Flat Tires

[daneboy]

We are headed for the Canadian Rockies and Alaska next month. I have 2 spares for the truck and trailer, my questions to you experienced 5er drivers is; (1)Is it necessary to disconnect the 5er before changing the rear truck tire? Or can some of the weight be lifted off the truck with the 5er legs and then jack up the truck? (2) Is it OK to jack the trailer on the axel "U" bolts? Thanks for your help.
Jerry

[Glass Guy]

I would not try to use the front landing gear to help lift the truck as there have been issues of the gears striping, I had the dually come off on time and I used a jack and the landing gear together but did not put any lifting force on the front legs, as far as a lifting point on the trailer stay as close to the outside edge of the axle as possible or pick up one of those tire changing wedges that are sold at camping world i I don't believe they are that expensive. Roman

[stiles watson]

I think the answer would be circumstantial. For me, if it were possible to disengage the Monty, I would, simply because the whole affair would be less complicated. I agree with what Glass Guy says about using the landing gear motor to do any lifting of the TV. I have never used the landing gear for that purpose, but have had to replace the motor and gear box.

As far as lifting the trailer, I have a notched piece of 4x4 that snuggly fits the axle, positioned as close to the wheel as is feasible. Then up with the bottle jack. I don't like the bottle jack directly on the axle. I have had to change tires on the road twice.

The best scenerio is to purchase as road service, like Coash-net or Good Sam's or even AAA, and let them do the job. Coach-net were able to send competent service to us out in the boonies.

[daneboy]

Thanks for the Information. I'll look into the tire changing wedge. Also I'll notch a 4X4 to match the axel just in case. I've had to change tires on my old travel trailer several times over the years, but never with the 5er, so far. It appears the landing gear & drive aren't real husky.
Thanks again,
Jerry

[Trailer Trash 2]

I would leave it hooked to the truck, look how stable it will be. It cant move anywhere.

[Dave e Victoria]

I agree with trailer trash. Leave it hooked.
as fat as jacking the trailer, getting under the "U" bolt bracket is ideal. If it is too low to get the jack under, consider pulling the trailer up on leveling blocks until the jack fits.
Dave

[Driftwoodgal]

This happened to hubby on one of his trips to Florida. He did have to use the legs on the FVer so he could jack up the truck. He didn't total disconnect the truck from the trailer as he wouldn't have been able to rehitch the tailer because of the incline. The trailer did shift some because of the incline, but the tongue was still inside of the hitch. Why he didn't use our road side assitance is beyond me. He got the tire changed and made it to a tire store to buy a new tire, as the truck tire was a blow out. The tire was less than six months old. The other three tires are still on the truck without any problems.

[Imp]

We didn't have a blow out but found 4 bubbles 50 cent size on the side wall of the rear tire on the truck. No tire dealerships open on Sat afternoon, so we found a park and set up to unhook the truck and called road side assistance to change the bad tire with the spare. They came promptly and it was a young kid who didn't know how to lower the spare tire from the truck. We called road side assistance back to send someone else and found out they are the only one in the area, so this time the owner came with the kid. In the mean time we are reading the truck manual and found out there is a key you have to use... the key is in the glove compartment. In the Ford trucks the equipment is in 3 different places...jack behind the back seat, key in the glove box, and the rod is mounted up by the radiator. Don't laugh, just call us newbies and learning. I never planned on changing a tire, that is why I have road side assistance..right? Anyway the tire was changed and fortunately we had a compressor and tire guage as the wrecker was not equipped with such. They also didn't know about proper torquing. I was a bit annoyed and told Good Sam era they shouldn't be paid. Moral of this story is learn everything you can about your vehicles because you might just have to do it yourself....

[DCP]

Daneboy: We are going to be in the same places as you are and leaving the end of June. If we see any Montana's we should stop and chat!

[sreigle]

For changing a trailer tire I leave the trailer hitched to the truck. I've never had to change a rear truck tire while towing but if that happens I would try to unhitch just because I'm not sure the truck's jack could handle the extra weight the pinweight puts in the bed of the truck. I think our 4-wy pivoting hitch would handle the lift on the truck just fine but I don't know about that jack.

[Montana_5700]

Well I just hope you dont have to use any spare tires and have a safe trip,
Good luck