jacking points

[emanon25]

1972 27' overlander, one wheel has disconnected brake wires. i want to jack the wheel off the ground, pack the bearings and check the condition of the brakes, fearing that they were disconnected intentionally by an previous owner. last time i did it i just rolled the adjacent wheel onto a 4x4. now, since i have the trailer nicely leveled i would like to use a floor jack to raise the wheel but i cant find a good point to place the jack. any suggestions much appreciated.

thanks-

emanon

[59toaster]

Only safe place to jack is off the axle mounting plates. It is strongly discouraged to jack by the torsion tubes. The C channel frames are again not recommended because the can be bent and holes punched through the belly pan.

[CanoeStream]

Welcome to AS Forums emanoN! Ahh, I remember my distant years at Bryan-College Station, TX, and SF Austin High School's vocal group, the Emanons (No-Name spelled backward). Now, is the numerical order supposed to be 52 or 25???

It's hard to tell you to read the manual -- my Argosy manual shows a very dark picture of the following technique and then does not describe it. If you back or pull one of your tandem wheels onto a tire ramp, the other should be suspended in mid-air. (FWIW this works only with multiple axle trailers!) Loosening the nuts first is your call but probably a good idea. To keep your tire-wheel-axle balance intact, mark the wheel and a bolt to be sure it goes back on the bolts exactly the same way it came off. Many axle balancing threads and cautions on these forums.

Though it is a pic of a single axle trailer, BobbyW's website shows this picture of one he bought from Wally World or Sam's Club. I don't believe it is necessary to raise both sides if you are accessing one tire. You can make your own out of 2x8's or 2x10's. Can't come up with the exact threads where I've seen it here -- not done it yet, though I will before the start of next season.

Good bearing repacking threads are here and here.

[JohnG]

Originally Posted by emanon25

1972 27' overlander, one wheel has disconnected brake wires. i want to jack the wheel off the ground, pack the bearings and check the condition of the brakes, fearing that they were disconnected intentionally by an previous owner. last time i did it i just rolled the adjacent wheel onto a 4x4. now, since i have the trailer nicely leveled i would like to use a floor jack to raise the wheel but i cant find a good point to place the jack. any suggestions much appreciated.

thanks-

emanon

It is quite easy to level again after you do the needed repair. I would just move the trailer onto a ramp on the side where the work needs to be done and re-level it afterwords. No need on taking any chances on tearing something up because it seems easier to jack it up. If you do that and do it wrong then your stuck with an unwanted repair that may cost more than the original problem to fix back right.

[emanon25]

Originally Posted by Canoe stream

Welcome to AS Forums emanoN! Ahh, I remember my distant years at Bryan-College Station, TX, and SF Austin High School's vocal group, the Emanons (No-Name spelled backward). Now, is the numerical order supposed to be 52 or 25???

It's hard to tell you to read the manual -- my Argosy manual shows a very dark picture of the following technique and then does not describe it. If you back or pull one of your tandem wheels onto a tire ramp, the other should be suspended in mid-air. (FWIW this works only with multiple axle trailers!) Loosening the nuts first is your call but probably a good idea. To keep your tire-wheel-axle balance intact, mark the wheel and a bolt to be sure it goes back on the bolts exactly the same way it came off. Many axle balancing threads and cautions on these forums.

Though it is a pic of a single axle trailer, BobbyW's website shows this picture of one he bought from Wally World or Sam's Club. I don't believe it is necessary to raise both sides if you are accessing one tire. You can make your own out of 2x8's or 2x10's. Can't come up with the exact threads where I've seen it here -- not done it yet, though I will before the start of next season.

Good bearing repacking threads are here and here.

thanks for the the advice and the threads. yes, emanon is a musician's term.

i've been working with different machines for over forty years and i know that almost all shafts have at least two bearings. when a bearing fails it always causes collateral damage, usually much more costly than a timken bearing.

i think i'll just use the 4x4 technique rather than a floor jack. it it works, don't ...

oh, the "25" is a tip of the hat to bary bonds.

emanon

[rslaymaker]

Help...

I need to replace the four tires on my camper before an upcoming journey. I am struggling to find the proper location to put the jack. Also, what type of jack should I be using? The camper seems too heavy for the car jack I have.

I appreciate your advice.

[Zeppelinium]

the proper jacking point on my 1971 18' Caravel is 3" behind the axle plate, right on the frame C channel. I discovered this as I was replacing my axle (a little silver label on the skin said "jack here"). Up till then I thought the right point was the aft corner of the axle plate.

I'll probably continue to use the axle plate, since it was apparent when I took the belly pan off that the frame C channel was slightly dented (the bottom flange only) in both jacking spots.