"Jack It" for bikes - Install Problem

tdillons

We were so excited to finally receive our Jack It for the bikes. Upon installation, we discovered that things didn't line up. (see photos) Has anyone else had this problem? It's impossible to move the Jack It closer to line up the connecting points due to the railing that separates the tongue area and open space closer to the trailer. Any suggestions, remedies, experience out there with this? Have seen others successfully use Jack It, plus Nucamp personnel seemed to believe it worked. Help if you can!

rich67

Very odd. We had a Jack-it (still have it in my attic), and it lined up just fine on our Boondock. Is that a real Jack it or one you might have purchased online from Ebay/Amazon? Or perhaps your Tag is used, and someone modified the rack? The only reason it wouldn't line up would be if the holes were not cut properly or the rack is modified (moved up on the frame) to where you can't place the Jack it in the right spot to line up.
Just my two cents: although the Jack It is a really cool product, we found that it wasn't as secure as we would like for our bikes. There was significant wobble during transport, and the bikes rubbed together-caused some damage to our expensive bikes. Furthermore, it was a task to load two mountain bikes onto it because it was pretty high up once it was installed. After wrestling with it a couple trips, and almost losing a bike on the road once, I ditched it. I went instead with a Swagman RV two bike carrier (it holds the bikes by the frame and wheels instead of using straps, which are inherently sketchy for bikes). The carrier slides onto the extended hitch I use, and is very secure. I have taken it on two trips and it worked out great. Also food for thought: let's say you bring your bikes, and find a really cool place to ride about 20 miles away from camp. How will you get your bikes there? Disassemble them and put them in your tow vehicle? You'd have to do that or take your camper with you, if you use the Jack-it. If we go for a ride, I can leave the camper where it's at, keep my bikes on the rack and drive off without any issues. That was the biggest factor I weighed into my switch. If you just use the bikes around the campsite, then you won't need to consider this. Just want to make sure you have run through the scenarios before you delve any further into the misalignment dilemma.

rich67

https://teardrop-trailers.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/1069/finally-found-a-bike-setup-that-works#latest

Jimrussell

My t@g xl boondock platform is slightly too close for the jack it bolts to engage. Suggestions?

Jimrussell

I found an answer to the problem of the boondock platform being too close to get the bolts to engage when mounting the jack it bike wing. No need to alter the jack it plate, just remove the platform bolts closest to the bike mount and slide it under! Works perfectly. After the bolts engage, tighten all bolts a bit at a time. Problem solved.