If you have towed anything with your vehicle before, you must know how important a trailer jack can be. This component is an essential piece for towing, but sometimes it is ignored. Some users tend to forget to maintain it, which causes it to break at the wrong time.
So that you do not fall into an odd situation like that, we will be teaching you how to grease trailer jack along with a few other important bits of information. Keep reading to learn more maintenance tips, and learn the greasing process of a trailer jack in this article.
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What Is a Trailer Jack?
Before we go into greasing process of a trailer jack, let's take a closer look into what a trailer jack is because, surprisingly, a lot of drivers don't know much about them. Trailer jacks often go by the name hitch jack or tongue jack. They are responsible for raising or lowering the trailer with the towing vehicle.
As we have mentioned before, it is a must for you to have a trailer jack so that you can tow your trailer or boat. There are two types of trailer jacks, manual and electric.
We would say that the electric is way more convenient, and will save you a lot of time.
The tongue of the trailer is where this jack is installed, and usually, you will have to use a crank to bring out the metal shaft that can lift the trailer. If you take a look at a trailer jack's insides, you'll see that it's quite simple. Inside the shaft, there is a long screw with a nut attached to it.
When you turn the handle, the gears turn, which changes the height of the nut and the height of the trailer being towed.
Why Is It Important To Grease Trailer Jacks?
As you have read, there are moving metal parts (the nut and gears) in the trailer jack. When metal parts are in contact and move, great friction can be created between them, which can cause them to wear out. To reduce this friction and for smooth operation, lubrication or grease needs to be used.
Furthermore, when you're towing, the trailer jack will be exposed to water, dirt, and many other things which can cause corrosion. So, ensuring the jack is greased will help prolong its lifetime.
5 Spes To Greasing A Trailer Jack
Greasing a trailer jack is not a complicated process, and with our thorough steps, this should be an absolute breeze for you. Bulldog is a very popular brand for trailer jacks, and the good news is that the process described below is the same as the process of greasing a bulldog trailer jack.
Step 1: Uninstall the Trailer Jack
The very first thing that you want to do is uninstall the trailer jack from the tongue of the trailer, or else you won't be able to apply grease to it properly. You want to make sure that no weight is being exerted on the component when you are lubricating it.
Step 2: Disassemble Your Jack
For the next step, you want to grab a couple of 7/16" wrenches to remove the nut from the bolt that is responsible for attaching the crank to the inner screw of the jack. Once you have done that, you will be able to pull the bolt out, which will let you disconnect the handle.
After you have removed the handle, the outer tube should be lifted, and the bearing that is at the top of it should be taken out. You will see that there is a hardened washer and ball bearing on top of the inner screw. These two parts can get stuck in the outer tube as well, so if you can't find it, it'll probably be there.
Step 3: Lift the Inner Tube Screw
Next, the handle that was removed will then need to be re-connected to the inner screw using the removed nut and bolt. This needs to be done so that you can lift out the screw of the inner tube.
Step 4: Clean Out Any Rust
Since trailer jacks are exposed to moisture, you may see that rust has formed in the screws.
To remove it, you will have to take a wire brush and scrub the screw well.
Step 5: Apply the Grease
There are numerous options for grease, but we would suggest you use white lithium grease for this job. Layer on some of the grease throughout the length of the inner screw, and then crank it inside the inner tube again.
Then, you will have to disconnect the handle again along with the nut and bolt. Next, put the hardened washer back in before you slip the ball bearing in.
Don't forget to put a good amount of grease on the ball bearing as well because this is a moving part.
Step 6: Re-attach the Handle
Put the outer tube over the inner tube again and put the bearing at the top of that tube back in its place. You will have to grease that bearing as well.
For the last step, you will have to use your 7/16" wrenches to attach the handle with its nut and bolt, and then you're good to go!
Final Words
We have made our tutorial on how to grease a trailer jack with abundant details, so we hope you have no difficulty comprehending any of the steps. Always take proper care of all parts of your vehicle, including your trailer jack, so you never bump into an accident!
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