PA State Inspection

And what gives anyone special exception to not inspect a trailer (which is required by law) and run it on the roads, where if something fails, other people are at risk?

Alot of states dont bother to jack up the trailers to check the wheels. They verify the trailer ID, check the lights check tire tread and send them off o pay the $$$$

Lynnmor wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
So how did you want him to do it?

And why do you think he would have bent the axles?

The jack was so large that it would have contacted the axle well inboard. Anyone that has a clue knows that you should not place a jack towards the center of an axle. After seeing how incompetent he was, I didn't want him doing anything else.

Sorry, but I just can't believe that he would have as you say have to have put it well inboard towards the center of the axle. For information just how close do you think you have to be to the wheels on the inboard side to be safe and where do you get that number.

Larry

LarryJM wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
So how did you want him to do it?

And why do you think he would have bent the axles?

The jack was so large that it would have contacted the axle well inboard. Anyone that has a clue knows that you should not place a jack towards the center of an axle. After seeing how incompetent he was, I didn't want him doing anything else.

Sorry, but I just can't believe that he would have as you say have to have put it well inboard towards the center of the axle. For information just how close do you think you have to be to the wheels on the inboard side to be safe and where do you get that number.

Larry

From Dexter:
MISCELLANEOUS - Is it okay to jack up my trailer?
Dexter recommends that you do not jack up the trailer on the suspension components because there is always the potential for damage. Bent hangers, leaf springs, or axle tubes can cause bad axle alignment with bad tire wear resulting. Also, many trailer builders do not use Dexter hangers and we have no idea how strong these hangers may or may not be. Therefore, we take the conservative approach and recommend jacking up only on the trailer frame.

The above is from the Dexter Axle website. Sorry that you cannot understand. The axle tubes are rather thin and putting the weight at a single contact point on the tube can very easily indent or bend the tube. The farther inboard, the higher the weight. If one wants to go against Dexter's advice, then at least jack it directly under the springs.

Again, the floor jack was the largest I have ever seen and it would have contacted the axle tube well inboard. If that is what you want for your trailer, have at it.

You believe as you wish, I am just reporting what happened.

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.

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.

Lynnmor wrote:

LarryJM wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
So how did you want him to do it?

And why do you think he would have bent the axles?

The jack was so large that it would have contacted the axle well inboard. Anyone that has a clue knows that you should not place a jack towards the center of an axle. After seeing how incompetent he was, I didn't want him doing anything else.

Sorry, but I just can't believe that he would have as you say have to have put it well inboard towards the center of the axle. For information just how close do you think you have to be to the wheels on the inboard side to be safe and where do you get that number.

Larry

From Dexter:
MISCELLANEOUS - Is it okay to jack up my trailer?
Dexter recommends that you do not jack up the trailer on the suspension components because there is always the potential for damage. Bent hangers, leaf springs, or axle tubes can cause bad axle alignment with bad tire wear resulting. Also, many trailer builders do not use Dexter hangers and we have no idea how strong these hangers may or may not be. Therefore, we take the conservative approach and recommend jacking up only on the trailer frame.

The above is from the Dexter Axle website. Sorry that you cannot understand. The axle tubes are rather thin and putting the weight at a single contact point on the tube can very easily indent or bend the tube. The farther inboard, the higher the weight. If one wants to go against Dexter's advice, then at least jack it directly under the springs.

Again, the floor jack was the largest I have ever seen and it would have contacted the axle tube well inboard. If that is what you want for your trailer, have at it.

You believe as you wish, I am just reporting what happened.

OH I understand perfectly thank you and have been jacking up TT longer than many here have been alive (35+ years) and IMO I like to do it directly under the frame as close to the axle attachment point as possible with a bottle jack. I'm also well aware of Dexter's conservative position on jacking up a trailer which I think is a good idea for the most part. However, that was not my question which you failed to answer. Your OP left us with the impression that he was jacking on the axle too far inboard and all I asked was how far that was and at what distance inboard from the axle you would feel comfortable raising say a tire using the axle as the lift point. Now if your original post has said he was going to raise the tire by jacking on the axle (position inboard has no bearing here) and that was what you were objecting to then fine, but that is not the discussion ... it is at what point inboard were your objecting to and what would have been the point where you would not have objected. The size of the jack is irrelevant to a large degree and you seem to leave open that a smaller jack on the axles closer in would have been O.K.

BTW I think you will find the wt will be very close to the same for say the first foot or so inboard of the tire and it's not that the weight changes, but that the bending moment increases the closer to the center of the axle you get.



Larry

LarryJM wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

LarryJM wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
So how did you want him to do it?

And why do you think he would have bent the axles?

The jack was so large that it would have contacted the axle well inboard. Anyone that has a clue knows that you should not place a jack towards the center of an axle. After seeing how incompetent he was, I didn't want him doing anything else.

Sorry, but I just can't believe that he would have as you say have to have put it well inboard towards the center of the axle. For information just how close do you think you have to be to the wheels on the inboard side to be safe and where do you get that number.

Larry

From Dexter:
MISCELLANEOUS - Is it okay to jack up my trailer?
Dexter recommends that you do not jack up the trailer on the suspension components because there is always the potential for damage. Bent hangers, leaf springs, or axle tubes can cause bad axle alignment with bad tire wear resulting. Also, many trailer builders do not use Dexter hangers and we have no idea how strong these hangers may or may not be. Therefore, we take the conservative approach and recommend jacking up only on the trailer frame.

The above is from the Dexter Axle website. Sorry that you cannot understand. The axle tubes are rather thin and putting the weight at a single contact point on the tube can very easily indent or bend the tube. The farther inboard, the higher the weight. If one wants to go against Dexter's advice, then at least jack it directly under the springs.

Again, the floor jack was the largest I have ever seen and it would have contacted the axle tube well inboard. If that is what you want for your trailer, have at it.

You believe as you wish, I am just reporting what happened.

OH I understand perfectly thank you and have been jacking up TT longer than many here have been alive (35+ years) and IMO I like to do it directly under the frame as close to the axle attachment point as possible with a bottle jack. I'm also well aware of Dexter's conservative position on jacking up a trailer which I think is a good idea for the most part. However, that was not my question which you failed to answer. Your OP left us with the impression that he was jacking on the axle too far inboard and all I asked was how far that was and at what distance inboard from the axle you would feel comfortable raising say a tire using the axle as the lift point. Now if your original post has said he was going to raise the tire by jacking on the axle (position inboard has no bearing here) and that was what you were objecting to then fine, but that is not the discussion ... it is at what point inboard were your objecting to and what would have been the point where you would not have objected. The size of the jack is irrelevant to a large degree and you seem to leave open that a smaller jack on the axles closer in would have been O.K.

BTW I think you will find the wt will be very close to the same for say the first foot or so inboard of the tire and it's not that the weight changes, but that the bending moment increases the closer to the center of the axle you get.



Larry

I didn't measure the jack. With the jack wheels against the trailer tire the lifting point was well inboard of the spring. Why is this so difficult to understand? Nobody is going to jack my trailer by the axle tube alone.

Now with a 6 foot long axle the center is just 3 foot in. please do your homework and see how much the weight is at 2 foot from the center.

RoyB wrote:
After reading all of this it appears we are doomed if we do or doomed if we don't...

I guess if I had a big ole trailer where this really matters I would be taking it to a trailer dealership to be inspected. Then I would have some recourse action if things were found wrong..


Roy Ken

Exactly

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.

Personally what I would do is not to use floor jacks at all and I prefer a bottle jack with a short piece (about 6 to 8")of 4x6 with the 4" part between the jack and frame and directly under the frame between the axles. Then once the tires are off the ground use some short sections of 6x6 maybe 8" long each to build a support to go under the frame as close to the axles as possible. You can use other items for support such as concrete blocks, lynx levelers, etc., but I would want at least a 4" thick piece of wood at the frame interface about 6 to 8" long. The reason for the wood is to distribute the weight as equal as possible along that length of frame and the wood will give some and provide a more uniform support on the frame. Jack stands are fine, but I would never crawl under a vehicle supported by jack stands only (personal preference) and want something more solid and substantial for support. When working under my vehicles I use Race Ramps on my Sonata and Sebring Coupe and for my E-350 I use a combo of lengths of 2x6 with lynx levelers to form a ramp of sufficient height to provide the necessary under vehicle clearance.

Larry