Barker Electric Tongue Jack on our 2011, How to Operate Manually

[webby]

I'm in the process of figuring out everything on our recently purchased 2011 256RKS. The pic is of the electric tongue jack. I don't know that it is OEM, but suspect it is. Anyway, I haven't figured out how one could operate it manually in the event of a catastrophic failure or something as simple as a dead battery. I did remove the 3 screws holding the bubble level on top, thinking there might be a bolt there designed for a hand crank, but there isn't.

The label says it's a Barker VP 3000. Can anyone tell me how one could crank it manually? Thanks!

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[ckdixon]

Looking at their website, on the current models, they show a crank going through the hole under the bubble level. http://www.barkermfg.com/vipjacks.html

[fmichaels]

I believe you twist off the cap - see the fingers on the cap - and underneath is where you insert the manual crack handle.

[ckdixon]

Here's a link to the exploded view. http://www.barkermfg.com/vip3000parts_sm.jpg

[Crabman]

Yes you twist off the level to access the crank area. Do not remove the screws.

[webby]

Thanks to all for your responses. I did twist the bubble level and found the manual crank access.

However, since there was no manual crank in the TT when I bought it, I'll have to figure out how to make one. If anyone was in the same boat and had to fashion something to put in an electric drill to manually crank the Barker tongue jack, I would be curious how you did it. The head that the manual crank goes on in mine is square. Maybe I can find a socket that might work on it. If not, I guess I'll have to find a piece of square stock the correct size. I saw these on ebay just now, but for big money, so that won't be happening.

[webby]

Upon further tinkering, I found the the female end of a 3/8" drive extension fits over the Barker drive. So I clamped the male end of said extension into my Makita driver drill. It will turn it, no problem, but I found that even carefully feathering the variable speed trigger, it is still prone to jerk the drill driver in my hand, making it too dangerous -- one could easily wrench ones wrist and break it.

So I have been trying to find a socket that will fit snugly over the Barker drive so that I could manually raise or lower the tongue using a rachet. I did find one socket that fits snugly over the male end of a 3/8" extension, but said same socket won't fit over the Barker drive, which means that even though a female 3/8" rachet extension will fit over the Barker drive, the drive is obviously enough different that the same socket wouldn't fit both a male 3/8" extension AND the Barker drive. Hope I made that all clear.

Still looking for manual drive solution ...

[usmc616]

See if you can order a crank handle from Barker their customer support number is 800 537-9940

[Camper_bob]

Do you have the handle from the jack in your TV? I've seen some of those that go together using square-type fittings. I've even seen the nut on the jack be square to mate to the cranking handle. Could be worth a shot to see if it might could work?

[webby]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

Do you have the handle from the jack in your TV? I've seen some of those that go together using square-type fittings. I've even seen the nut on the jack be square to mate to the cranking handle. Could be worth a shot to see if it might could work?

That's a great idea. Thanks! I will definitely check to see what kind of fittings my TV jack has.