Advice needed

[Parts Ed]

Going to pack the bearings on out 295RKD this weekend and wonder if it is safe to jack the tires up off the ground under each axle at where the u-bolts attach?? I will hook up to the trailer so it doesn't move but am wondering if that is a good point to raise the tire up off the ground.

Thanks for the advice in advance.

[Art-n-Marge]

That is not recommended for long term lifting and should only be used in an emergency situation having to change out a tire quickly. I have done when on the road and I needed to change a tire. I then found that the nuts on the u-bolts needed to be retightened because I think the pressure of the jack under the u-bolt loosened things up. Keep in mind that the wheel/axle is designed for 3,000 to 3,500 lbs of support, but if you raise the tire (or side of the rig) you have now doubled that rating since it might hold up the weight of both wheels and axles on that side.

For longer time frames of wheel service, like bearing packs, brake work, etc, I spend a little more on suitable jackstands; I use 3 ton on front and rear of the dual axles and at the rig's frame and the 4x4 blocks to gain the height needed. I use a 6 ton or 12 ton bottle jack for the lifting and the jackstands for the supporting. This makes for a very stable lift for as long as needed. It is a good idea to be hitched up to the truck, too.

[Parts Ed]

Thanks for the reply Art, I don't forsee a problem in supporting the trailer on jack stands on the RH side frame area, but on the LH side my steel propane/gas line runs smack dab down the middle of the frame rail making it useless to position a jack stand under the frame. So there in lies my question. I imagine I could put the jack stand under the LH frame and position the saddle so it is fore and aft on the frame instead of side to side. (if you know what I mean)

Thanks again,

[NCFischers]

#1-- I moved the propane line to the side of the beam under the top part of the I. Now it's not in the way.
#2-- I jack on the axle between the u bolts. There is a solid piece of steel that is part of the hub in the axle at that point. I do check the u-bolts after I do it. Keystone cautions against this because some will try to jack the axle farther in and that will definately cause problems. If I'm going to have it raised for any length of time, I'll support the trailer on the frame.

[Irlpguy]

My RV sits in my yard on level pavement, when I wanted to repack my bearings and work on the suspension I put the level up in manual mode and lifted the wheels off the ground on one side, (while still maintaining a somewhat level attitude by raising the other side as well). I then blocked the work side of the frame with wooden blocks. I also needed to remove any weight from the spring hangers in order to remove the wet bolts so could not lift on the axles at the U bolts to lift the entire unit.
The unit was on blocks for a couple of days and it was easy to use the level up system to lift and remove them. The suspension work is completed, now I am just waiting for two new axles to be shipped to replace my damaged ones. I will then tow the unit to a nearby repair facility to have the axles swapped out.

A word of caution, when repacking the bearings, clean the spindle well and check for any indication the bearings might have spun, (wear or discoloration) particularly the outer one.

[Exnavydiver]

If you are going to jack one side and pack bearings then attach the rig to the truck and do not use the landing gear. Jacking one side up with just the landing gear can bend and bind the legs.

[dieselguy]

I agree with Jim ... there is a solid stub which is part of the spindle inside the axle tube for a few inches. Dexter couldn't just weld a spindle right onto the end of the hollow axle tubing.... it does no harm to jack between the U-bolts or on the U-bolts. I put a jack stand under the axle for safety, but seldom put weight on them as it only takes 1-2 hours per side to do a bearing repack. The instructions from the vendor about only jacking up the unit by the frame is mainly a "CIA" for them as there will always be someone with little to no mechanical reasoning that tries to put the jack right in the middle of the axle and attempt to raise the entire unit at that point. I've went as far as placing a load cell on top of my jack under the axle as described above ... on my unit with the tire raised about 1/2" off the ground for easy removal, I'm only placing @2800 lbs on the point of contact. If you were to raise the units wheels off the ground by jacking on your frame, the weight would more than double depending on where you place the jack(s). There's many of us that follow the above procedure and always have absolute success. Join us if you reason to do so.

[Irlpguy]

quote:
Exnavydiver wrote:

If you are going to jack one side and pack bearings then attach the rig to the truck and do not use the landing gear. Jacking one side up with just the landing gear can bend and bind the legs.

There is no need to hook up to the TV on level ground. The six point leveling system is quite capable of lifting the wheels off the ground, this happens many times to many people when leveling on uneven ground. As I said in my last post I also lifted the other side to keep a semi level attitude on the unit. By doing so the jacks do not bend or bind.

There are times as in my case where you cannot jack on the axles, if you need to have the weight of the RV off the axles to work on them then you must jack and block the frame as I did. Try changing a wet bolt by lifting the unit with a jack under the axle.

If you are repacking bearings then I would still take a large portion of the weight of the RV off the axles with the level up and then lift the individual wheel off the ground with a jack under the U bolts. There is then far less weight on the jack lifting the axle the last little bit to get the wheel off the ground enough to rotate it.

There is far more danger of damaging the jacks when trying to use the auto level up when the unit is on uneven ground than doing as I did. In manual mode you have complete control of where you are lifting.

[dieselguy]

Ed ... I think the idea of hooking up to the truck pertains to the majority of us who don't have the level up ... if you're one of us who still carries wood blocks around and saves the level up option money for boat gas , hooking up to the truck takes a bunch of stress off the front electric jack legs as you raise the tire(s) off the ground and provides a safety factor.

[Irlpguy]

Yup got a big tub of home made chauk's and blocks that I carry with me. Even with the level up I still chauk the wheels when I am parked. Of course the electric geared jacks are more likely to bind than are my hydraulics.

Other than to perform the work I had to do on my suspension, I would not jack more than one wheel off the ground at any time but I sure would/did block the other sides wheels and they were on the ground. Whatever it takes to be safe and perform the work in a safe manner. I am fortunate to have a level parking spot to park my Monty.

[Parts Ed]

I will hook up to the trailer with the truck since we don't have the level up system and I have plenty of wood blocks and chocks (since I am doing this on our gravel pad), will "steal" a couple of 5 ton jack stands from work today and get my hands abit greasy this weekend. The only thing I dislike is that the dealer is 40 miles away from me, so if after removing one wheel and hub assembly I will have to drive in to them to get four new seals.....

[bobsals]

I know what Dexter says about jacking on the axles - (not) I'm sure they have had their share if yahoo's jacking in the middle of the axle and wondering why it bent. I use a small piece of pine between the U bolts and place my hydraulic bottle jack there. Once off the ground and high enough, I put a jack stand next to it again using another piece of pine to distribute the load. Never had a problem.
Do all four for the winter. The only time I jacked on the frame is when I installed wet bolts on the suspension.

[dieselguy]

I'd check locally at a trailer sales business, NAPA, or any other parts house you can think of before go go visit your "stealer" unless you are just flush with money. You don't have to go with Dexter seals either ... there are several other China made brands that work just as well.

[Parts Ed]

Thanks for all the advice, I completed the task and I am sure glad I checked everything as some of the nuts on every brake backing plate were loose, in fact when I removed the last wheel (RH front) I found that the seal had blown out and one of the nuts was missing from the bolt and was setting on the web of the rear shoe held down with a mess of grease. Bought a loaded backing plate & seal on Monday from the local trailer supply people and had it all put back together that night.

[Ozz]

Good job, Ed