Flat

[Fishhunter]

Prolly a dumb question but...do you lift the weight of the camper off the truck before jacking the truck up...never had a flat in all my travels and was just wondering

[JimK-NY]

jaycocreek wrote:
You can buy the saddle that goes on the end of the bottle jack.....

I spent a long time looking for something like this. Where did you buy it?

[jaycocreek]

You can buy the saddle that goes on the end of the bottle jack..And note the difference in height from the axle housing to the bottom of the spring plate..Sometimes that matters...

[jaycocreek]

specta wrote:
I'm going to buy a bottle jack and keep it with the tire chains I'm never going to use.

I don't know why you're jacking up your truck by placing the jack under the axle tube, its not there to support the weight. The point were the leaf springs bolt to the housing is where all the weight is supported so that's the lift point I will use if I ever do get a flat tire n the rear.

I use where you mentioned when available but sometimes that little different in height won't let the jack under it so it's either start digging or under the tube..

3-4 inches matters :B

[ticki2]

JimK-NY wrote:
Beats me why anyone would want to try to use a flat bottle jack on a round axle. Or even carry a bottle jack. I already have 4 nice jacks built into the camper. I found they work great when changing a tire.

Are you saying you use the camper jacks to lift the truck ? ??

[specta]

I'm going to buy a bottle jack and keep it with the tire chains I'm never going to use.

I don't know why you're jacking up your truck by placing the jack under the axle tube, its not there to support the weight. The point were the leaf springs bolt to the housing is where all the weight is supported so that's the lift point I will use if I ever do get a flat tire n the rear.

[jaycocreek]

I've used bottle jacks for years,never an issue even in uneven ground..Take the necessary precautions and a bit of common sense and they work just fine..Used the old handi man jacks a ton also but there worthless for truck campers other than as a winch for a short pull...Ideally a floor jack would be the cats meow but who wants to carry one of those around..

I don't know where you guys get flats but I get them in the worst areas it seems where help or even cell service doesn't exist and that's why I keep good tires on my rigs because walking out sux...

[JimK-NY]

Beats me why anyone would want to try to use a flat bottle jack on a round axle. Or even carry a bottle jack. I already have 4 nice jacks built into the camper. I found they work great when changing a tire.

[Grit_dog]

Well fortunately I have yet to need to change a rear tire with a TC in the bed, however if one is worried about it, it’s not the end of the world to jack up the camper before lifting the truck.
But in the interest of saving time IF I had a rear flat, prior to going to AK with the TC, I let most of the air out of a rear tire with tc on the truck, verified my bottle back would fit under a flat tire, lifted the truck corner high enough to change a tire and it worked.

To spectras point, some folks couldn’t use a mechanical egg beater much less fix a car or truck and also don’t have the experience or confidence or knowledge to use a bottle jack properly.
This is a common theme on this forum as many of the threads deal with mechanical issues or the propensity for them. And many of the members don’t have the basic knowledge or experience to deal with basic repairs.
If everyone did, roadside assistance places would go out of business.
This is understandable. What is not understand able is those who don’t know ____telling someone else their uneducated opinion as to why something is “unsafe” in their eyes as if it’s a fact.
I know a lot about trucks and mechanical things, but I don’t reply to questions that I don’t know the right answer to. See me posting in the 5ver or Class A forums? Nope. Because I don’t know a lot about class As particular setups.
Other should do the same.

[JRscooby]

mkirsch wrote:

specta wrote:
Its obvious that some are not capable of placing the jack in the proper place so it wont cause any damage.

What, you mean at virtually any point along the axle tube's length? I don't doubt some people are incapable of that.

They don't exactly use exhaust pipe for axle tubes. It's pretty stout stuff. Ever cut an axle tube on a 3/4 or 1 ton truck apart? They are seriously THICK walled. Like 3/8" or more. It would take a lot more than the weight of the largest heaviest camper on the market, loaded to the max, to put a dent in one.

This is the kind of "information" that can cause problems. The fact is a axle loaded to capacity can be damaged by a jack in the wrong place.

[markchengr]

I made an axle tube cradle for my bottle jack. But then, I'm a pretty good welder.

[Kayteg1]

It isn't only the knowledge, but also practical fitment.
Technically you should put the jack under suspension bracket on the axle.
But on most trucks even smaller bottle jack will not clear the tire easy.
When you call roadside assistance - they will bring floor jack, who has to go under axle pipe.
When those pipes are overbuild - they were not design as lifting point.
So when they usually are fine lifting 1500 lb empty truck corner, having them lifting 3-4000 lb of truck + TC is pushing your luck.

[specta]

mkirsch wrote:

What, you mean at virtually any point along the axle tube's length? I don't doubt some people are incapable of that.

There are people out there that have no business holding a screwdriver let alone changing a flat tire on a truck with a camper loaded in the bed.

[mkirsch]

specta wrote:
Its obvious that some are not capable of placing the jack in the proper place so it wont cause any damage.

What, you mean at virtually any point along the axle tube's length? I don't doubt some people are incapable of that.

They don't exactly use exhaust pipe for axle tubes. It's pretty stout stuff. Ever cut an axle tube on a 3/4 or 1 ton truck apart? They are seriously THICK walled. Like 3/8" or more. It would take a lot more than the weight of the largest heaviest camper on the market, loaded to the max, to put a dent in one.

[specta]

Some people need to call and have someone else change the tire.

Its obvious that some are not capable of placing the jack in the proper place so it wont cause any damage.

Good Sam or AAA might be a good choice for them.

[JRscooby]

JoeChiOhki wrote:

Buzzcut1 wrote:

Kayteg1 wrote:

It does matter when you put the jack under the axle pipe, like most of us do. When you have axle overloaded and lifting it in the point that was not design for it- something will give, just like Titanic broke on several pieces as it could not hold its own weight hanging in the air.

If your axle cant take a jack lifting up a little more than half the load that it normally carries down the road then I would say you are driving junk. Seriously we are only talking 4-5000 pounds.

The difference is in pressure to area applied. Your spring perch transfers the load across the curvature (the strongest part of the tubular structure ) if the axle tube.

With a smaller bottle jack you're concentrating all that weight into a much smaller contact patch, which increases the psi being applied and can damage the tube potentially.

In terms of total weight, that part is moot, the psi at the contact patch is the critical bit.

If you look at most factory jacks, they use a cradle which spreads that contact patch out into the curvature of the axle tube, reducing the total psi, but they are generally only rated fir lifting an unladen truck, not one with a full load in the bed.

Look at the top of a 6 compared to a 10 ton bottle jack. Yes, the bigger jack could have a bigger contact area, but when you think about that contact with a tube, there is very little increase.
The big issue is people think it is a good idea to put any jack under the tube. Put the jack under where the suspension mounts to axle. Bet if you check the book, that is where the factory says to put the factory jack.