Oops - Forgot the Jack Handle

On my last trip, I decided to clean out the pickup before I left, so I wasn't hauling around stuff I never seem to use. I left the stabilizer jack handle in the garage by mistake. (my stabilizer jacks are the scissor-type variety used on the newer models)

Of course, 300 miles away I noticed this when I set up to camp. I wasn't going to drive back to home to get it, so I though, "Camping World will have it." Long story short, no, Camping World will not have anything that can work as a jack handle (neither on-shelf or in "parts").

I considered buying that cordless drill, but decided against it. I also considered buying a whole new jack just to get the $#@! handle!

What I finally used was the handle off of another scissor jack I bought at Wal-Mart ($15 or so). I suspect most people could just use the handle for the one that their car came with to change the car's tire.

I know, simple tip, but I suspect I'm not the only one who misplaces important things! Of course I'll never misplace *this* item again...

My replacement scissors jack I ordered from TM did NOT come with a jack handle.
Did the one u bought at WalMart include a handle?

For future reference, I and many others here keep a "TV box" of all the things you need when you are setting up, taking down, or dumping (tasks with the TM closed) - levelers, blocks, jack handle, a hose to fill the fresh water tank, items needed for dumping, 4-way tire iron, etc. I also use a 1/4" or 3/8" Allen wrench chucked in my cordless drill for the jacks. It makes short work of the jacks. I store the drill inside the house (to protect the battery from cold temps in the garage) so I have to remember to put it in the TV. But if I forget that, I have the jack handle in the TV box. It's much easier to remember to put the whole box in the back of the Durango than to remember all the individual items.
I hate interruptions to my plans, so I have become a bit anal about creating habits to keep from having to remember individual items.

I store the manual crank with the sewer hoses in the rear bumper. I use a cordless drill nearly all of the time.

The only time I ever needed it was on the 4th when I had a blowout on the Tm. My bottle jack did not go high enough so I used the TM jacks to get the last couple of inches. My cordless drill does not have enough torque, but the hand crank does.

Yes, the Wal-Mart jack included a handle (it was intended for automobiles).

[rickst29]

just buy a big hex key "allen wrench" (3/8 doesn't completely fill the hole, but it's enough). Same as us electric drill users stick into our drills. Then, you can just put the corresponding socket (i.e., 3/8, or whatever matches) into the torque wrench, turn the torque setting way up, and crank away.

Regular socket wrench works too, but you're already carrying this one for tire changes. Right?

If you carry the cordless drill and allen wrench it only takes a minute to lower both trailer supports and you will be much safer than just a single jack that can fail. Better to be safe than sorry. A 14 volt unit with 1/4 wrench will do it, but I switched to 18 volt and 3/8 this year so I can extend them all the way.