# Jack For Flat Tire On Tt?



## WhiteSoxFan (Mar 7, 2006)

I'm hoping other members can help with a question......what do other Outbackers take with to handle a flat tire on the TT? A bottle jack? Heavy floor jack? I've been towing my 28rsds without a jack and want to know what is the best option. If a jack is the best option, then how strong (lbs)? Thanks in advance!


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## GlenninTexas (Aug 11, 2004)

I carry a bottle jack simply because I already had it and it can be used for multiple applications. Some folks just use blocks on the other tire on the same side. You can also buya devicew that looks like a quarter circle. On end cradles the axle and the other end rests on the groung. you simple pull forward rotating the device and lifting the axle.

Regards, Glenn

PS. make sure you have wrenches that fit both the lug nuts and the nut holding your spare tire on its bracket. Sometimes they are different.


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## TwoElkhounds (Mar 11, 2007)

The best and easiest way to change a flat on a dual axle trailer is to get a Trailer Aid (or something similar).










If you don't have one of these, the next best solution would be a floor jack. However, these are not that easy to lug around with you. I used a bottle jack once to jack up the trailer, never again.

DAN


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## BrandonMH (Dec 5, 2012)

I was wondering the same thing, thanks for the info. I know mine is around 6800# ish so would need a fairly substantial jack for that.


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## john7349 (Jan 13, 2008)

TwoElkhounds said:


> The best and easiest way to change a flat on a dual axle trailer is to get a Trailer Aid (or something similar).
> 
> 
> 
> ...


X2 on the Trailer Aid. Very stable and lite weight.


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## TwoElkhounds (Mar 11, 2007)

john7349 said:


> The best and easiest way to change a flat on a dual axle trailer is to get a Trailer Aid (or something similar).
> 
> 
> 
> ...


X2 on the Trailer Aid. Very stable and lite weight.
[/quote]

The other nice thing about the Trailer Aid is that you can change a flat in about five minutes. Pretty valuable when you are sitting on a narrow shoulder changing a tire with semis flying by at 65 mph. The less time you are on the shoulder the better.

DAN


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## WhiteSoxFan (Mar 7, 2006)

Thanks everyone! Really appreciate it. I asked for a jack for Xmas and received an incredibly heavy 4 ton floor jack that I am not ready to drag around. Returning that jack for a device like the one that was shown. I knew the bright minds of Outbackers would help out! Thanks again! Love this site......


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## TwoElkhounds (Mar 11, 2007)

WhiteSoxFan said:


> Thanks everyone! Really appreciate it. I asked for a jack for Xmas and received an incredibly heavy 4 ton floor jack that I am not ready to drag around. Returning that jack for a device like the one that was shown. I knew the bright minds of Outbackers would help out! Thanks again! Love this site......


Noooooo..... Don't return the floor jack!! I nice floor jack is one of the best tools to have in your garage. Besides, you will need it to do maintenance on the trailer bearings.

I think you can pick up a Trailer Aid for less than 50 bucks.

DAN


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## LaydBack (Aug 22, 2010)

I have both the trailer aid and a bottle jack. Neither take up much space. The new truck also came with a bottle jack, so I should be in pretty good shape with the trailer aid, 2 bottle jacks, and at least 4 sets of Lynx levelers. The levelers work good for putting under the bottle jacks. I do agree that the floor jack is nice for the garage at home.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

I carry two 3 ton bottle jacks. Only had to change one tire on the side of the road but where they really came in handy was when I lost the U-bolt holding the axle in place. I could not have used the trailer aide as it would have applied load to the springs. I had to jack up the trailer and have no load on the axle or springs to make the repair on the side of the road. I do not leave home with out them.


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## clarkely (Sep 15, 2008)

I carry a 10 ton bottle jack - that way i have some good hydraulic pressure to be able to do just about what ever comes my way.....fallen tree.....truck....trailer..... whatever... i just think they are good to have as they are small compact and versatile........

Had a flat last month in Florida..... backed up on lynx levelers/blocks on good tire .................... raised power jack (connected to truck) ........... and bam off it went......... flex shackle may cause axle to drop on bad tire axle........support gently with bottle jack and you are good


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## raynardo (Jun 8, 2007)

I use Camco leveling blocks. The same ones I use to level my trailer when I'm parked at an RV site that isn't level right to left (which appears to be in the majority!).

I create a ramp by interlocking a pyramid incline seven blocks high and then pull (or push) my good trailer tire on the same side as the damaged tire to lift it up into the air for easy removal.

Be sure to loosen your wheel lug nuts a bit before doing this, otherwise you'll be spinning the tire you're working on.

I highly recommend using a lug wrench to do the heavy work, and then either battery powered impact wrench or 18v or better drill to do quick work of the tire change.

Last week I was at a campground and replaced a tire using my floor jack. I normally don't travel with a floor jack but since I has less than 10 miles from home, this was the perfect opportunity to do this. It was only a two-ton floor jack, and it was a chore to raise the tire high enough to change it. Even though my trailer weighs four tons, I wasn't going to lift the entire trailer, just one tire, which I hoped due to physics was less than 1/4 the weight of the trailer, since it was on three others tires plus the tongue jack.


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## raynardo (Jun 8, 2007)

CamperAndy said:


> I carry two 3 ton bottle jacks. Only had to change one tire on the side of the road but where they really came in handy was when I lost the U-bolt holding the axle in place. I could not have used the trailer aide as it would have applied load to the springs. I had to jack up the trailer and have no load on the axle or springs to make the repair on the side of the road. I do not leave home with out them.


I thought I was the only one that this happened to! Geez, what an experience.

Mine was near the "loneliest highway in America". When the bolt dropped out, the trailer dropped unto the two trailer tires on the driver's side and they began smoking like the trailer was on fire. I pulled over, grabbed the fire extinguisher, and ran back to the trailer and then into it after I saw no flame on the outside. The inside was filled full of a putrid burning rubber smell, but also no flames anywhere. Using the exhaust fan we cleared out the trailer and waited.

At first inspection I found nothing wrong, so I though I'd drive into the next town, about 75 miles away. As soon as I got back up over 20mph the smoking tires would start up again. Still I didn't know what was a matter. So, for the next couple of hours we drove about 15mph with our emergency flashers on this desolate highway.

We finally found an abandoned restaurant (which was once a pony express station!) and I decided that I couldn't go on. I went back and finally figured out that the bolt had dropped out of the axle shackle and the entire trailer had settled on the tires, and the bolts holding up that side of the wheel well were eating into the edge of the tires.

I disconnected the trailer, left it in the parking lot and drove on to the next town well after dark. It was too small to have any kind of repair facility, but it did have a bar, and after what I'd been through, I needed a cold beer or two at least. It was here that we also found cell phone coverage. I called AAA since I had their premier service. They said they would send out a truck to haul my trailer, but I let them know that my trailer was too big to load on a truck, and that I would simply need a tow truck with jack and a replacement bolt. Against their arcane policy they put me in touch with a towing operator.

He asked me what size bolt I needed, and I said I had no idea, but I had shot photos of the problem, he provided me with his personal email address, but now I needed to find Internet access to send him those photos. Lo and behold, a couple a doors down from the bar was a cafe, although close, which was still broadcasting an open WiFi connection! I quickly copied the photos from my camera to my laptop and sent them off.

Ten minutes later I received a call from the tow truck driver who figured out what we needed. He said he'd meet us at our trailer in 3 hours or so. We drove the 35 miles back to our trailer and went to bed for the night. Shortly after midnight I heard the crunching of tires on gravel, it was the tow driver.

After a quick greeting and an assessment of the situation, he pulled out his floor jack and a bagful of assorted bolts and nuts. He only had one jack, and I knew that the next problem would be aligning the shackle with the spring to put the bolt through. When I looked with the flashlight, we weren't even close, what were we going to do?

All of a sudden the trailer jiggles and then thumps. It had miraculously settled itself into perfect alignment to be able to put the bolt right through the shackle and spring. All this happened in less than ten minutes!

Out of graciousness, I tipped the driver $50 since we will have driven over 200 miles on his round trip.

We spent the rest of night sleeping in that parking lot, woke up early the next morning and drove to Ely, Nevada, the next bigger town on our way home. By this time I had checked everything thoroughly twice and everything checked out okay. On the tow truck driver's recommendation we headed to Las Vegas, the only town big enough to have everything we needed to fix or replace the problem. But when we got to Las Vegas late that afternoon, it was 115°, too hot for me, so we pressed our luck and continued to Kingman, AZ where we spent the next night. Everything still check out the next day, so we continued on to our Southern California home with no further hiccups, although when we got to Needles, CA, my thermometer was reading 130° when we stopped for lunch at a McDonald's.

Back at home I had my favorite local RV place bring everything back up to snuff.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

raynardo said:


> I carry two 3 ton bottle jacks. Only had to change one tire on the side of the road but where they really came in handy was when I lost the U-bolt holding the axle in place. I could not have used the trailer aide as it would have applied load to the springs. I had to jack up the trailer and have no load on the axle or springs to make the repair on the side of the road. I do not leave home with out them.


I thought I was the only one that this happened to! Geez, what an experience.

Mine was near the "loneliest highway in America". When the bolt dropped out, the trailer dropped unto the two trailer tires on the driver's side and they began smoking like the trailer was on fire. I pulled over, grabbed the fire extinguisher, and ran back to the trailer and then into it after I saw no flame on the outside. The inside was filled full of a putrid burning rubber smell, but also no flames anywhere. Using the exhaust fan we cleared out the trailer and waited.

At first inspection I found nothing wrong, so I though I'd drive into the next town, about 75 miles away. As soon as I got back up over 20mph the smoking tires would start up again. Still I didn't know what was a matter. So, for the next couple of hours we drove about 15mph with our emergency flashers on this desolate highway.

We finally found an abandoned restaurant (which was once a pony express station!) and I decided that I couldn't go on. I went back and finally figured out that the bolt had dropped out of the axle shackle and the entire trailer had settled on the tires, and the bolts holding up that side of the wheel well were eating into the edge of the tires.

I disconnected the trailer, left it in the parking lot and drove on to the next town well after dark. It was too small to have any kind of repair facility, but it did have a bar, and after what I'd been through, I needed a cold beer or two at least. It was here that we also found cell phone coverage. I called AAA since I had their premier service. They said they would send out a truck to haul my trailer, but I let them know that my trailer was too big to load on a truck, and that I would simply need a tow truck with jack and a replacement bolt. Against their arcane policy they put me in touch with a towing operator.

He asked me what size bolt I needed, and I said I had no idea, but I had shot photos of the problem, he provided me with his personal email address, but now I needed to find Internet access to send him those photos. Lo and behold, a couple a doors down from the bar was a cafe, although close, which was still broadcasting an open WiFi connection! I quickly copied the photos from my camera to my laptop and sent them off.

Ten minutes later I received a call from the tow truck driver who figured out what we needed. He said he'd meet us at our trailer in 3 hours or so. We drove the 35 miles back to our trailer and went to bed for the night. Shortly after midnight I heard the crunching of tires on gravel, it was the tow driver.

After a quick greeting and an assessment of the situation, he pulled out his floor jack and a bagful of assorted bolts and nuts. He only had one jack, and I knew that the next problem would be aligning the shackle with the spring to put the bolt through. When I looked with the flashlight, we weren't even close, what were we going to do?

All of a sudden the trailer jiggles and then thumps. It had miraculously settled itself into perfect alignment to be able to put the bolt right through the shackle and spring. All this happened in less than ten minutes!

Out of graciousness, I tipped the driver $50 since we will have driven over 200 miles on his round trip.

We spent the rest of night sleeping in that parking lot, woke up early the next morning and drove to Ely, Nevada, the next bigger town on our way home. By this time I had checked everything thoroughly twice and everything checked out okay. On the tow truck driver's recommendation we headed to Las Vegas, the only town big enough to have everything we needed to fix or replace the problem. But when we got to Las Vegas late that afternoon, it was 115°, too hot for me, so we pressed our luck and continued to Kingman, AZ where we spent the next night. Everything still check out the next day, so we continued on to our Southern California home with no further hiccups, although when we got to Needles, CA, my thermometer was reading 130° when we stopped for lunch at a McDonald's.

Back at home I had my favorite local RV place bring everything back up to snuff.
[/quote]

Have a look at this thread to see what happened to me. Pictures are on Post 27.

Dexter Leaf Spring


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## Leedek (Nov 28, 2010)

FYI on Dexter Axle specifications. Page 66 of the manual gives the torques for u-bolts. Dexter Axles  It always amazes me to see the amount of inspections and preventative maintenance required on my portable home.







Makes for just a little angst during the voyage. Good to see all the posts in this forum. I actually just got in from torquing the u-bolts on my 210RS. I double-nutted them to ensure they stay put and the axles remain under the trailer. 
Drive safe and happy camping.


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## cbarnes890 (Apr 5, 2012)

WhiteSoxFan said:


> I'm hoping other members can help with a question......what do other Outbackers take with to handle a flat tire on the TT? A bottle jack? Heavy floor jack? I've been towing my 28rsds without a jack and want to know what is the best option. If a jack is the best option, then how strong (lbs)? Thanks in advance!


WhiteSoxFan

Best and simpliest way to change a flat on a dual axle trailer is using the TrailerAide device that you can pick-up at Camping World for around $60.00. for additional safety during the tire change lower your stabilizing jacks.

I bought one of these the same day I picked up the trailer, had to use it once when I noticed I had a screw in the tire after returning from a trip, used the trailer aide and took the tire to the shop to have it patched.


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## Leedek (Nov 28, 2010)

A lot of discussion in other forums leads me to post here. My 2011 210RS has Equa-Flex suspension and the Trailer Aid may not lift the wheel off the ground, especially the front wheel. A fellow RVer suggested that a trip to Camping World could prove the point. He asked to try the Trailer Aid prior to purchase, Camping World agreed.







It didn't work for him even in Trailer Aid Plus, 1" more height config.

I was always told to NEVER jack up a trailer using the axles, axle owners manuals say the axle will bend or crush no matter where you put the jack under the axle and will VOID your warranty. So I have always putt the jack under the frame only. Lipperts axle owners manual states*" WARNING!! Lift unit by the frame and never 
the axle or suspension."  *

Dang where's a sky hook when you need one?









The aid would be great providing it works for both front and rear axles and provides the needed lift.








Be Safe and Happy camping.


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## clarkely (Sep 15, 2008)

Leedek said:


> A lot of discussion in other forums leads me to post here. My 2011 210RS has Equa-Flex suspension and the Trailer Aid may not lift the wheel off the ground, especially the front wheel. A fellow RVer suggested that a trip to Camping World could prove the point. He asked to try the Trailer Aid prior to purchase, Camping World agreed.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


So i am not mis understood on previous post .... i did not use my bottle jack to jack the trailer with it under the axle...... i drove good tire up on blocks and raised front power jack (it was a front tire - lower if a rear) and then used bottle jack to support/lift the axle ..... because i have the equaflex system ...... if you have any shackle like that you either do that or lift the trailer way way up - .....which isnt necessary ...... my point was blocks do thee same as a trailer aid ...... and i concur with an equaflex they alone do not work well


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## hoodscoop (Mar 29, 2012)

Leedek said:


> A lot of discussion in other forums leads me to post here. My 2011 210RS has Equa-Flex suspension and the Trailer Aid may not lift the wheel off the ground, especially the front wheel. A fellow RVer suggested that a trip to Camping World could prove the point. He asked to try the Trailer Aid prior to purchase, Camping World agreed.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Because I have used the axle to jack my 5'er in the past, I thought I'd do some research to see if I'm doing wrong. My reasearch suggested that the "Equa-flex" system came out in 2011. I have a 2010 therefore suggesting that I do not have the equa-flex. I read about the Dexter axles I do have and they too state, " Do not lift or support the trailer on any part of the axle or suspension system". They further state that it is OK to lift or support, "only the axle weight", once the trailer is lifted via the frame. Thanks for the alert and getting me to educate myself more about my RV.


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