Jack question

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by skids

Dammit! John, you are right I know because there isn't much room and there certainly isn't enough to accommodate a flat tire. All I have ever done is pull off wheels to grease bearings and such.

When we lost the wheel and hub in a campground 3 years ago, I had two 4 ton bottle jacks. No problem (so I thought) I can jack up the entire side of the trailer or the both sides of either axle with what I have... NOPE !!!!!

When the wheel and hub came off, the axle was about 3" from the ground and the tire was lodged in the wheelwell and I couldn't move the trailer without damaging the wheelwell and the fender skirt. No way to get a jack under it and no way to use my limited cribbing to jack the frame.... I wound up jacking the "good wheel/hub, putting cribbing under the tire, removing the jack, sitting it on cribbing, jacking higher, more cribbing under the tire, more under the jack until I finally had the "hanging axle" high enough to get a jack under the U-bolts so I could tie the axle up to tow the trailer (on 3 tires) to the campsite and try to fix things.

To say it was a "frustrating, name calling goat rope with greased pigs" would be a nice way to package my vocals for church, but only as far as the church parking lot.... Man, I said a few things that I hadn't said since back in Viet Nam....

Anyway, jacking the axle to change a flat tire is NOT the same "clearance under the axle" as jacking an inflated tire. That 4 or 5 inches does make a difference in whether you "say words nobody should hear" or "simply change the flat and get back on the road".... Yep, a flat tire can be a "show stopper" if you have only jacked inflated tires with your bottle jack....

[bobbecky]

I purchased one of these kits years ago, and they have adapters for any size bottle jack, even the 12 ton one I have. It gives you the safe ability to reach any point on the frame to lift your rig, and it works great. Made in the USA also. https://safejacks.com/collections/bo...ck-accessories

[hlh1]

I carry one of these in the truck bed, just in case. Its a portable floor jack.


https://www.amazon.com/Torin-Hydraul...47&sr=8-5&th=1

[WDPatterson]

Originally Posted by Mbussell2

Being the type of person I am, I am going to get a jack just in case I need to change a blown Chinabomb tire. Would you recommend a floor style jack or a bottle jack?

I got this at Tractor supply. It has an integrated safety latch, which allows it to be used like a jack stand.

[MJCougler]

One thing I have not heard anyone comment on: Can the one RV tire driven onto a drive-on ramp like dutchmensport made, or the store bought ramps, support the full weight (GVW) of a tow behind RV, without damage? Once changed and back on the road, will that same tire be as good as before? Does the vector forces on the tire as tire was pulled (or pushed) up the ramp put even more resultant force onto the tire? Yes, the movement was very slow, but were the tire cords strained or damaged?

I remember from in my college physics class that the force applied to tire by the truck to move the RV against the ramp is "added" to the downward force from the resultant force (weight) of the GVW of the RV. The smaller the angle of the ramp, the less force being applied to the tire to move up the ramp.

Just asking?

[wiredgeorge]

I have one of those trailer aid wedge shaped things and have driven my RV up on it a few time with no issues.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by MJCougler

One thing I have not heard anyone comment on: Can the one RV tire driven onto a drive-on ramp like dutchmensport made, or the store bought ramps, support the full weight (GVW) of a tow behind RV, without damage? Once changed and back on the road, will that same tire be as good as before? Does the vector forces on the tire as tire was pulled (or pushed) up the ramp put even more resultant force onto the tire? Yes, the movement was very slow, but were the tire cords strained or damaged?

I remember from in my college physics class that the force applied to tire by the truck to move the RV against the ramp is "added" to the downward force from the resultant force (weight) of the GVW of the RV. The smaller the angle of the ramp, the less force being applied to the tire to move up the ramp.

Just asking?

The answer, at least for me, is a resounding "NO WAY TO REUSE THE TIRE"...

Others may not have the same opinion, but for me, unless the tire went flat in a campground or in the storage yard, it was travelling at "towing speeds" when the bad tire let go. The other tire on that side of the trailer, by the time you start getting things ready to change the flat, has already be damaged during your "deceleration and stop from towing speeds to being parked on the side of the road."

So, considering what the tire was exposed to from the "boom of the other tire" to the time you pull it up on a ramp, the damage has already been done.

Plus, if one tire goes, for most reasons, all the tires have been exposed to similar "lifetime conditions" and I'd think seriously about the vulnerability of the other 3 tires to do the same thing....

But, it's not only the "force being applied in that short distance" but the stopping from towing speed while that tire was carrying the entire trailer load normally shared by two tires.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by MJCougler

One thing I have not heard anyone comment on: Can the one RV tire driven onto a drive-on ramp like dutchmensport made, or the store bought ramps, support the full weight (GVW) of a tow behind RV, without damage? Once changed and back on the road, will that same tire be as good as before? Does the vector forces on the tire as tire was pulled (or pushed) up the ramp put even more resultant force onto the tire? Yes, the movement was very slow, but were the tire cords strained or damaged?

I remember from in my college physics class that the force applied to tire by the truck to move the RV against the ramp is "added" to the downward force from the resultant force (weight) of the GVW of the RV. The smaller the angle of the ramp, the less force being applied to the tire to move up the ramp.

Just asking?

If you are asking if a tire can be rolled up a ramp/lift to elevate the other tire without damage the answer is yes. If you think about all the tremendous forces those tires encounter driving down the highway; potholes and the other hundred things, driving up that little ramp is nothing. The question is what precipitated having to be on the ramp and change the tire? A tire failure, suddenly shifting the trailer weight to the other 3 tires and specifically the lone tire left on the failed side presents other issues. I do everything I can to prevent any tire failure but if I have one while in tow I replace them all whether it be trailer or TV - just did it in May on the truck much to my dismay. Truck tires had approx. <30k but once one failed with the trailer on it Discount Tire in Weatherford, TX put on a new set of Michelin Defenders. I'm past the time I want to "wait and see" what the other ones might do. JMO/YMMV

[WDPatterson]

Originally Posted by sourdough

If you are asking if a tire can be rolled up a ramp/lift to elevate the other tire without damage the answer is yes. If you think about all the tremendous forces those tires encounter driving down the highway; potholes and the other hundred things, driving up that little ramp is nothing. The question is what precipitated having to be on the ramp and change the tire? A tire failure, suddenly shifting the trailer weight to the other 3 tires and specifically the lone tire left on the failed side presents other issues. I do everything I can to prevent any tire failure but if I have one while in tow I replace them all whether it be trailer or TV - just did it in May on the truck much to my dismay. Truck tires had approx. <30k but once one failed with the trailer on it Discount Tire in Weatherford, TX put on a new set of Michelin Defenders. I'm past the time I want to "wait and see" what the other ones might do. JMO/YMMV

Yep... Same here...

[notanlines]

When one tire blows you can almost be assured that its mate on the same side will shortly follow. Yes, I know from experience. $9800 damage when the second tire blew 80 miles down the road on our first Raptor. And yes, China bombs. Be VERY careful after the first flat tire.
And I hate to admit it (financially) but I also agree with Danny about the tires on the tow vehicle. Even at 30k, when one goes they all are replaced. Even if tears show up in my checkbook.