Double scissor jack for trailer ramp?
Bullwinkle wrote:
I have a new (to me) glider and trailer. Good rig, but like most things,
capable of improvement.
The ramp that extends from the back of the trailer for assembly has a
single, car style scissor (spare tire) jack for raising and lowering the
fuselage. It rocks back and forth a bit too much, and that makes it a bit
too unstable for my taste.
One of our club trailers had a pair of scissor jacks, but they were old
and one eventually stripped its thread. We replaced it with a single
jack that was already at the club. That works OK but, as you say, its
less stable.
The problem is to find a (pair of) jacks with narrow enough spans to fit
side by side within the width of the tail ramp. None of the screw jacks
I could find in car places were narrow enough and the hydraulic jacks
were all too tall. However, I did do some research and found a source of
suitably small screw jacks, though not until after the ramp had been
repaired.
The jacks you need were made for British sports cars. They are narrow
because they were kept inside the spare wheel. They are still made: find
one of the specialists who supply parts for Triumph or MG sports cars
should be able to sell you suitable jacks for a reasonable price.
The jacks are set to the same height and welded into the ramp's rear U
channel and ground support after lining them up the same way and using a
sleeve to join the screws together.
--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. |
org | Zappa fan & glider pilot
|