Do You Need A Trailer Tongue Jack?

By Author: Bill Rowell
Total Articles: 62
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Just in case you got to this article by looking for information on what a trailer tongue jack was, and not if you needed one, we’ll give you a little bit of insight by way of explanation. For those who don’t regularly tow, the tongue of the trailer is the part that extends forward and connects to the hitch of your vehicle.

Therefore, a trailer tongue jack is a jack that is used to assist in raising and lowering the tongue of the trailer. With very light trailers and perfectly balanced loads, this can be done by hand. However, some will say the tongue weight should be able hold 10-15% of the weight of the trailer, which would make it impossible to raise and lower some tongues by hand. That also does not address the matter of safety, either.
The main reason you would want to raise or lower the tongue of a trailer, anyway, is to prepare it for attaching to your vehicle's hitch, ...
... which is a necessary function by any means. That leaves the question that is posited by the title of this article - which is, do you need a tongue jack in the first place?
To put it simply, the answer almost all of the time will be, yes, you do need a tongue jack. That is if you ever plan on hitching or unhitching your trailer, which we can assume you will want to do. In addition to this central function, some tongue jacks can also be used to level the trailer as well, at least for short term storage.
In that case, you will need to determine whether you want a manual jack or a power jack. Manual jacks that use a hand crank are more affordable and easier to care for, which can make them desirable to some people. At the same time, some manual jacks require a lot of strength and dexterity to operate them, which can turn some people off. Most manual jacks are side-wind or top-wind models, and they come in a variety of weight capacities.
In that event, you might want a power jack to facilitate the raising and lowering of your trailer camper tongue. For the most part, power tongue jacks are powered by electricity. Whereas it takes a lot of strength to operate a cranked manual tongue jack, an electric tongue jack can be operated with little more than the push of a button. Like manual jacks, electric trailer jacks have weight capacities to which you must adhere to ensure safe operation; nonetheless, they are a lot easier to use.
While you will need to provide a power source and they will be a little more expensive than a manual jack, they are still not particularly expensive all things considered (most of the time). That makes electric power tongue jacks a great choice for those looking for a way to get a break from the manual operation of some other jacks.
To keep it short and simple for those that didn’t have the time to read through the bulk of this article, yes, you probably do need a tongue jack, because if you ever run into a situation where you need it and don’t have it you might not be able to hitch or unhitch your trailer.
If you’re looking for a good collection of different types of trailer tongue jacks, including manual, electric, and hydraulic options, then do yourself a favor and shop through the wares at RV Upgrades. RV Upgrades has a huge list of valuable camper accessories and tools for die-hards, but most importantly they have experience. If you need a tongue jack and don’t know where to start, scrap trying to figure it out for yourself. Just give them a call at 866-332-7881 or visit their website at RVUpgradeStore.com.
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