bottle jack/ floor jack

[boxcar1511]

This week I passed a rv on the shoulder with a flat tire. This got my brain rolling I've forgotten all about a jack for road side problems. Does anyone have any thoughts on a jack for our Cyclone 4012,before I purchase the wrong jack , any tips or exp. would be a great help....

 

[v92c]

I had a friend that worked delivering FEMA trailers. He said they all carried 12 ton bottle jacks. So I got one too. And a tire iron.

Tony

 

[cookie]

I have changed a tire years ago along I-80 out west. If the feel and roar of large trucks along a narrow shoulder excite you get a jack. I will never do it again. My sugestion is to get Good Sam Emergency Road Service and forget the jack. I do however carry a 12000# bottle jack. Check the height of your frame and or spring mounts and be sure the jack can extend far enough.
Peace
Dave

 

[cdbMidland]

I have two bottle jacks and use pieces of railroad ties under them. Floor jack would not be that helpful in my opinion as you have to jack from the frame and not the axle and it takes some height to get it high enough to remove. Once it is high enough, the second jack is helpful at the spring connection to give it a little more lift.

Biggest problem with cheap bottle jacks (both of mine are) is that they misstate the lifting height. I found mine would only lift about half of the listed weight - that's why I went with two. Maybe if you spend a few bucks more and buy a quality bottle jack, you might get by with one.

When JP Morgan did a bearing repack demo at the '07 rally in Goshen, I think he only used one.

 

[Tom of Ypsi]

When my left front hydraulic jack went out this past spring I used a 6 ton bottle jack under the frame just behind the oem jack. No problem lifting and maintaining for a few hours. I now realize that my truck has a 6 ton jack behind the rear seat but never thought to look. I now have two just in case. Use some wood to get the jack as close to the frame as possible height wise and it should be no problem changing a tire or taking the place of a jack.

 

[boatdoc]

I carry a 20 ton. I bought it quite a ways back from one of those Cummins road show deals. About $50.00 I think. I have used it a couple of times and works well. Might be over kill but I never know what I or someone I need to help, has got into. They come in handy for pushing things around also. Lot's of lift and extention.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

I carry a 6 ton bottle jack and 4-2X10X24" treated boards to use as needed. The boards are large enough so they wont sink and if I use them under the jack I cross them so the grain is never parallel. Have wheel chocks available to steady the trailer too. I also have ERS for roadside problems. I don't think I would attempt a tire change on the side of a busy road. I use the jack for maintenance or if I need to change a tire in the campground.

 

[wagenman]

Two different times this summer while towning my old Terry 5er I had flats.. It was my fault for not checking tire pressures prior to my trip and also cause the tires were 14 years old (mind you they did not look bad at all)...that being said..

I had checked to make sure there was a spare on the coach but never even took the time to make sure there was air in it... again another mistake on my part ( i was new to towing what can i say..lol)

Then it happened..at 70 mph coming south on I-75 on a Friday around 6:30pm..In the middle of the state where there is not much other then corn fields.. I pull over and the first thing I did was drop the spare and found it was in good shape (it even had air in it..whooo hooo)

Then I took the bottle jack out from under the hood of my Ford, and got the lug wrench that came with the coach. That was when I found out that the lug wrench did not fit the lug nuts.. so then i was in a jam to say the least..

I wil make this short... from there I called AAA cause I have towing on my truck, just to find out that the trailer is not covered... the did dispatch a wrecker to me that was able to chance a tire on roadside.. (there was only one company in the area that would do that) He got there and used his own pneumatic bottle jack changed the tire with out any issues and it only cost something like $90 BUT...he told me that if my spare would have been bad or if I would not have had one at all there is nothing they could have done to help me.. they DO NOT have tires..and the only tire shop in area was closed..

So.. after that trip we were leaving again in just a couple of weeks.. during that time I bought a cheap floor jack, 1/2 drive breaker bar, the right size deep socket,and got a new spare...all very inexpensive minus the 100 dollar tire.... and its a good thing to cause we got another flat on our next trip...but cause I had the right tools I was able to chance it on my own and it took like 20 min..

Then only thing I would say is do not use a floor jack, after using it I traded it for a bottle jack cause you have to get under the trailer to use a floor jack and thats not a good idea on the side of a freeway.. you feel every car go by.....

Also with my new coach it has aluminium wheels so I bought a torque wrench to make sure they are keeping the 100 foot pounds of tourque they are supposed to have....I will no longer just take tires for granted.. I got out of it fairly easy, but it could have been a nightmare..

 

[boxcar1511]

lots of good advice, problem solved I'll go with a 20 ton bottle jack, just because I like to always have more than i need, better safe than sorry... Thanks for all the responses

 

[dieselengineer]

I just carry a good selection of leveling blocks. Pull the good wheel up on blocks lifts the other wheel off the ground. It is simple and works great.

 

[irvin56]

Driving on to blocks

With the North trail WIDE TRAX, one owner tried this and it won't work as the axles are to far apart and axle supports will only flex down.
I have to buy A BOTTLE JACK

 

[TXBobcat]

I have 2 - 6 ton bottle jacks. One cost $19.95 at Wal-mart. The other I got from Gibsons not sure what the cost was.

I bought the second one because I needed to rotate a couple of tires and did not want to drop my spare. I use a 2x8x12 board under the jack. Works great.

The 20 ton jack sounds humongous. Is it hard to pick up? A 6 ton jack lifts 12,000#. That is the entire weight on axles. Two would lift the entire trailer off the ground. 20 ton jack would be 40,000# would lift 3 trailers.

I am not knocking the 20 ton jack but that is a lot of jack.

 

[Delaine and Lindy]

We carry a 12 ton bottle jack and used it on our Cambridge and it worked fine, I also carry two 6 ton jack stands. However with the 5th wheel we have now we have system call side to side leveling, two hydraulic jacks in front of the front axle. It has the ability to lift the left or right side of the 5th wheel to get both axles off the ground on one side or the other. So getting the 5er off the ground isn't a problem just use a jack stand under the axle. Always use a jack stand for safety. GBY....

 

[dieselengineer]

driving on blocks

Thanks for reminder, I forgot to say to also slip a block between the spring and frame on the good wheel. I have a custom cut block I made on the band saw for this task.

 

[TXBobcat]

Thanks for reminder, I forgot to say to also slip a block between the spring and frame on the good wheel. I have a custom cut block I made on the band saw for this task.

HAY....
What is this.. I have never heard about slipping a block between the spring and frame on the good wheel ????? I am not contesting this, just never heard about it.

Why do you need to do this?? You say if I have a flat on the DS front axle I need to put a block between the frame and spring of the DS Rear axle?? Illustrate what you intend, please...

I will have to go out in the morning and check this out..

Always learning something new .. !!!!

 

[newbie]

I have 2 - 6 ton bottle jacks. One cost $19.95 at Wal-mart. The other I got from Gibsons not sure what the cost was.

I bought the second one because I needed to rotate a couple of tires and did not want to drop my spare. I use a 2x8x12 board under the jack. Works great.

The 20 ton jack sounds humongous. Is it hard to pick up? A 6 ton jack lifts 12,000#. That is the entire weight on axles. Two would lift the entire trailer off the ground. 20 ton jack would be 40,000# would lift 3 trailers.

I am not knocking the 20 ton jack but that is a lot of jack.

I also have a 20 ton jack. I agree that the lifting capacity is way overkill but you gain more lifting height with the bigger jack. Size wise, it isn't much bigger than a 12 ton. The cost wasn't too much more either. (I bought the Kobalt brand at Lowes).

 

[truknutt]

HAY....
What is this.. I have never heard about slipping a block between the spring and frame on the good wheel ????? I am not contesting this, just never heard about it.

Why do you need to do this?? You say if I have a flat on the DS front axle I need to put a block between the frame and spring of the DS Rear axle?? Illustrate what you intend, please...

I will have to go out in the morning and check this out..

Always learning something new .. !!!!

Bobcat,

I believe the block is used to keep the spring equalizer from "flipping" and becoming "bound" while the bad tire is being changed out. Had it happen on our last 5er; it just makes a crappy job end up worse!

 

[boxcar1511]

yea 20 ton slight overkill and a slight brain malfunction meant 20,000 pound ten ton jack