2015 Jay Flight SLX 195RB Baja

ttavasc · 03-19-2015, 07:19 PM

Just took delivery today of new Jay Flight SLX 195RB Baja edition...

SMS1115 · 03-19-2015, 07:21 PM

Very Nice. Congrats!

seanmcpherson · 03-19-2015, 07:23 PM

Looks good! How does it feel with the stabilizer jacks down & unhitched? I have a 185RB Baja on order

ttavasc · 03-19-2015, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seanmcpherson

Looks good! How does it feel with the stabilizer jacks down & unhitched? I have a 185RB Baja on order

It's actually pretty stable with the jacks down. It's been raining quite a bit here so the ground is rather soft. Once I prove to myself that I can hit the same spot every time I back it in to the yard to park I'm going to add a small compacted gravel pad to get it up off the grass as well as level it better. You can tell the rear jacks are close to fully extended due to the slope of the lawn.

Bikester · 03-20-2015, 06:52 AM

Love the tires!! Congrats

seanmcpherson · 03-23-2015, 12:07 PM

Can I ask a quick favor, if you happen to be, oh, you know, wandering around your trailer with a tape measure?

I'm trying to find the clearance between the frame rail and the ground (so I can make sure I put the right jack in the equipment kit for this rig); Jayco really seems to want us to jack the single axle units up using the frame with the jack just behind the wheels as close to the wheel as you can go (unless there's water in the tanks in which case they said maybe go in front of the wheel). In this case, I'd want to put a high-throw bottle jack under there, but I think the Craftsman 12 tons I've used with success before top out at about 18.5". I may have to go back to a 24" 5-ton scissor jack that I've used when moving other gear around (I'm not sure but the ones I have may be BAL 24028's from looking at my purchase history). I'm not sure how much total throw I'm going to need. I love having the ground clearance of the baja, but since there're far fewer of them this data is a little harder to come by!

ttavasc · 03-23-2015, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seanmcpherson

Can I ask a quick favor, if you happen to be, oh, you know, wandering around your trailer with a tape measure?

I'm trying to find the clearance between the frame rail and the ground (so I can make sure I put the right jack in the equipment kit for this rig);

No problem - I just took the measurements. It should be noted that the trailer is leveled on a slope so the back side where I took the measurement is a little bit higher than if it was on level ground. I took about 1" off the measurement to account for that. What I got was 22" from the bottom of the tire to the frame rail just behind where the leaf spring attaches.

Also, I posed the question about a jack when I took delivery. At that time I was told that if you did lift from under the axle that you should do so directly underneath where the u-bolts are that hold the leaf spring to the axle. That measurement is 12" from the bottom of the tire to the bottom of the axle.

Hope that helps!

seanmcpherson · 03-23-2015, 07:55 PM

Definitely helps - thank you!

I hav never jack to the axle directly on any of my cargo trailers if they're sprung, just to the spring plate, if I have to use that point to lift at all. I wasn't sure how that assembly was configured on the Baja so I didn't want to assume it'd have a good surface for jacking. I'll double check when I pick mine up, but I may make my "just in case" plans around lifting at the spring plate. 12" there is a lot easier than running something up enough to lift the frame at 22", when space/weight for a jack (in the trailer's storage) is at a premium. I hate maxing out the lift on either a bottle Jack or scissor jacks if I can help it, and I also hate stacking materials to make up for it. You all can probably tell I'm a bit OCD about this stuff

I don't like assuming my TVs Jack will be right, so I prefer to have a dedicated jack and base ready. I like to immediately test it out, take photos, measure everything, and print that and stick it with the Jack so whoever has to use it has a cheat sheet.

Thanks for putting up with me - I didn't want to miss a chance to get good Baja info when it's a bit sparse. I plan to document the crap out of mine once I have it and post data in the applicable places.

ttavasc · 03-23-2015, 08:23 PM

Yep - I like to have similar details worked out and in place as well. Just waiting for the rain to stop and things to dry up a bit. I like the idea of only 12" when jacking under the axle as well.

Here are a couple photos of the axle and the frame just behind the wheel to give you an idea of what it looks like:

seanmcpherson · 03-23-2015, 08:32 PM

That first pic is kind of what I was both expecting and partially afraid of, since it's just U bolts without a bottom surface plate. I was half hoping they'd put a bottom plate onto the U bolts to provide a dedicated lift point, given the springs throw the frame lift point so far up or down the frame rail. Luckily, it's really not that much weight to lift - these trailers are not 35' long with slide outs or anything!

For folks who maybe never look at the axles to know why I care and why the Baja flip makes it different in terms of what to jack against, here's a random Google pic of a more standard axle setup, and how you can put a bottle Jack, etc under the spring plate.

http://www.serenitysys.com/rv/techni...n_IMG_0632.jpg

You may also like: