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If you have a mid-90's DHM trailer and you want to use the old weld-on jack mount that might still be there then this story is for you. Assuming at least the stud is still there.
So I broke my trailer jack (or tongue jack). It was an 800lbs Fulton bolt-on that I guess (after the fact) the previous owner put on. Removing it exposed a welded plate with a threaded stud sticking out and what appeared to be a round flange at its base. The stud is a 3/4x16 fine thread and the round flange or bushing ring is 1 inch diameter and the pin holes are a 1/2 inch diameter. Clearly this trailer once had a weld-on style jack.
As I said the trailer is from DHM so I called them (before they became California Trailer Works) and they told me the trailer would've originally had a Shelby jack on it and the replacement was no longer available. So I tried a cheapo import bolt-on jack. It promptly broke on its first accidental bottoming-out. Back it went. So my choice was getting a better bolt-on or seeing if I could modify any jack to work with my existing set-up.
Investigating the few different name-brand jacks quickly led me back to Shelby as they currently appear to be the only ones that use a flat base to mount with. Looking at their current jacks made me think I could drill out the mounting hole to the size of the bushing I have and then getting a nut and washer to fit the stud and I'd be done. But I still wanted specific information from Shelby about the mount I had.
After great help from the customer service person with drawings and all we soon realized that perhaps I should talk to one of the engineers for deeper information. Talking to this extremely helpful and patient guy by the name of Matt Gimbel (I got his permission to post it) led to a model 5850 that it seems only Triton Trailers uses. He was familiar with the set up I had and that this was an old style jack that should have the right size hole to fit the bushing. I would need a 3/4x16 nut and 3/4 ID flat washer preferably about 2 3/8 OD. He very kindly sent me all kinds of drawings about this jack and its related parts.
I ordered the jack from a Triton retailer nearish me and acquired a nut from a trucking place and it turned out I already had a washer that would work (but not quite the same OD). I got to the boat this past weekend and it fit like a glove Including the pull pin. I was thrilled that my search and nudging Shelby to see if they had the right jack finally came to fruition. No more unsightly mounting straps around the frame...just the jack attached to it...nice and clean. I would like to get the proper nut as the one I got is too tall to engage the crimp feature so it needs to go. It looks like Shelby will send me one.
So...it's the Shelby 5850 or Triton 7845. It has 1500lbs capacity, an 8" caster, side-wind and a grease fitting for the gears. It's in fact sold as a bolt-on and so it comes with all that hardware but you just need the jack with its attached mounting plate to use the old style welded mount. Shelby apparently still uses the nut (with nylock but the nut is not included with this jack) and the bushing ring (also not included) but not the stud or washer or the actual welded plate.
Yes of course the easiest solution would've been to just get any old name-brand bolt-on or with a a little more work, if I insisted, cut off the original mounting plate and weld on a new one. But I managed to make this work without any hacking and whacking.
So I put this out to everyone that would like to have the same result.
So I broke my trailer jack (or tongue jack). It was an 800lbs Fulton bolt-on that I guess (after the fact) the previous owner put on. Removing it exposed a welded plate with a threaded stud sticking out and what appeared to be a round flange at its base. The stud is a 3/4x16 fine thread and the round flange or bushing ring is 1 inch diameter and the pin holes are a 1/2 inch diameter. Clearly this trailer once had a weld-on style jack.
As I said the trailer is from DHM so I called them (before they became California Trailer Works) and they told me the trailer would've originally had a Shelby jack on it and the replacement was no longer available. So I tried a cheapo import bolt-on jack. It promptly broke on its first accidental bottoming-out. Back it went. So my choice was getting a better bolt-on or seeing if I could modify any jack to work with my existing set-up.
Investigating the few different name-brand jacks quickly led me back to Shelby as they currently appear to be the only ones that use a flat base to mount with. Looking at their current jacks made me think I could drill out the mounting hole to the size of the bushing I have and then getting a nut and washer to fit the stud and I'd be done. But I still wanted specific information from Shelby about the mount I had.
After great help from the customer service person with drawings and all we soon realized that perhaps I should talk to one of the engineers for deeper information. Talking to this extremely helpful and patient guy by the name of Matt Gimbel (I got his permission to post it) led to a model 5850 that it seems only Triton Trailers uses. He was familiar with the set up I had and that this was an old style jack that should have the right size hole to fit the bushing. I would need a 3/4x16 nut and 3/4 ID flat washer preferably about 2 3/8 OD. He very kindly sent me all kinds of drawings about this jack and its related parts.
I ordered the jack from a Triton retailer nearish me and acquired a nut from a trucking place and it turned out I already had a washer that would work (but not quite the same OD). I got to the boat this past weekend and it fit like a glove Including the pull pin. I was thrilled that my search and nudging Shelby to see if they had the right jack finally came to fruition. No more unsightly mounting straps around the frame...just the jack attached to it...nice and clean. I would like to get the proper nut as the one I got is too tall to engage the crimp feature so it needs to go. It looks like Shelby will send me one.
So...it's the Shelby 5850 or Triton 7845. It has 1500lbs capacity, an 8" caster, side-wind and a grease fitting for the gears. It's in fact sold as a bolt-on and so it comes with all that hardware but you just need the jack with its attached mounting plate to use the old style welded mount. Shelby apparently still uses the nut (with nylock but the nut is not included with this jack) and the bushing ring (also not included) but not the stud or washer or the actual welded plate.
Yes of course the easiest solution would've been to just get any old name-brand bolt-on or with a a little more work, if I insisted, cut off the original mounting plate and weld on a new one. But I managed to make this work without any hacking and whacking.
So I put this out to everyone that would like to have the same result.