Hey all I'm a noob to this site so be gentle on me!, I just bought a 2011 Cyclone 3814. So I was loading all of my old trailer stuff into the new one and I came upon my jack for my other trailer, I'm looking at this thing and it scared me, there is no way I could use it to change a flat on my new rig(18000lbs gross weight). So my question is, what type of jack do you all use or have. Or should I just get me some AAA insurance and call for some roadside assistance if I get a flat?
Before I had the hydraulic LevelUp installed I carried a 20 ton bottle jack. I used a low profile version and have enough wood to start at a height I need.
20 ton jack is not over kill. Using that size makes jacking so much easier.
There are examples on this site of cradles folks have made to jack under the spring saddle at the axle. If you have leveling boards driving the good tires up on the boards decreases the amount of jacking you need for the flat.
Although some manufacturers recommended only jacking on the frame, you really need to give that some thought.
Frame only jacking means you are starting at a much higher off the ground orientation for the jack. It also means you are lifting at a very concentrated area of the frame and and you have to lift far enough to overcome the spring travel.
Unless you have some sort of cradle made for jacking the frame, you are exerting a tremendous load on a very narrow I-Beam. Very easy to slip off, bend the frame or both.
Your 18K trailer is designed to hold 9000 pounds per side and that is spread out over the length between the forward most and rear most shackles.
If you frame jack you are potentially trying to lift 9K at the jack point, and lifting high enough to overcome the springs and whatever sag you will be causing with the jack.
If you chose to jack at eh frame I would have on hand enough wood so you can form a "Crib" on at least one side of the jack. "Lift an inch - crib an inch" (1.5" if you use 2x4's)
If you jack at the axle you are potentially trying to overcome only 3k and you only have to lift far enough to clear the ground, you are not trying to make up for spring travel.
At least 4 good wheel chocks, I use the solid rubber version and I would leave the traielr attached to the truck. That would help keep it stabilized.
For on the road flat changes I now carry a 1/2" electric impact and impact sockets (truck and trailer), torque wrench, wheel chocks and I have a compressor on board the trailer. If possible i would fill the tire back up (if possible) if it would mean changing in a better location.
Before I hit he road though, I would invest in a tire pressure monitoring system. Mine saved me from possibly having a blow out by giving me enough warning to pull over safely and change a tire.
Having AAA is no guarantee your tire will be changed correctly either, you need to look and see how it is done, making sure they don't jack in the wrong location.
