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Old 05-10-2022, 11:32 AM   #1
wrvond
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Ways to fix a flat on highway shoulder

Cleaning out the toolbox on my truck and found I've got a couple 20 ton bottle jacks for lifting travel trailers with two flats on one side. Based on other conversations here I'm thinking that if I should get a flat (or two) while out on the road I can simply use the levelers to raise the side that needs the tire off the ground.
My question is - when using the Ground Control 3.0 to lift one side to fix a flat, would you leave the camper connected to the hitch?
Here's my thought -
I carry a set of Anderson levelers that could be used under one tire (the not flat one) and then use the rear leveler to lift the rear wheel off the ground (if that's the one that is flat). If the front is flat, I could use an Anderson leveler under the rear tire on that side and use the front landing gear to lift the front tire clear of the ground. I'm only talking about lifting on one side.

Would this work?
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Old 05-10-2022, 12:57 PM   #2
wiredgeorge
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Dumb question... if you have flats on both tires on one side of your trailer, do you have two spares? Has anyone ever tried to limp somewhere on only one wheel/tire with the other rim/tire off the camper to a place where they could get another ST tire to replace the flat?
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Old 05-10-2022, 01:12 PM   #3
wrvond
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Originally Posted by wiredgeorge View Post
Dumb question... if you have flats on both tires on one side of your trailer, do you have two spares? Has anyone ever tried to limp somewhere on only one wheel/tire with the other rim/tire off the camper to a place where they could get another ST tire to replace the flat?
I've never had two flats at the same time while pulling a camper. I did stop to help a woman that had two flats on her TT. I left the camper connected to her truck, removed both wheels and took them (in my truck) to a tire service center to be repaired. Took them back and put them on.
I've got roadside assistance, so if I had two flats at once, I'd likely call for that. For a single tire flat, I can't see waiting hours for somebody to come do what I can do for myself.
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Old 05-10-2022, 01:25 PM   #4
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Dumb question... if you have flats on both tires on one side of your trailer, do you have two spares? Has anyone ever tried to limp somewhere on only one wheel/tire with the other rim/tire off the camper to a place where they could get another ST tire to replace the flat?
No... I've never tried; but I did limp in on one tire and bought two new tires one time..
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Old 05-10-2022, 02:56 PM   #5
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If I had 2 flats on the same side I would be having roadside assistance come fix it. And BTW, just had one on the truck go on the side of I20 between Ft. Worth and Weatherford, TX. Roadside guy was there in 30 minutes or less. I'm sure the location had everything to do with the quick response.

I carry the Andersen Rapid Jack for changes in a less challenging location - IF one tire failed and I could manage it in the location. I carry 2 8 ton jacks but will call roadside before I break those out....if they can come. As far as using the levelers to raise the truck; I would use the rear as much as possible and shy away from the front ones for lifting the truck itself. If you have a little squat when you drop the trailer on IMO it would be OK to let them lift up to that point but when you make them try to lift the trailer AND a loaded truck...I just wouldn't.

In the situation I referred to above I tried a bit of that (lifting the truck while attached). The young man that showed up from roadside had a floor jack with a short handle - that's it. He put it under the truck and started jacking and then he couldn't get any leverage with the handle on the jack and the tire wasn't close to off the ground. I told him to that that floor jack, start pumping that jack and I would run down the jacks. All was well and good and he was having an easy time of it....until the trailer jacks outpaced his floor jack. Then it went the other way; he was just jacking away and the jacks started groaning pretty good as it tried to pick up the truck - then it was off the ground. So no, I won't be trying to lift the truck with the trailer jacks to change a tire. And a good point about the Andersen, you can just pull the pin and raise the trailer to lighten the truck....which I just thought of!
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Old 05-10-2022, 03:37 PM   #6
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Danny, I have Good Sam Roadside assistance and we do camp outside metro areas so I don't have any illusions about a tire change. I have used them once when my clunker died (wasn't pulling; the camper was already out at a camp ground in Camp Wood). I was out on Hwy90 east of Uvalde and they sent a wrecker to drag me to the Ford dealer in Uvalde. Some dumb little part had crapped out and I was lucky to get it fixed and back out to the campground the next day. I recall this vividly as we had a freeze and I had to put water in my fresh water tank and roll the hose up and hide it from the freeze and run my on board heater to keep things from freezing. If I had not gotten out there that day, I would have had to walk the missus through what needed doing (no bueno). The Ford dealer in Uvalde is a pretty decent bunch... cudos!
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Old 05-10-2022, 06:40 PM   #7
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Interesting stuff, but the question I was asking is:

If using the leveling jacks to lift the camper to change a flat, would there be an issue with leaving the camper connected to the fifth wheel hitch?
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Old 05-10-2022, 06:50 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by wrvond View Post
Interesting stuff, but the question I was asking is:

If using the leveling jacks to lift the camper to change a flat, would there be an issue with leaving the camper connected to the fifth wheel hitch?




I spoke to your question in post #5. It was a little long winded but was it not what you were looking for....or just wanted more input?

In the situation I referred to above I tried a bit of that (lifting the truck while attached). The young man that showed up from roadside had a floor jack with a short handle - that's it. He put it under the truck and started jacking and then he couldn't get any leverage with the handle on the jack and the tire wasn't close to off the ground. I told him to that that floor jack, start pumping that jack and I would run down the jacks. All was well and good and he was having an easy time of it....until the trailer jacks outpaced his floor jack. Then it went the other way; he was just jacking away and the jacks started groaning pretty good as it tried to pick up the truck - then it was off the ground. So no, I won't be trying to lift the truck with the trailer jacks to change a tire
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Old 05-11-2022, 02:55 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by wrvond View Post
Interesting stuff, but the question I was asking is:

If using the leveling jacks to lift the camper to change a flat, would there be an issue with leaving the camper connected to the fifth wheel hitch?
Short answer is no, if you are talking about changing a trailer tire. I did it recently with the same system while I only had one flat it lifted both tires off the ground.
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Old 05-11-2022, 03:24 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wrvond View Post
Interesting stuff, but the question I was asking is:

If using the leveling jacks to lift the camper to change a flat, would there be an issue with leaving the camper connected to the fifth wheel hitch?
i had a flat last year …it was the back drivers side tire on my 315 rls. I used the anderson blocks under the front tire on the same side as the flat…i made a ramp out of the leveling blocks…i needed to do this because my leveling jack in the back wasn’t long enough to lift the tires off the ground…if i had more blocks i possibly could have ..i then used the rear leveling jack and it was enough to lift the rear tire off the ground because the suspension was extending.( maybe i could have just used the andersen blocks under the rear jack)
i don’t think it matters if you use just the rear jacks with the truck connected because it’s the same as if your backing up a hill…the hitch will pivot…if it was the front tire i’d probably disconnect the hitch and use all four jacks ….you should also carry a bunch of extra wood blocks.

also i have road reflector triangles and a yellow safety vest
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Old 05-11-2022, 03:44 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by RickV View Post
Short answer is no, if you are talking about changing a trailer tire. I did it recently with the same system while I only had one flat it lifted both tires off the ground.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jasin1 View Post
i had a flat last year …it was the back drivers side tire on my 315 rls. I used the anderson blocks under the front tire on the same side as the flat…i made a ramp out of the leveling blocks…i needed to do this because my leveling jack in the back wasn’t long enough to lift the tires off the ground…if i had more blocks i possibly could have ..i then used the rear leveling jack and it was enough to lift the rear tire off the ground because the suspension was extending.( maybe i could have just used the andersen blocks under the rear jack)
i don’t think it matters if you use just the rear jacks with the truck connected because it’s the same as if your backing up a hill…the hitch will pivot…if it was the front tire i’d probably disconnect the hitch and use all four jacks ….you should also carry a bunch of extra wood blocks.

also i have road reflector triangles and a yellow safety vest
Perfect, thanks!
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Old 05-11-2022, 03:47 AM   #12
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Perfect, thanks!
your welcome…thinking back i believe i used both rear jacks so it wouldn’t put undo stress or twist in the frame
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Old 05-11-2022, 06:27 AM   #13
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I have used this,.... and it worked perfectly.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1
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Old 05-12-2022, 10:15 AM   #14
wrvond
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Originally Posted by jasin1 View Post
your welcome…thinking back i believe i used both rear jacks so it wouldn’t put undo stress or twist in the frame
Good to know, thanks!


Quote:
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I have used this,.... and it worked perfectly.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1
As a transporter I carried a wooden ramp around for years, and it proved invaluable for swapping flats and spares. Additionally, I carried the aforementioned bottle jacks and used them once or twice. But now, it appears that with a fifth wheel will leveling jacks I can't lighten my load and leave that stuff home.
But thanks!
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Old 05-15-2022, 05:25 PM   #15
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We use the rear jacks on fifth wheel to lift tires off the ground enough to change tires.
We leave everything connected and flashers on.

I have two bottle jacks as backup and carry several blocks of wood to put the jacks on as well as a think piece of wood to put under the spring U-Bolts to stabilize and protect axle.

We carry two spares and have had two blowouts within 30 minutes of each other.

We carry a battery powered impact wrench and have an onboard compressor to top off tires. Had to deflate a spare once to get it on due to where we stopped. Re-inflated tire and headed on.
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Old 05-15-2022, 06:22 PM   #16
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I have used this,.... and it worked perfectly.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1
Just be careful to not drive up on it too far. Didn't hear DW say "Stop" and managed to get mine wedged between the tires.
Not a good day.
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Old 05-23-2022, 04:49 PM   #17
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I'll go the the question of replacing a flat on the side of the road. Drivers are distracted a lot today and I'll risk damaging a rim before I'll do it on the side of a highway. I lost one last month coming into Las Vegas, NM and pulled off just long enough to look at it and then started down the shoulder slowly with the flashers on. I was right at an exit and it dead ended so I could park there and wait for the roadside assistance. I had it pretty well done when he showed up. Also got to visit with several people that had been forced to evacuate because of the fire.
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