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Old 06-10-2018, 10:23 PM   #1
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Jacking up my Jayco

Howdy,

How are people jacking up their 5vers for tire changes. I have heard jack under the U bolts and others say jack at frame. Which is the approved method?
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Old 06-11-2018, 05:33 AM   #2
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Frame, always frame. Some will say axle but that's wrong. Lippert and Dexter both say frame. Trailer axle tubes are thin and can crush easily. But you will get replies saying they done it and it's ok. But it's just not. RV shops will Jack from the frame as well. I use my leveling jacks to raise the trailer. I also have a large bottle Jack and Lego blocks to jack at the frame if needed.


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Old 06-11-2018, 07:02 AM   #3
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On a 5th wheel, the only time you can jack from under the frame is when you are hooked to the truck with landing gear up other wise use the axle tube. lifting the frame with the landing gear down will cause a torque in the frame and could bend it.
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Old 06-11-2018, 08:57 AM   #4
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To lift a wheel off the ground I use a bottle jack under the spring hanger. I use a 3/4" thick block of steel to put the load onto the u-bolts rather than the tube. It doesn't take much lifting to get a single wheel off the ground.

If I want both off the ground at once I block the frame and lift the whole trailer in the air.
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Old 06-11-2018, 12:31 PM   #5
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Thanks for the replies. It makes a lot of sense to me to use the leveling jacks to do most of the weight bearing. Once the bulk of the weight is off of the wheels, it would seem a bottle jack under the spring hangers could work. It would then just be lifting the weight of the wheel assembly (ie not the trailer). I would keep the hitch locked to the TV. This seems to minimize the potential for twisting the frame and / or bending the axles. Do you guys see any issue with this approach?
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Old 06-11-2018, 02:59 PM   #6
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Last Memorial Day, I had my first tire hazard...somehow, the right rear tire picked up a 7/16” x 1.5” bolt during or after crossing a very rough RR track in east TX. In less than a mile, I came across an empty public library parking lot that was level. I used a low profile 12 ton bottle jack from Harbor Freight and jacked it up under the leaf plate.
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Not all axle configurations are like this, so I had it easy. Not sure either the correct bottle jack placement if my leaf springs were flipped. I only used one 2x8 wood block under the jack, and loved the screw head feature on bottle jacks to get it touching before jacking. I also have a Porter Cable impact drill on hand that made for an easy removal and tighten of the 8 lugs. Just remember to keep your lithium batteries charged. In addition, I always carry with a torque wrench to verify 95 lb/Ft on each lug.
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Old 06-11-2018, 03:12 PM   #7
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As versatile as those trailer aid or Anderson comma shaped tire leveler/lifters are, I don’t think it’d be wise to use one to change a fifth wheel tire as lifting my 16.5k fifth wheel side of 6100 lbs puts all that weight on one 4400 lb G rated Sailun S637 tire (and that’s an upgraded tire). The factory Rainier E rated tire was stamped 3640 lbs max. You would be crazy to nearly double that weight changing a tire by the single wheel lift method. By doing so you would risk another tire failure down the road by stressing that tire out during the tire change...IMHO.
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Old 06-11-2018, 04:20 PM   #8
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Bottle jack under the between the two axle U bolts is all that's needed. Anyone that thinks you'll bend the axle has never done much construction work. I just got done repacking all 4 wheel bearings. I used a 6 ton bottle jack under the axle at the U bolt location. a
All I needed was about 1" of lift. Less than some stuff you drive over when camping.
Jacking the RV up by the frame to change a flat tire is ridiculous. You'd need a floor jack and lots of big lumber to be able to get the floor jack close enough to the frame and then you'd have to jack it up 3-4". That would put a lot of twist on the frame if the front landing gear is down. If attached to the truck then no biggie. Just a lot more necessary work.
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Old 06-11-2018, 04:50 PM   #9
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Snip:
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This is a prime example of what many don't understand. Look at how the leaf springs are attached to the axle - the springs are UNDER it - thus, the ONLY thing holding up the cramper is the receiver of the kingpin in the back of the truck and the 8 u-bolts that hold the axles to the springs.

Imagine that being a 16,000lb trailer - let's for fun say that 3,000lbs of that is on the kingpin - that leaves 13,000lbs spread out over 8 u-bolts. That's 1625lbs per u-bolt ALL THE TIME. Now, imagine that running over a 2inch bridge abutment - the axles JUMP upwards and in turn, impact load the u-bolts - huge loading all at once for a short duration. Axles aren't as wimpy as we're lead to believe.

The manufacturers don't want you using sharp edges on the axle tubes, nor do they want you lifting in the middle of the axles. Rounded edges that distribute the load over a small area are much better - hence, I always lay a chunk of 2x4 over my floor jack cup to do just that. I also lift out as close to the u-bolts as possible - as that's where the lifting needs be done anyway.
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Old 06-11-2018, 04:54 PM   #10
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FWIW, it's not bending the axle that is the problem, it is crushing the axle by putting all the force on a very small area, like the small pad on the top of most bottle jacks. If you spread the load out it will be fine. The tire companies jack the axles when I get new tires. They use a pad type thing on the floor jack.

As to tires. The tire load ratings are for running at rated speed in high heat for thousands of miles, while hitting potholes and other road hazards. Putting double the load on them for a couple of hours when stationary is not really an issue.

PS what he said ^^ (sorry we posted at the same time)
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Old 06-13-2018, 04:35 PM   #11
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Mopar ”I use my leveling jacks to raise the trailer”. how did you proceed to lift the rv.
I have the 4 point leveling.
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Old 06-13-2018, 05:41 PM   #12
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Works for me, lots easier for working on bearings, seals ect ! Thanks
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Old 06-13-2018, 08:29 PM   #13
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Be careful of using the electric jacks and stabilizers to lift the tire off the ground. A warning is written in my 2017 Jayco owners manual that the leveling jacks and stabilizers are NOT to be used to lift the trailer to change a tire or do maintenance. It reads in section 4, vehicle operation, "lifting the RV so the wheels are not touching the ground will create an unstable and unsafe condition and may result in serious personal injury or death. The leveling system is designed only for leveling the unit and should never be used to provide service for any reason under the RV such as changing tires or servicing the system."

On occasion, when leveling my North Point (6 pt system), one side would raise both tires off the ground. The electric motors do go under a lot of strain when this happens, and the rpms drop down to where they almost think of quitting. Those 5ers with hydraulic jacks and stabilizers would have no problem with this and would be a sinch to change a flat on, or lift all 4 or 6 wheels off the ground for servicing.
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Old 08-12-2019, 09:34 PM   #14
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I made a device to fit over my bottle jack and it cradles the axle. I can get it close to the U bolts and raise one tire at a time. I did this for changing a tire on the road
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Old 08-30-2019, 01:20 PM   #15
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So if I don't have a fancy device that sits on top of my bottle jack could I take a piece of 2x4, put it on top of my bottle jack and position the 2x4 to span the bottom of the two U bolts ?
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Old 08-30-2019, 02:05 PM   #16
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I made a device to fit over my bottle jack and it cradles the axle. I can get it close to the U bolts and raise one tire at a time. I did this for changing a tire on the road
You could market that!!
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Old 09-06-2019, 06:50 AM   #17
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So if I don't have a fancy device that sits on top of my bottle jack could I take a piece of 2x4, put it on top of my bottle jack and position the 2x4 to span the bottom of the two U bolts ?
Yup. I use a block of steel to do the same thing.
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Old 09-06-2019, 07:45 AM   #18
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I have a short piece of 2” angle iron that fits between the U-bolts which gives two points of contact on the axle tube. A small flat piece welded on the outside of the angle gives a nice flat surface for the bottle jack to lift against. No concern of damaging the axle tube.
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Old 09-06-2019, 07:53 AM   #19
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Mopar ”I use my leveling jacks to raise the trailer”. how did you proceed to lift the rv.
I have the 4 point leveling.
I use my 6 point hydraulic levelors .
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Old 09-06-2019, 09:41 AM   #20
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If you're putting the bottle jack under the axle then you really don't need anything else if your bottle jack has the round tip on the cylinder. The only contact is between the axis point under the axle and the flat surface of the bottle jacks round tip. Putting something bigger than the jacks round tip won't increase the surface contact point.
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