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Mollysdad · 03-23-2018, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim6090

I drove to tire store with trailer. pulled trailer onto blocks one at a time. No jacking required!!!
Pulled off each rim and tire and had new tires installed. Easy, safe and pretty quick. Little bit of labor to move plastic blocks around. Whole process maybe an hour and a half.

Yes, very good way to do it, IF the tire store will allow it. It's very time consuming and having a tire jockey tied up that long is not profitable. Maybe he went off to do other work while you swapped tires, but that adds to the total time too.
I'm shooting for two tires at a time if I can find a tire store that doesn't operate on "Slam Bam, here you go."!

Photobum · 03-23-2018, 12:49 PM

A lot of experts here...

I had to remove all four tire last year. There are three jack points that are marked . I used 8 ton jacks at all three points as well as wood blocks under the break drums for redundancy along with the hitchjack. It worked. Nothing broke. 300 miles to replace the rotted out rubber tire stems installed by a dealer. Needless to say I no longer use the dealer...

Boxite · 03-24-2018, 05:14 AM

Regardless of the tire pressures you ordinarily use in your tires.... have your tire dealer replace any rubber schrader-valve assemblies with METAL assemblies. They are usually called-for when pressures above 60 psi are used but I insist on them at all times.

xrvr · 03-24-2018, 05:32 AM

Yes, the metal stems are as important as the tires.

EZTOO · 03-24-2018, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kdinnar

I've ordered 4 new tires for our 2017 FC 27fb. The tire shop is a distance away. Does anyone have a good procedure for removing all 4 wheels without doing any damage. My idea was to jack up the trailer at the jack point, removing the two wheels, then lowering that side with the drums resting on blocks. Then I would go to the other side and repeat the process. How does that sound?

It sounds unnecessarily foolish... There are both safety and equipment damage risks that would be alleviated by taking the trailer to the tire shop and letting them change the tires properly. You have a fancy truck and trailer, don't risk them by trying to save a buck!!

tbashin · 03-24-2018, 02:22 PM

Yes. It's easy. 4 Jack stands or equal height blocks on the frame, fore and aft of the axles where the flat steel plate is welded to the frame to support the axles. Make sure all 4 jacks are at equal extension height to keep the frame square. Those plus the tongue jack.

Photobum · 03-24-2018, 03:29 PM

A word about valve stems. My 16 inch Michelin’s were installed by a dealer. Two years later I noticed I had a low tire and went to fill it. As soon as I touched the rotted valve stem it disintegrated!!! Nearest tire shop was seventy five miles. Took off all four tires. 150 miles. Two of the tires wouldn’t hold air. Another 150 miles. The installer had broken two of the valve stems!!! The nice part was that it was Highway 395. There are worse places...:/

Boxite · 03-25-2018, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EZTOO

It sounds unnecessarily foolish... There are both safety and equipment damage risks that would be alleviated by taking the trailer to the tire shop and letting them change the tires properly. You have a fancy truck and trailer, don't risk them by trying to save a buck!!

That criticism appears harsh, IMO. Many Tire shops will damage the trailer because they haven't the knowlege of the proper method of jacking an Airstream. Reading these forums, it's apparent many owners are themselves confused over it.

If one will look beneath the trailer, and observe the (hopefully-present) placard behind the rear axle indicating the proper jacking-point... it should be apparent where the "frame" is located immediately above that point. Jack the trailer at that point and place a jackstand just aft of that point and do the same at the opposite side. Jack the trailer in front of the axles along the same longitudinal points near the front of the trailer....I.E., just beneath the frame.... and place jackstands at those points as well. (or alternatively, use the tongue jack to support the forward weight of the trailer, although that method is decidely less stabil and less safe.) Always jack and suspend a trailer in an indoor facility on a hardened floor, as wind and other traffic can de-stabilize the jacked-trailer. Never NEVER use so-called "construction blocks" for hold a jacked trailer. I've been horrified to see a person working beneath a vehicle which was sitting on those rectangular, hollow, cement-construction-blocks. Those things are brittle and not structural and collapse suddenly in a cloud of dust! Use proper equipment...or call a road-service-capable tire shop for this work.
Do not allow anyone, so-called "professional" or not, to jack your Airstream by the axles. Show them the manual and explain the framework support points to them. Do not allow anyone to jack/support the trailer at it's extreme ends...despite that seemingly simple answer to the problem. The trailer is normally supported at the axles...not the ends... and you can permanently damage the framework by suspending it from each end because the center (near the axles) will bend downward from the weight of the trailer.

ROBERT CROSS · 03-26-2018, 11:18 AM

POI...If your going to use the factory marked jack points.

Tap the riveted square to make sure the frame IS above it...ours wasn't.

Hence...I jack at the axle mount plate. In front of the forward wheel with the jackstand on the plate between the wheels. Post #8
The same three points we tow with, I'm sure the frame can handle it.

Bob

Mollysdad · 03-26-2018, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EZTOO

It sounds unnecessarily foolish... There are both safety and equipment damage risks that would be alleviated by taking the trailer to the tire shop and letting them change the tires properly. You have a fancy truck and trailer, don't risk them by trying to save a buck!!

You've never used my tire store. The manager talks like an engineer, but the actual workers can't even replace the valve caps or keep my seat clean.
I'm going out of my way to make sure it's done right, not fast.

EZTOO · 03-26-2018, 02:05 PM

I apologize for being critical, your trailer, your safety... Good luck!!

kdinnar · 03-31-2018, 06:56 AM

When I first posted this question, I never expected to get this many different suggestions. Out of fear for doing damage, I called the installer who had no problem mounting the tires in two batches. So I lifted one side of the trailer, drove to the garage, came home, put on the new tires, and repeated the process. The peace of mind was worth the extra 45 miles of driving. This way I only had to use the factory jack points. All went well and hopefully will feel safer, especially after I install the TPMS, which I ordered. By the way, I also had metal valve stems installed with the new tires.

gandttimes · 04-21-2018, 01:01 AM

Thanks Robert Cross for your photos of your trailer on stands. I just did mine using a bottle jack and stands and it was easy.
We have our new shoes all in one go.

George