Trailer Support for Maintenance

[njburn]

This Spring I am looking at doing some work on my trailer (Moryde suspension, bearing maintenance, brake inspection, tire rotation) and I am wondering the best way to support the trailer. It will be in the driveway with kids running around so I want something safe. I don't like the idea of jack stands so I am thinking cribbing. My thoughts are 4x6's cut to 24" and laid on their side for stability. What do you all use?

[RogerR]

I put down all four legs and the tongue jack with the wheels chocked. Then i use a jack to lift the side with the axle I will work on. (See jayco manual for where to place it.) Once up I add a standard car support stand supported on a 2 x 6 2 feet long as I am on gravel or brick driveway to keep it from sinking. I do the same for the 4 corners and tongue as they will settle from the weight.

[Jagiven]

4 legged jack stands are very good. What type of surface will you be working on? I do not like asphalt as it is soft.

Recently while rebuilding a rear axle, I needed a lot if lift. I screwed together a few pieces of 2x12, then secured the jack stands to the blocking.

Another key element, is educationing the kids to beware and safe.

[njburn]

Originally Posted by RogerR

I put down all four legs and the tongue jack with the wheels chocked. Then i use a jack to lift the side with the axle I will work on. (See jayco manual for where to place it.) Once up I add a standard car support stand supported on a 2 x 6 2 feet long as I am on gravel or brick driveway to keep it from sinking. I do the same for the 4 corners and tongue as they will settle from the weight.

I would rather put the whole trailer up at one time. I would rather not use jack stands as it will most likely be up for more than a day & I work during the day when the kids might be home.

Originally Posted by Jagiven

4 legged jack stands are very good. What type of surface will you be working on? I do not like asphalt as it is soft

Another key element, is educationing the kids to beware and safe.

I will be working on concrete. The kids are educated & know safety but the fact is it is a 55' long one car driveway that will be taken up with 30' of trailer. Hard to avoid.

[RedHorse1]

I use 2x4’s cut into 18” sections to build a “tower” and put an HD jack stand on top of that once it’s tall enough. To raise the 5th I build a similar tower to hold my 20T bottle jack. I use that to raise it enough to get the jack stand tower into place. I’ve found it very sturdy and steady.
I discovered that I didn’t have to raise it to the point that all 4 tires were off the ground, raising it 4/5” was enough. Once raised to that point raise and remove each tire with a floor jack and the axles can hang free. I used this technique when servicing the brakes and bearings. For the wet bolts I added the floor jack to take the weight off the hangers to replace the shackles and bolts.

[eow]

This is how I do it with unijacks: MorRyde Wet Bolt Kit Install - Keystone RV Forums

[Destrtman]

As a professional I pull the trailer up on a staggered stack of 2x8s screwed together usually a double stack some times three or four have used as many as six. Depending on the job, you will need raise the frame of the trailer high enough that when you are finished you set it back down on a stack of two. I have built four inch lifts and replaced dropped axles with straight axles. The reason
for this most axles will drop three to four inches as they are unloaded.
With the tires on the planks the tongue will be sitting low. Now I use 4x4s cut on the diagonal to use for chocks screwed to the planks as tightly to the tires as possible. Then using 4x6s cut at
at 24 inches I build a bridge for behind the rear spring hanger and another for the front spring hanger as well as for the tongue.
First place the rear bridge tightly against the frame. Then using a heavyweight floor jack under the hitch or by the jack placed in line with the trailer so that the wheels can fallow the motion of the trailer as you raise it,[I use a forklift for this] raise it high enough for the front and tongue bridges. Now most of the weight is off of the axles and the trailer can withstand almost anything that comes it's way.
Now using a floor jack lift each tire and remove them, and now remove the planks.
When safety is the issue always over build always!!! Reminder that the life you save may be yours or someone you love.

Desertman

[Screwby]

I guess I’m not understanding the fear of heavy duty steel jack stands that were designed to do exactly what your wanting to do. Maybe you have little cheap jack stands that you don’t trust and don’t want to spend the cash for the good ones? We’ve had cars/trucks/projects sit for weeks on jack stands, I’ve never heard of a jack stand failing but I’ve sure seen and heard of cribbing failing (there’s a whole class on it in EMS vehicle extrication training). You can’t release a jack stand with pressure on it (mechanically impossible) so I’m not understanding again how the kids are at risk from them but not cribbing. I’d trust a nice set of jack stands over some screwed or nailed together cribbing any day. The only time I use cribbing is as a safety backup under what I’m working on if the ground seems shifty. Good luck and be safe

[Lake Huron]

My Northpoint 5th wheel is 15,000#. When I did my wet bolt kit, and every year do brake adjustments and bearing grease, I use a 20 ton bottle jack and put that on a 6x6 that's about 10"long and on its side. I jack the trailer up from the frame close to the axles. DO NOT JACK THE TRAILER UP FROM THE AXLES! You'll bend an axle that way and end up with more issues you dont need or want. To support my trailer I use a brick block, holes up and down and not side to side like you can see thru them, and on top of the brick I'll use another 6x6 and a piece or two of 2x6 depending on how high off the ground I need it. I have 4 of those setups and place them lengthwise close to the jack and set the frame down on them. My landing gear is up off the ground so I'll put them down just enough to touch the ground. If you have a travel trailer you could also put the tounge jack down but dont forget to lift it back up when you're done. The trailer is very stable like this. I've actually gone inside it while it's up like this with no issues. Very safe.

[Siamese]

Ditto on the heavy duty steel jack stands. I jack up one side of my 26BH at a time with a bottle jack sitting on some 2x6's. One jack stand to hold it, and a second one for backup.

What's up with the kids? Old enough to be outside but can't stay away from the trailer?

[norty1]

You can't be to cautious! When I was younger and less wiser, I was working on a TOAD that I installed a driveshaft disconnect.

I had it backed up in my garage on two ramps and forgot to chock the front wheels or lock the brakes. I was under the truck when I disconnected the rear drive shaft and the small Nissen lurched forward just enough to roll off the metal ramps and ran over part of my ribs and hip. and out the door in to the yard.

It should have killed me but I was fortunate and survived. Nine days in the hospital and left without a Spleen and some broken ribs and cuts.

Now days I am all over overkill when jacking up anything. When I installed my wet bolt kit, I left the fifth wheel connected to the truck as added precaution, in addition to jack stands and 4 hydraulic jacks and a bunch of 6 x 6 timber stubs as a triple backup..

[njburn]

Originally Posted by eow

This is how I do it with unijacks: MorRyde Wet Bolt Kit Install - Keystone RV Forums

That is a great detailed post and an upgrade I was going to do while it was up in the air, thank you. I haven't seen the UniJacks before, something I will have to take a look at.

Originally Posted by Destrtman

As a professional I pull the trailer up on a staggered stack of 2x8s screwed together usually a double stack some times three or four have used as many as six. Depending on the job, you will need raise the frame of the trailer high enough that when you are finished you set it back down on a stack of two. I have built four inch lifts and replaced dropped axles with straight axles. The reason
for this most axles will drop three to four inches as they are unloaded.
With the tires on the planks the tongue will be sitting low. Now I use 4x4s cut on the diagonal to use for chocks screwed to the planks as tightly to the tires as possible. Then using 4x6s cut at
at 24 inches I build a bridge for behind the rear spring hanger and another for the front spring hanger as well as for the tongue.
First place the rear bridge tightly against the frame. Then using a heavyweight floor jack under the hitch or by the jack placed in line with the trailer so that the wheels can fallow the motion of the trailer as you raise it,[I use a forklift for this] raise it high enough for the front and tongue bridges. Now most of the weight is off of the axles and the trailer can withstand almost anything that comes it's way.
Now using a floor jack lift each tire and remove them, and now remove the planks.
When safety is the issue always over build always!!! Reminder that the life you save may be yours or someone you love.

Desertman

This is what I was thinking of doing, just trying to figure out the best way to accomplish it. Pulling up on blocks and the way you do it makes a lot of sense to me, thank you. Now for me it is a matter of how to get the jack to lift the tongue high enough since I don't have a forklift handy.

Originally Posted by Siamese

Ditto on the heavy duty steel jack stands. I jack up one side of my 26BH at a time with a bottle jack sitting on some 2x6's. One jack stand to hold it, and a second one for backup.

What's up with the kids? Old enough to be outside but can't stay away from the trailer?

I don't have problem with jack stands, just not sure if they would have been the best option with how tall the trailer is and getting the stands high enough to actually support it.

Nothing wrong with the kids. I have a single car driveway and the trailer will be lifted next to the house with the side entrance that we use as our everyday entrance to the house and it will be 3 feet in front of the garage door where all of bikes, balls and play things are.

[RedHorse1]

Posted earlier about my “towers”, couple of pix. The tower with jack stand and jack. 2nd pic is the axle after wheel is off. Note the “at rest” position is not high enough for the tire to be free of the ground. After supporting the frame I raise the axle with a floor jack to remove the rim.

[Destrtman]

Njburn
The floor jack I was referring to is a very pricey tool that will lift about 18 inches and is rated at 12 tons. You could use a 12 ton bottle jack raising your blocks as you go up. If you see any instability drop it to the blocks and reposition the jack. Using 2x12x12 blocks for the jack.
When lifting the axles make sure your jack is extended about 5 inches so that you can get it out. Don't worry about bending your axles with a jack it's never going to happen. If it was every bump in the road would be bending axles. Once you have the tires off one axle the other will be loose.
Jack stands at 3' to 4' are to unstable. I have no idea what your trailer weighs, but to purchase 4 10 ton stands be costly.
I am a survivor of 20 ton jack stands failure. I was working on a Ford f 800 single axle truck in 1977, and lost the front of my right foot.

[eow]

Here is some info on the Unijack, my go to lifting device & jackstand in one stable unit for both the TT and TV.


https://www.amazon.com/Powerbuilt-62.../dp/B00GJJZ5NI

[Marmot]

I agree with Screwby completely. Use jack stands.

[WeRJuliian]

Originally Posted by norty1

You can't be to cautious!

X100 on that.

I had a friend who died, from injuries received when one of the telescopic legs failed on his Topper.. and he was not a careless man.

Whenever I work on our TT, these days, I think of him and go over my " What might go wrong?" list again.