tongue jack sticks

Has anybody experienced the tongue jack landing pad sticking then suddenly banging in place as you jack it up. What causes this? 

It is a geared mechanism. Regardless of drive. If the gears are not meshing it will cause your issue, if it continues I would replace the jack. If you have a manual jack, good time for electric. If you have an electric jack you may be able to recoup some bucks against it. First time I have heard of issue.

It probably helps to put a little grease on that bolt from time to time and to make sure it is tight, but not so tight that the flip-foot can't move freely. I had gotten a Husky Brute  Superfoot which I used for a while. Then I had the chance to get a Fastway Flip Foot and used that for a while. I just switched back to the Husky foot as I also had experienced the binding from time to time. Plus the positive latching in up or down position with the Husky Brute foot seemed to be a good idea. I shortened the tube and drilled new holes since the original tube was about twice the length needed for the slope of my driveway.

Positives of the Husky Brute:
Positive locking up or down.
Higher weight capacity than the Fastway Flip Foot (6500 lbs vs. 4000 lbs).
Can be used at a greater angle than the Flip Foot (can be used on surfaces up to 10 degrees out of level).
Foot plate removable for towing. If desired, I guess one could put a standard round foot on it instead of the rectangular one, but the upturn of the front and back edges means it is less likely that it will dig into pavement which is something I had when I had a round foot with no upturn before.
Can sit flat if the slope of the ground won't allow it to be pivoted to vertical--no blocks needed.

Negatives of the Husky Brute:
Getting down to pull the pin to move it between vertical and the horizontal stowed position plus removing and putting on the foot plate if that is desired.

Positives of the Fastway Flip Foot:
Fully automatic (most of the time except when it needs a little kick to get it into vertical).
No messy hands handling a dirty pin or foot plate.
Upturned front and back ends of the footplate mean it is less likely to dig into pavement

Negatives of the Fastway Flip Foot:
As discussed above, it sometimes sticks and does not pivot into position without a little assist.
Lower weight capacity than the Husky Brute.
This YouTube video comparison claims the maximum off-level for the Flip Foot is 3 degrees (I could not find that on Fastway's web site to verify and Idon't have my manual handy).
If the slope of the site is such that the foot can't flip before hitting the ground, one needs a block of wood to allow the post part of the foot to sit flat while allowing space for the foot plate since the foot place prevents it from sitting flat on the ground.