergency Crank Socket Included
- Ball Screw Technology
- Durable Powder Coated Finish
- Strong 2.25” Outer Tube
- 10-Year Warranty When Registered Within 90 Days of Purchase
There is one thing I don’t like about the jack. Instead of mechanical switches, it has membrane switches, similar to what are used on appliances. I suspect that will fail before anything else.
UF Ultra-Fab Products 38-944055 Electric Tongue Jack 5500Lb
$508.20 (as of October 17, 2024 22:05 GMT -07:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
UF Ultra-Fab Products 38-944040 The Phoenix Electric Tongue Jack
$363.48 (as of October 17, 2024 19:56 GMT -07:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
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