Jack placement

[Roamingusa]

Dumb quesion? Where do you put the jack when changing a tire?
Thanks!

[southern thunder]

I'm going to leave it alone and call road service. No I'm not sure.

[NCFischers]

Be careful, not all road service people know where to jack up the trailer either.

[CamillaMichael]

I have only changed one tire on our Montana and when I did, placed the jack under the I-beam frame closest to the tire being changed...since this was the forward tire on the curb side, had a tight fit near the entry steps.

[Tom S.]

I use two. A 20 ton bottle jack under the frame close to the tire I'm changing to raise the unit enough to take some weight off the springs, and a smaller 2 ton jack under the axle to raise the axle high enough to remove/replace the wheel and tire. The 20 ton takes the weight off the axle so you don't bend or distort it when raising it. Don't forget to chock the wheels on the other side and set the parking brake on the tow vehicle.

Last time I had to do it, it was on black top in Montana and the air temp was 112 degrees. It was NOT fun!

[pineranch]

If you can't get the wife to do it, Tom S has a good technique.
Mike

[DQDick]

quote:Originally posted by NCFischers

Be careful, not all road service people know where to jack up the trailer either.

X2 on this one. Even the Goodyear folks who put on my G614's would have jacked it up using the axle if I hadn't been there to stop them.

[Hooker]

Since I sold my 3400RL, I don't have the manual, but I can tell you where NOT to put it...under the axle.

[Roamingusa]

Thanks all for your replies, we were just wondering...just in case!
(probably jinxed myself) LOL

[NCFischers]

I have jacked mine on the axle between the u bolts. The axle has a solid piece of stock inside it at that point that supports the hub.

[DarMar]

I have always used a 12 ton bottle jack under the axle in between the u bolts. Just lift it enough to get the tire on/off. That action is certainly no worse than your tires/axles dropping in and out of a simple pot hole.

[dieselguy]

I agree with Jim and Darwin ... there's no problem with jacking the fiver up by the axle placing the jack between the spring U Bolts directly under the springs. Think about it ... that's where the axle supports weight of the fiver per design. Some of us have made a saddle from angle iron welded to the jack adjuster screw for maximum contact. The one thing you don't want to do is place the jack towards the middle of the axle ... you will run the risk of bending the axle at that point. Just throwing out my opinion ... trying to lift the fiver off the wheels by jacking up the frame is putting undo stress on a bunch of stuff both inside and outside the fiver.

[Weldon]

I may be right, I may be wrong, but this is what I do. I have two 4X4s with a 2X10 on top of them, also I have a ramp that I can pull up on to get too the 4X4s, after I get one wheel on the 4X4s I move the ramp.
change the flat then drive off the 4X4s with the ramp. I will call the tire man next time just got roadside.

[LonnieB]

I do as NCFischers, DarMar, and dieselguy do, between the u-bolts on the axles with a bottle jack. My reasoning is the same as dieselguy's, jacking on the frame enough to get the tire off the ground, twists and stresses the entire trailer, more than I am willing to take responsibility for.

[DonandJudy_12]

I pull the good tire up on a ramp I carry until the flat tire is off the ground- This creates sufficient clearance to allow easy removal of the flat and installation of the spare- JMHO - Don

[Recumbent]

Yes, just as LonnieB and others indicate between the ubolts on the axle with a 12ton bottle jack. In fact I have releveled the rig using this method.

[klash]

I have never had to change a flat on any trailer we have ever owned, but tried this as
a test. Take your Lynx Leveler blocks, make a stack of blocks and either drive ahead or back up on them so the opposing wheel comes up off the ground. Too simple, too easy.

[helmick]

quote:Originally posted by Tom S.

I use two. A 20 ton bottle jack under the frame close to the tire I'm changing to raise the unit enough to take some weight off the springs, and a smaller 2 ton jack under the axle to raise the axle high enough to remove/replace the wheel and tire. The 20 ton takes the weight off the axle so you don't bend or distort it when raising it. Don't forget to chock the wheels on the other side and set the parking brake on the tow vehicle.

Last time I had to do it, it was on black top in Montana and the air temp was 112 degrees. It was NOT fun!

Tom S. listens to Dexter Axel.

[twindman]

I too have used a bottle jack on the axle. But I recently got a new 'thing' that you drive up onto with one tire to help lift the other tire off the ground. I haven't tried it tho. But after thinking about it, I wonder if this idea is so good? When you get one tire up on something so the other is off the ground, you now have 5-6000 lbs on one end of one axle!!! That is half the trailer weight, right. So the whole axle would have 1/2 on one side and 1/4 on the other yielding about 9000 lbs on the 6 or 7 thousand lb axle. Is this good???? Just wondering!!??!!

[Champ_49]

I think we sometimes over analyze things a bit. People have been jacking on the axles for as long as there has been trailers. I'm with the group of jack it up where the axles are and you won't have a problem. Its where all the weight sits anyway and all your doing is lifting that same weight that the axle supports in the first place. I think its just common sense. Lifting on the frame also tweeks the frame and that is probably just as bad as trying to jack on the axle away from the springs. Just my opinion is all.

Dave