Changing Tires

You MIGHT wish to measure the height of the ramp vs the amount of clearance you have under your trailer FIRST before purchasing for this purpose.

Second, those ramps tend to be steep, may bottom out your trailer suspension and your other wheel will still be touching the ground or the ramp.

Third, would have to backup or pull forward totally straight, otherwise your leading wheel will start running off the ramp.

Forth, would need to ramp BOTH sides, otherwise risk an unstable situation..

Fifth, Ramping wheels to this extreme WILL overload one of the axles/tires.

Sixth, several bottle jacks or trolley jacks and jack stands WOULD be a much better way to go about this..

It isn't hard work to use a jack, why does everyone go to extremes and use tools that were not really designed for the job?

I guess you take your chances with a)plastic b) harbor freight.

I'm sure they'll be fine.. unless they're wildly overrated and break under load. Do you feel lucky?

Seems bulky to haul around compared to a bottle jack. Depending on weight your truck jack might work just fine.

Build a ramp from 2 x 6s. Screw it together, no glue. That way you can determine the necessary height. I needed one less level than I thought. Then take it apart, glue and screw.

2oldman wrote:
I guess you take your chances with a)plastic b) harbor freight.

I'm sure they'll be fine.. unless they're wildly overrated and break under load. Do you feel lucky?

Trailer-Aid "Plus" Tandem Tire Changing Ramp, The Fast and Easy Way To Change A Trailer's Flat Tire, Holds up to 15,000 Pounds, 5.5 Inch Lift (Yellow)

So other than this one being a little smaller in all directions, it would be better than the Harbor Freight unit.
Trailer Aid Plus Dimensions (in):7.2 x 6.1 x 25
5.5" of lift
Shipping Weight (lbs):5---1 Unit
Buy New: $42.95
List Price: $52.26


Harbor Freight dimensions: 35-1/2 in. L x 12 in. W x 8-1/2 in. H

6 in. max lift height.
Product Weight 18.4 lbs.---2Units
$39.99 plus an additional 20% off with coupon.

Not trying to be a smart ***, just don't understand the plastic Harbor Freight comment. Would only carry one at a time but could use the other when I am changing my Chinese tires for Goodyear endurance at home. Not to mention any other work at home where they could be used.

Trailer Aid makes the same model with a very thick piece of rubber where the tire comes to rest. This adds an inch plus to the height of the flat tire off the ground.

cliffy49 wrote:

2oldman wrote:
I guess you take your chances with a)plastic b) harbor freight.

I'm sure they'll be fine.. unless they're wildly overrated and break under load. Do you feel lucky?

Trailer-Aid "Plus" Tandem Tire Changing Ramp, The Fast and Easy Way To Change A Trailer's Flat Tire, Holds up to 15,000 Pounds, 5.5 Inch Lift (Yellow)

So other than this one being a little smaller in all directions, it would be better than the Harbor Freight unit.
Trailer Aid Plus Dimensions (in):7.2 x 6.1 x 25
5.5" of lift5.5" of lift to aid in performing routine maintenance
Shipping Weight (lbs):5---1 Unit
Buy New: $42.95
List Price: $52.26


Harbor Freight dimensions: 35-1/2 in. L x 12 in. W x 8-1/2 in. H
6 in. max lift height.
6 in. max lift height.
Product Weight 18.4 lbs.---2Units
$39.99 plus an additional 20% off with coupon.

Not trying to be a smart ***, just don't understand the plastic Harbor Freight comment. Would only carry one at a time but could use the other when I am changing my Chinese tires for Goodyear endurance at home. Not to mention any other work at home where they could be used.

I have a set of HF ramps that were left to me. I had the front of a 3/4 ton 4x4 truck on them with no problem. Like any other ramps you still want to use jack stands and I also stick a large jack under it. With that being said I am taking a bottle jack and some blocking.

These work depending on what type of suspension your trailer has. I have the Trailer Aid version and it worked great with the torsion axles on my horse trailer. I now have a Jayco Toy Hauler and tried it at home for a test and it does not work with the leaf spring system on the toy hauler. One tire went up on the Trailer Aid but the other tire was still on the ground. Glad I found this out at home rather than on the side of the road. I carry a 12 ton hydraulic jack. Hope I never need it though.

Ok, guess I didn't explain myself very well. My plan was to use the to change 2 tires at a time in order to replace the China tires that are on the trailer now. Since I can not work on the trailer in storage, I was just going to pull 2 tires off, have the new ones mounted and balanced and put them back on the trailer. I would then move the ramps to the other 2 tires and repeat the process.

I would back onto the ramps first and place jack stands under the axles, do the tire change and then pull onto the ramps and repeat. Do you guys think this is doable without causing any damage? I have a small floor jack for when I am on the road and would use this if I had too.

I may be wrong, but I feel this would be easier than dragging the trailer through downtown to get to the nearest tire shop that would mount and balance the new tires. Sorry for all the confusion.

I have done both. Dragging the trailer down to the tire shop was actually easier. They put all four up on four floor jacks and done in 40 minutes.

Have also used the jack to put the spare on and then hold the axle up while I get two swapped. A bit of a pitn unless you only have time for drop off.