Jacking up a 5er

[Toetoy]

My wife and I just bought our first 5er. A 1997 SeaBreeze 2033. For its age it is in excellent condition. We are getting ready to move and I need to check brakes bearings and drums. My problem is where to jack it up at. All I've read have conflicting answers. Frame, axle, drive on ramp. I'm sure this has been asked many times before. Jacking on the frame bends the frame. Jacking on the axle bends the axle. Not enough room to drive on ramp. My 5er weighs in at over 11000 lbs empty. 14000 loaded. Any help will be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Jeff H

[wandering1]

You are not going to bend the frame. Place jack under the frame like most manufacturers recommend. Using the shackles and axle will cause damage. I used the schackle once and bent it. None of the expert wannabes wanted to pay for the damage.

[bigdon68]

Try one of these. Bottle Jack axle cradle.
Axle Cradle

bigdon68

[HD_Hauler]

Again before jacking any trailer ensure it is hooked up to the truck, the jacks will bend and collaspe, let the hitch absorb the movement not the legs.

[JIMNLIN]

Jacking on the U bolt puts all of the trailer weight on a very small area of the axle tube and the axle tube may collapse from this concentrated weight.

Jacking the U bolt will not collapse a axle tube on a std leaf spring suspension nor will jacking the tube itself.
Jacking from the U bolt or the axle tube next to the U bolt on a 6k axle is lifting 2500-3000 lbs and not the whole side of the trailer when changing a flat tire on the axle.

As for the trailer aide when a tire is flat the other tire is carrying all the weight on that side of the trailer.

Another misconception.
The good tire takes very little weight because of action of the equalizer bar. Now if the trailer didn't have a equalizer bar then the good tire take some of the flat tires weight.
Same with a torsion axle without a the bar. The flat tire is still carrying a load.
Run a flat tire till the tire is gone and the steel wheel starts to roll on the road surface makes one hell of a nite time spark show. I've seen that show several times at nite when I hauled on the road for a living.

[Cummins12V98]

RCMAN46 wrote:
The spring plate on most new trailers is on top of the axle tube. The U bolt only holds things in place and has no trailer weight on them. Jacking on the U bolt puts all of the trailer weight on a very small area of the axle tube and the axle tube may collapse from this concentrated weight. Lippert states not to jack on the axle or axle parts.
As for the trailer aide when a tire is flat the other tire is carrying all the weight on that side of the trailer. Putting the good tire on the trailer aide does not add any more weight to the good tire.

BINGO WE HAVE A WINNER!

[Cummins12V98]

dogwood36322 wrote:
I would never use the trailer aide. It is easy to use but why wouldyou want to put the entire load of the side on one tire. Your tire is not rated for that much weight. Jacking under the spring plate will not damage the axle. If it would the spring would damage the axle at that mounting point. Common sense does not prevail when lawyers and some engineers are concerned. The warning and recommendations are to keep people from jacking on the axle tube. My opinion, yours may vary.

It does not hurt a darn thing to put the load on one tire! The tire rating is for continued use.

I guess you have never gone over a curb or other object and placed all the load on one tire before.

The TrailerAide Plus is a very simple light weight tool to get one tire off the ground. I have used many times with no ill effects!

Someone please post a pic of a TrailerAide. Thanks

[RCMAN46]

The spring plate on most new trailers is on top of the axle tube. The U bolt only holds things in place and has no trailer weight on them. Jacking on the U bolt puts all of the trailer weight on a very small area of the axle tube and the axle tube may collapse from this concentrated weight. Lippert states not to jack on the axle or axle parts.
As for the trailer aide when a tire is flat the other tire is carrying all the weight on that side of the trailer. Putting the good tire on the trailer aide does not add any more weight to the good tire.

[joebedford]

rhagfo wrote:
Well the concrete will put your life in GREAT DANGER!!!!
NEVER, NEVER use concrete blocks to support anything you are going to crawl under!!!

OK, I'll bite: why not?

[dogwood36322]

I would never use the trailer aide. It is easy to use but why wouldyou want to put the entire load of the side on one tire. Your tire is not rated for that much weight. Jacking under the spring plate will not damage the axle. If it would the spring would damage the axle at that mounting point. Common sense does not prevail when lawyers and some engineers are concerned. The warning and recommendations are to keep people from jacking on the axle tube. My opinion, yours may vary.

[rhagfo]

joebedford wrote:
I pinged Lippert about frame jacking my 5th. They said "use a wooden block to protect the frame" and "use a jack rated for 8 to 12 tons". I have a 20 ton bottle jack that I will use to lift all three wheels so I can do my suspension upgrade. I will rest the frame on concrete blocks while I have all the wheels off. Axles can rest on jack stands once the weight is off.

Well the concrete will put your life in GREAT DANGER!!!!
NEVER, NEVER use concrete blocks to support anything you are going to crawl under!!!

Use either short lengths of 2X4, 4X4, or 6X6 and place cribbing under the frame!!

This is a picture of the cribbing when I was flipping the axles on my 1st 5er.

[JIMNLIN]

ependydad wrote:

kaydeejay wrote:
NO jacking should be undertaken on a fifth wheel if the front landing gear is down, that is guaranteed to torque the frame. I always jack mine when connected to the truck, which gives it the freedom to rotate at the hitch.

Timely - I have to replace a tire this weekend or next week. Thanks for the tip.

As good luck would have it my last flat on the rv was while set up for a month at the local KOA on a concrete pad. I wasn't about to tear down just to hook the trailer up to take the flat tire off and get it fixed. I simply slide my 12 ton shorty bottle jack under the axle tube next to the U bolt and raised the wheel just enough to get the tire off and back on. Never bothered with the landing jacks or 5er pin stabilizer or rear stabilizers as doing it this way doesn't raise the trailer.... just the end of a axle.

[joebedford]

I pinged Lippert about frame jacking my 5th. They said "use a wooden block to protect the frame" and "use a jack rated for 8 to 12 tons". I have a 20 ton bottle jack that I will use to lift all three wheels so I can do my suspension upgrade. I will rest the frame on concrete blocks while I have all the wheels off. Axles can rest on jack stands once the weight is off.

[Puddles]

kaydeejay wrote:

Girevik wrote:
Some do some do not. I owned an 82 Air Stream once and the manual stated to never place jack under axel as it may bend the axel. With the trailer I own now there is no info about where to place the jack, and it has dexter axels.

This is to discourage the folks who would put the jack under the middle of the axle, which would bend it for sure.
Jacking under the spring plate at the wheel puts ZERO bending moment on the axle and gets the wheel off the ground with minimum trailer lift.

NO jacking should be undertaken on a fifth wheel if the front landing gear is down, that is guaranteed to torque the frame. I always jack mine when connected to the truck, which gives it the freedom to rotate at the hitch.

X2

[bibilo]

Toe Toy
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