A bigger hammer!

Today I had to remove the tongue jack from the front of the utility trailer.  That wouldn't be too tall of a task, had it not been all bent up and beyond being able to be pulled out of the frame.

Now how did it get so bent?  It seems that as you climb a hill that becomes more steep, like pulling into a parking lot from a deep curb cut, you tend to drag the back end of the MH.  Or at least the trailer tongue.  This has drug several times since we left back in November, but most recently over in El Centro, California the other day when we were done with our In and Out Burgers.

You never really hear it hit from the driver's seat, and can only slightly perceive that it is dragging, but it bends things up big time.  So much so that just removing the three bolts that hold the jack in became a problem.  The jack was tilted forward on top making putting a socket wrench on the front bolt impossible.

I managed to get the bolts out with a box end wrench and a crescent wrench over the end of the box end as a cheater bar to lengthen the leverage.  And you wonder how heads get broken off of wrenches. 

But the jack needed pounded back into some shape that resembled its original form in order to slide out of the tongue.  I needed a really big hammer!

So with that, it was off to the Arizona Swap Meet here in Yuma.  In the very back of the D row is the tool booth, and they had a 3 lb mall that was just the ticket.  I knew right where the store was a went right to it.

But we had to walk around  for a while too, since I was looking for diode lamp replacements for some of my 12V light fixtures.  They pull a lot less current and are able to run for hours on batteries when not plugged into the power grid.  I went in everywhere looking for them.  Several people had talked about getting them at this swap meet.

Finally I found a fellow in another tool crib style place that said he had previously kept them in stock.  But that his source to buy them had dried up.  His words!  So no more diode lights. He did have one bulb that was running in a display, but had been on forever.  He offered it to me, but I passed.  Wouldn't you want light bulbs that were new in a package?

So, so much for the swap meet.  I spent the rest of the afternoon pounding away on my bent up jack until it finally came free of the trailer.  I'm sure I wasn't overly popular with my neighbors as I made all the pounding noise.  It was Saturday, and the only folks on duty were the work camper security folks, and they didn't say anything.

I do have a roll around floor jack with me, so I will use that to put the trailer back on the hitch when we leave tomorrow.  Oh ya, we are leaving tomorrow to drive up highway 95 and thru Quartzite to Lake Havasu City.  I managed to make a reservation at one of the parks up there that we scoped out the last time we were there.

The place is a concrete jungle RV park with no space in between rigs.  It costs too much, and is in town.  But, it has hookups which will keep my spouse on board.  It is supposed to rain later tonight and tomorrow, so that will add to the overall fun and ambiance of our trip.

If all goes well, we will see you from there.

Retired Rod