Trailer jacking

[artfuldodger]

I just spent lots of $ on suspension overhaul and am amending the way I will jack the 5r if needed. The trailer aid will stay home and an 8ton bottle jack will be carried. Many if not most of you are jacking on the axle under the spring u bolts. However Glenn, the dexter service expert, says to jack on the frame. Lippert's expert says to jack on the axle. How am I going to get the jack high enough to jack on the frame?

[BB_TX]

You would need some thick block(s). And you would still need to extend the bottle jack quite a bit. To me, jacking under the axle U bolts is much safer as you only need to raise the axle a couple inches.

[dieselguy]

This has been cussed and discussed at length several times over the years. You're going to put way more strain on your unit trying to jack one side up high enough to get a tire to clear ground. Your unit will pop and creak and you will sweat trying to pile cribbing high enough to get to the frame while you move back and forth between two jacks. Many of us have used the jack beneath the spring perch method with constant success and no damage to alignment. I made a little V block that fits in between the UBolts to go on top of my jack to further distribute the load. I have access to load cells similar to what the mobile hiway patrol units use. You're not picking up anywhere near 6000# jacking under a single axle to allow the tire to clear about 1/2" ... on my 3150RL, measured weight via load cell was @2650#. Of course the higher you jack the fiver, the weight will increase a bit as you are taking on more weight from the suspension as you compress the leaf springs. Dexter has their opinions which have merit for their company. They can't prevent some individual who hasn't a clue from placing a big bottle jack right in the middle of the axle and trying to hoist her all up in on big grunt killing the axle.

[jcurtis934]

Frame jack feature...that would be level up, just push a button and good to go. Course, biceps are getting kind of puny these days. John

[1retired06]

I have been using a 20T bottle jack under the U Bolts for years and years without a problem. Have not tried to use the LCI leveling system as a jack.

[Phil P]

Hi

I jack on the MorRyde center support bracket not the rubber spring but the bracket that is welded to the frame. I will not jack it unless the trailer is hitched to the truck and the landing gear / front legs retracted. The reason for this is with it sitting on the landing gear / front legs when you jack it high enough to get the wheels off the ground the same side landing gear / leg come off the ground and this puts excessive load on the jack and the far side landing gear / leg.

I will post a picture when I put my trailer back on the ground.

Phil P

[artfuldodger]

In past posts a few people have mentioned a V bracket to put between the jack and the axle. A picture of the bracket or at least a description of it would give me a better idea of how to fabricate one. I think its use would spread the load and would reduce the chances of the small head of the jack slipping off the axle. I know dieselguy made one.

[dieselguy]

Some have simply welded a short piece of say 1.5" angle iron "V" up to the adjuster screw head on their jack. I have access to a lathe, so I fabbed a round stubby cylinder with the ID big enough to clear my adjuster screw head and the OD small enough to fit in between the spring U Bolts. I then welded a piece of angle iron "V" up on top of that. I can slip it on and off and not dedicate the jack to one use. If you use say a 4" long piece of angle iron, you'll not fit it in between the spring U Bolts which I feel is the optimum location. On a side note ... I've not had a time where the bare jack (no V pad) has slipped off an axle but have been around when one did on a tandem axle fiver. The brake drum didn't hit the ground ... the fiver didn't fall over ... the suspension and other tire kept it from doing so. It took two tries and some cribbing to get the jack back under the axle, but it was eventually successful.

[Mark N.]

All I can say is "Thanks heavens for the hydraulic lift system!" I can't imagine having to jack this beast up to change a tire.

[dieselguy]

With a battery powered rattle gun and a 6 ton jack it's not dificult nor time consuming at all. Like I've eluded to earlier you need to unwrap your head from around lifting up 12K pounds of RV ... it's more like 3K. If the ground's a bit soft, just use a piece of 2X6 or 2X8 that many of us carry anyway. Waiting on AAA for 3 hours to show up for a 15 minute job is just plain sad. Changing a flat was one of the things my Dad taught me and my sister early in life ... I've kept it going with my kids.
I agree about "level up" if you have it but it's not a deal breaker if you don't.

[BB_TX]

quote:Originally posted by dieselguy

.............
. Changing a flat was one of the things my Dad taught me and my sister early in life ... I've kept it going with my kids.

Same here. My daughter just changed her brake pads on her car herself. Only help she needed was for me to break some of the lug nuts loose.

[clarkandsheila]

I went for a 12T bottle jack simply because the screw was a whole lot thicker than the lighter jacks.
I have not made a V support but use a piece of 1/2" thick aluminmum that just fits between the U bolts X ~ 3". It's not hard to
check centre.

I also made jacking pads of three layers of 3/4 ply x 12" x 12" and also 12" x 20" which the jack AND the axle stand both sit on.
Soft ground and jacks/stands do not play nice with each other. This way there is enough support that the jack/stand are stable with a bit of attention.

[WaltBennett]

I've jacked on the u bolt shackles on four trailers including our Monty. No problems at all.

[rohrmann]

I have posted about these jack accessories in the past, have no financial interest in them, except for having purchased their product. I do jack the rig with the leveling system, but have these parts to use with my jack just in case. https://safejacks.com/index.php

[Phil P]

Hi

Here is the picture I promise3d you all.



Some have recommended welding a piece of angle to the head of the jack to give it more stability. The problem with this idea is the heads of most bottle jacks are hardened so they will “bite” in to the steel frame work that is being lifted. Welding to steel that has been heat treated in this manner commonly causes it to become brittle. I don’t recommend this procedure.

It is highly recommended to have the trailer on the TV and the front landing gear legs fully retracted. Jacking like this with the unit on the landing gear legs causes the leg on the side being jacked to come off the ground. This would seriously over load the remaining leg.

Phil P

[dieselguy]

I don't want to get into a tussle on New years Eve, but you're picking up way more weight that way than just jacking under the axle in-between the u-bolts and jacking up less weight is what draws me to the axle. Generally what you point out about the jack heads is something to consider, but I know several guys that have done it for farm and or RV use with no failures. I do support your proposal of having the fiver hooked to the truck and not load up the opposite landing gear leg.

[Phil P]

Hello Dieselguy

Happy New Year

You are correct about the weight; I am actually picking up about 7,000 lbs lifting there. However I was putting the trailer back on the ground after having removed all the shackle wet bolts and inspecting the bushings for wear.

Jacking on the axel to change a tire would be preferable but jacking in the center makes brake adjustment much easier. Remember to put jack stand under the frame aft of the rear spring hangers if you are going under the trailer to adjust breaks.

http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...chTerms=annual

You are correct about things people do and get away with but I also have gone to funerals that could have been avoided if a little more thought had been put into the process before beginning the project. After 50 plus years of handling heavy loads 100,000 lbs + I have seen unmodified jacks fail.

Because the fifth wheel hitch swivels some side to side having the trailer hooked to the fifth wheel hitch also relives a lot of the twisting load on the frame.

Phil P