Jacking up fifthwheel

MFL wrote:
I go right under the U-bolts with a similar block of wood. I routed the wood block a little, to just cup the U-bolts.
...snip...


Jerry

I more or less did what jerry did, only I used three pieces of 2x4, and cut the pieces with the jig saw, then glued and screwed them together. This is what happens when you're old, retired, and have time on your hands.....

Cummins12V98 wrote:
IMHO this is a great item to use for maintenance and the road side repair. TrailerAid Plus

This was along Hwy 1 CA

That tire doesn't look like it's under any stress from taking all the load. Are they 17.5's ?

allen8106 wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
If you ever tried to raise your trailer high enough to change a tire, you'd understand how ludicrous the idea is that you have to jack under the frame.

I've actually done it, it's not that big of a deal IMHO.

Honestly curious about your procedure, what size jacks you used, etc. And if you could do it out on the side of the road with the tools you would have on hand. Not slamming, just honestly curious.

Learjet wrote:
that trailer aid puts more stress on the remaining axle, not the best thing IMHO.

I knew that was coming! Never driven off a curb or irregular terrain?

Next someone will say I just destroyed the tires integrity. 30K or so later and nearly 3 years they are going strong!

that trailer aid puts more stress on the remaining axle, not the best thing IMHO.

rhagfo wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
IMHO this is a great item to use for maintenance and the road side repair. TrailerAid Plus

This was along Hwy 1 CA

What was the issue, burnt bearing??

No, The "C" snap ring that holds the sealed bearing place was never actually snapped into the slot from the factory 5 years prior. So when traveling south of Carmel on HWY1 in CA on the windy roads the rotor started sliding towards the center of the RV and as seen in the pic the rotor started digging into the Caliper holding plate. It was so hot it started melting the rubber bushings on the caliper slide bolts. I put a block of wood in between the pads and strapped the caliper to the spring and re assembled everything and drove another 180 miles or so to Rancho Oso TT park and later ordered all the parts needed from Kodiak. He sent everything for free since they at the time had a 5 yr warranty. He also gave me a goof deal on a rotor with wheel studs and bearing installed for future but since have had no troubles but will be prepared if need be.

Only reason I saw the problem was I noticed a Lug cap scooting across the road in my side view mirror! It was snapping and popping from being so hot when I looked at the wheel.

Cummins12V98 wrote:
IMHO this is a great item to use for maintenance and the road side repair. TrailerAid Plus

This was along Hwy 1 CA

What was the issue, burnt bearing??

IMHO this is a great item to use for maintenance and the road side repair. TrailerAid Plus

This was along Hwy 1 CA

fj12ryder wrote:
If you ever tried to raise your trailer high enough to change a tire, you'd understand how ludicrous the idea is that you have to jack under the frame.

I've actually done it, it's not that big of a deal IMHO.

fj12ryder wrote:
All the owners' manuals say that.

If you jack in the middle of the axle you will probably bend the axle since it isn't designed for that. If the builders said that it is okay to jack on the axle, and someone jacked in the middle of the axle and bent the axle, then they would holler that "The builder said it was okay to jack on the axle."

Consequently the builders put in a CYA statement that never to jack under the axle. If you ever tried to raise your trailer high enough to change a tire, you'd understand how ludicrous the idea is that you have to jack under the frame.

With you 100% on this, jacking on the frame solves the idiot from jacking in the middle and bending it out of alignment. Jacking on the frame to raise a wheel off the ground requires at least 6" of travel if not more, and you have put some serious twist in the frame.

If the tube of the axle was so thin that placing a bottle jack under it to jack, then the first big bump you hit would have a wheel pointing sideways.