How to lift each tire off the ground for service?

[AMG1978]

I have been using one of those yellow "Trailer Aid" devices to drive forward on (front axle) or reverse on (rear axle). It works, but I got to thinking, isn't there an easier way to get the job done safely? Does anyone know if it's save to jack up one side somehow? my floor jacks are only 2.5 ton, but if I had a many ton bottle jack or something, can you safely jack it up in place? Thanks.

If i did service unloaded (no toys or water) i'd still probably be at about 9500lbs.

[juzplanekrazy]

OMG, I Love It. Lincster, somethings never change.

[Dirtclods]

I use a bottle jack and a 4x4 piece of wood under the jack and lift from the frame closest to the wheel.


https://www.harborfreight.com/20-ton-hydraulic-bottle-jack-66482.html

[rhagfo]

RCMAN46 wrote:

JIMNLIN wrote:


In all those years and over 1.2 million miles on the road never saw or heard of a tube being crushed till I came on a RV website.

The axle tubes on current RV trailers can and have been crushed.

Mine was not crushed by a jack but a chuck hole on I 40 near Kingman Arizona.

That axle isn't crushed it is bent! Just how big was the chuckhole and how fast were you traveling?? Did the tire and rim get damaged??

[RCMAN46]

JIMNLIN wrote:


In all those years and over 1.2 million miles on the road never saw or heard of a tube being crushed till I came on a RV website.

The axle tubes on current RV trailers can and have been crushed.

Mine was not crushed by a jack but a chuck hole on I 40 near Kingman Arizona.

[JIMNLIN]

I bent the frame on a loaded 18k gvwr GN trailer by jacking the frame from a single point in my younger and dumber days......even after my equipment trailer mfg said not to. Lessons learned the hard way.

I carry a old truckers special 12t shorty hyd jack that is made to slip under a axle tube (leaf spring suspension) next to the U bolt. The old jack has lifted one end of 1750 lb-8000 lb axles from the tubes on fully loaded trailer with Dexter or Rockell American axles. In all those years and over 1.2 million miles on the road never saw or heard of a tube being crushed till I came on a RV website.

No tube damage is the result of the fact lifting one end of a 6k axle a bit is only 2500-3000 lbs vs the whole side of a 12k trailer till the suspension relaxes and the tire clears the ground.
Everyone has their method....this is just mine.

[fj12ryder]

RCMAN46 wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Does anyone carry all that cribbing needed to jack trailer by frame when laying on the side of the HWY with a flat tire OR jack it under the axle tubes at spring perches :H

I do.
I have two bags of Lynx Levelers for leveling my trailer. More than enough to set my bottle jack on to raise trailer by the frame.

Okay, you've used all your Lynx Levelers to raise the frame, what do you use to support it now that you've got it up there?

[Ralph_Cramden]

Wild Card wrote:
Lifting a trailer by 1 single point of the frame is a no no. Ask Lippert. You must lift for and aft of the spring hangers. so thats 2 jacks and enough cribbing for each.

So if your not doing it that way, your still doing it wrong

LOL.....direct from the high quality frame fabricators at Lippert components is it.

That's absurd, as you now need to carry two jacks in case of a flat tire? But then again seeing some of the things Lippert does, and some of their power plant quality welding including the frame on our current Rockwood, I'd not be shocked for it to bend in half from using a single jack, or simply going over a speed bump LOL.

[Wild_Card]

Lifting a trailer by 1 single point of the frame is a no no. Ask Lippert. You must lift for and aft of the spring hangers. so thats 2 jacks and enough cribbing for each.

So if your not doing it that way, your still doing it wrong

[RCMAN46]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Does anyone carry all that cribbing needed to jack trailer by frame when laying on the side of the HWY with a flat tire OR jack it under the axle tubes at spring perches :H

I do.
I have two bags of Lynx Levelers for leveling my trailer. More than enough to set my bottle jack on to raise trailer by the frame.

[lincster]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Does anyone carry all that cribbing needed to jack trailer by frame when laying on the side of the HWY with a flat tire OR jack it under the axle tubes at spring perches :H

My buddy does. It is crazy how much stuff he has.
I always carry the tie blocks.
They come in handy.
Then I can use the bottle jack from my truck if I need to.
I did it last year on the trailer on the side of the road, lifted by the frame. 🙂

[2112]

N-Trouble wrote:

2112 wrote:
I lift one wheel at a time at the perch with a 2 ton floor jack. It's only lifting 25% of total weight minus hitch weight. For my setup that's ~2080lbs per wheel on my double axle.

A triple axle would be 16.66% of total weight minus hitch weight.

Wouldn’t it be 50% of total - tongue? When you lift one wheel to raise the other off the ground your carrying the weight of both axles on that side.

I'm only lifting one wheel off the ground just high enough to remove it. It's compressing that one spring. If I keep jacking enough to raise the other wheel then yes, it will be 50%.

[Old-Biscuit]

Does anyone carry all that cribbing needed to jack trailer by frame when laying on the side of the HWY with a flat tire OR jack it under the axle tubes at spring perches :H

[time2roll]

http://www.trailerlegs.com/

http://www.trestlejacks.com/

[lincster]

Very cool.
Glad it worked out for you.