PA State Inspection

Highway 4x4 wrote:
I have been thinking of upgrading my axles from 3500 to 5200 and the thought of getting the entire TT off the ground is the worst part of the job. I have two floor jacks and an assortment of stands at my disposal. I did my EZ flex myself one side at a time and even it made me nervous. I have thought of lowering the tongue allthe way down then placing stands on the frame just behind the suspension then raising the tongue and hopeing the tires come off the ground, then placing stands on the front side of the suspension. Even though my TT only weighs 6500 pounds, seems like more. Any ideas? BTW, Calif has no inspection of TT's and don't give them any ideas.

I swapped out my bent 3500 axles for custom made Dexter axles. To raise the trailer, I jacked under the axles below the springs. I lifted each side a little at a time and placed jack stands under the frame as I progressed upward. Just keep alternating sides and lift just a little on each step. Going down was the same. Some frames, like mine, are very thin and need to be protected with a board and/or angle iron.

Your idea of using the tongue jack was what I would do when I had a small Sunline trailer with a real frame. I would do that every year to take some load off the tires over winter. If you trust the frame is strong enough and you keep the rear blocking close to the rear axle it might be OK. I judged that my frame was not up to the task.

I could write a book about PA inspection and explain how they screwed up my vehicles over the years. It would be of no use to go into it here because, as you see, they will just shoot the messenger.