Single axle -- How the heck to change a tire?

[peislander]

My small but mighty Camplite C11FDB has a single axle. One thing that is been on my mind is what am I supposed to do if I get a flat tire? The trailer has the off-road package and I've checked -- my Jeep's jack won't work to lift the trailer's axle. I had considered buying a 'farm jack' but to use one it looks like I'd need to lift the body of the trailer as the tube frame is inset from the cabin edge. Any guidance will be greatly appreciated!

We have friends who bought a small two-axle trailer (non-Camplite) in part because they said it would be easier than a single axle model if they had a flat. I can see that, but hope there's a technique that I haven't considered to easily lift the load off a wheel so a tire can be changed.

[daplumbr]

Is the Jeep's jack too short or too tall or not the right kind? If too short, maybe just a piece of lumber thick enough to reach? I would not use a farm jack because you don't have a safe lifting place. I have a simple scissor jack in my garage for general purpose use and you may simply need to get one of these?

http://www.amazon.com/Torin-T10152-Scissor-Jack-1-5/dp/B004PX8BC2


or you could go this route:

http://www.grainger.com/product/ENERPAC-Bottle-Jack-23NR44

 

[charliem]

[font size="3"]That's an issue with single axle trailers and you're wise to plan ahead. The scissor jack or small bottle jack usually work. Be sure to figure out where to place the jack before you're on the side of the road at night in rain. I was quite relieved when I upgraded from one to two axles.
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[spot1]

Here's a 2011 CampLite owners manual. Check out page 21 about jacking.

http://www.livinlite.com/pdf/service/CampLite2011OwnersManual.pdf

[peislander]

The manual page that exploringcarolina references confirms you should lift at the axle. The problem is with the offroad package that axel is several feet up in the clouds. (Sorry I'm prone to exaggeration). My Jeep Grand Cherokee's jack, and a couple of other's I've tried, won't reach. I have been taking some split firewood with me when I travel so I'll have something to stick under the jack in an emergency. (Here in Canada it is generally against campsite rules to bring your own firewood for environmental reasons -- so I really shouldn't be transporting firewood from place to place. My bad). The idea of putting wood blocking under a jack does concern me since the spare is under the trailer and I presume it might need to be jacked up to reach the spare. Climbing under the trailer with a makeshift axle lift seems more than a little risky.

The axle location the manual recommends doesn't have a welded on jack positioning point does it? I think it is just a tubular axle --- not the safest thing to position a jack under even if you had one that would fit. Yikes!

[pinstriper]

The page 21 that I read said to place the jack on the frame near where the springs attach.

[charliem]

[font size="3"]From page 21 of the referenced manual: "Position a hydraulic jack on the frame close
to the spring hanger." DO NOT place the jack under the axle. It is a thin tubular construction and is easily crushed.

That said, it seems the manual may be a bit out of date or applies only to the smallest CLs. There are no spring hangers on newer CLs. They have torsion axles hard mounted to the frame.
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[leslie]

I have Roadside Assistance from Good Sam to take care of flat tires. I had a flat tire in Florida last month. Good Sam took about 90 minutes to arrive and switched out the spare for the bad tire. No charge for that call - that is what I am paying for.

My CL 21-BHS  is sitting in a dealer right now. Their instruction was to repair or replace the bad tire. They had to replace it. I asked them to save the old tire. Tomorrow hubby and I will pay for the new tire and look at the old one to see if we have a warranty issue.

[peislander]

My C11FDB does have the torsion axle system. Thanks Pinstriper & Charliem for clarifying the jack should be positioned under the adjacent frame and not the axle. The axle with the off-road package is several feet above the ground. The adjacent frame is even higher! Maybe I will need to build a 'spacer' out of 2x lumber that I can use with the Jeep's jack.

[mitch]

I put my camper up on blocks in the winter and use a bottle jack to lift it before putting the stands underneath.  My point of lift is the frame nearish to the axle as is convenient. That being said I don't have the  off road version and I'm using a large bottle jack that I do not carry in the truck.  I should probably check to see if my truck jack is high enough to lift the camper.

[charliem]

[font size="3"]It's also important to make sure the jack is LOW enough for use when the tire is flat.
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[thudd3r]

check out your local auto junk yard for an oem scissor jack.  they usually have a pile of them for 5 or 10 bucks a piece.  scissor jacks close really flat (easy to get under just about anything) and expand more that most hydraulic jacks.  could easily fab a bracket to clamp it to the bottom of the camper near the spare

[david]

Wow, so much discussion about something so simple. Here is my answer:

Disconnect the tongue from the tow vehicle and lower the tongue jack as far as possible. Then raise the aft stabilizers so they are firmly on the ground and maybe lifting the back end a little. You might have to put a 3-4" block under them to do this. Raise the tongue with the jack until the tire comes off of the ground. The trailer will then be supported at three points; the two aft stabilizers and the tongue jack.

Yes, everyone says not to lift the trailer using the stabilizers, but it will work.

Change your tire and reverse the process.

A double axle is easier. Like most of us I have a wheel ramp to level the trailer if the site is not. I pull the trailer forward on the ramp (or back up if the flat tire is aft) until the good tire is supported by the ramp but the flat one is not. Once you change the tire it is a little tricky to pull forward as the new tire is now hanging down a bit. But it works.

David

[mitch]

[quote source="/post/9972/thread" timestamp="1429990188" author="@david"]Wow, so much discussion about something so simple. Here is my answer:

Disconnect the tongue from the tow vehicle and lower the tongue jack as far as possible. Then raise the aft stabilizers so they are firmly on the ground and maybe lifting the back end a little. You might have to put a 3-4" block under them to do this. Raise the tongue with the jack until the tire comes off of the ground. The trailer will then be supported at three points; the two aft stabilizers and the tongue jack.

Yes, everyone says not to lift the trailer using the stabilizers, but it will work.

Change your tire and reverse the process.

A double axle is easier. Like most of us I have a wheel ramp to level the trailer if the site is not. I pull the trailer forward on the ramp (or back up if the flat tire is aft) until the good tire is supported by the ramp but the flat one is not. Once you change the tire it is a little tricky to pull forward as the new tire is now hanging down a bit. But it works.

David[/quote]Well now that's entirely to simple. 

 

[peislander]

David -- I like your suggestion and it seems like tripoding the trailer is a technique I could try even with an inflated tire. It does seem to be that the stabilizer legs might be a bit short but, as you say, I could try it with some blocking. I think LivinLite uses the same stabilizers whether you have the off-road option or not. On mine they certainly don't seem very long and I often need blocking just to use them at a campsite that isn't level.