# Jacking Camper Up



## bama29fan (Jun 22, 2009)

Where is the best place to put the jack when jacking the camper up to change tires or grease the bearings? dexter manual says not to jack on the suspension but the frame is really high and the gas line is run down the door side on mine so i cant jack it there?


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## jdpm (Apr 12, 2007)

This will open a huge can of worms. It has been discussed on other forms I belong to, as well. You will find that many, many RVers including John and I use a bottle jack contacting the axle directly between the 2 u-bolts that attach the springs to the axle. I can't imagine that the bottle jack could do any harm placed between the 2 u-bolts. By doing this, you raise only the axle a minimum in order to remove the wheel. You have no risk of a passing semi blowing the rv off the jack like you might by trying to raise it by the frame. Plus, you will not risk twisting the frame. I'm sure someone will disagree, but this is how we do it. No problem. I might add NEVER, never place the jack anywhere else on the axles - especially the middle. Happy 4th! Phillip


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

A hint I got from this site regarding changing a flat: put your leveling blocks either in front of, or behind, the tire that is not flat. Drive forward or backward onto the leveling block(s), and that will raise the flat tire up enough to get it off. Both of the tires on the same side will go up in the air when one does. Thus you do not need that bottle jack...

Of course, loosen the lug nuts a smidge before you roll forward or backward.


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## ORvagabond (Apr 17, 2009)

Having used a jack it is far easier to use the leveling blocks especially if you do not have a flat area to chnage the tire.


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## maddog (Dec 16, 2009)

jdpm said:


> This will open a huge can of worms. It has been discussed on other forms I belong to, as well. You will find that many, many RVers including John and I use a bottle jack contacting the axle directly between the 2 u-bolts that attach the springs to the axle. I can't imagine that the bottle jack could do any harm placed between the 2 u-bolts. By doing this, you raise only the axle a minimum in order to remove the wheel. You have no risk of a passing semi blowing the rv off the jack like you might by trying to raise it by the frame. Plus, you will not risk twisting the frame. I'm sure someone will disagree, but this is how we do it. No problem. I might add NEVER, never place the jack anywhere else on the axles - especially the middle. Happy 4th! Phillip


X, done this for years without a problem.


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## bama29fan (Jun 22, 2009)

well...last weekend i jacked her up, squeezed grease in while i spun the tire and then adjusted the brakes. left last sunday for panama city and had no brakes. stopped several times trying to add more brake back to it but it never really got any better. i think what happened is the seal failed and grease got on the brakes. so now i am taking it to a local rv dealer to have the cleaned up and adjusted. why would the seals fail? the campers a 2009 but i got it new less than a year ago. i'm guessing around 1000 miles put on it.


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

Another OBer pointed out that his dealer used a compressed air driven gun to put the grease in and blew out the seals. It's possible you overpowered the seals even with a manual gun.

It's a mess to clean up--everything has to be stripped off the TT, washed in de-greaser, cleaned, and reassembled. With four brake assemblies, it's not a trivial amount of time.

The brake shoes cleaning is often a problem--the grease gets on the shoes, and gets into the lining. It requires a lot of work to clean them (I had it happen on a car many years ago and cursed a lot...)

I'd ask the dealer how much labor you would save if you simply replaced the brake shoes rather than scrub and scrub to get them clean. If you save 2 hours labor, and the dealer charges $90 per hour, and the brake shoes cost $100 or $125, you are ahead of the game...


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## bama29fan (Jun 22, 2009)

hautevue said:


> Another OBer pointed out that his dealer used a compressed air driven gun to put the grease in and blew out the seals. It's possible you overpowered the seals even with a manual gun.
> 
> It's a mess to clean up--everything has to be stripped off the TT, washed in de-greaser, cleaned, and reassembled. With four brake assemblies, it's not a trivial amount of time.
> 
> ...


good point....i dropped it off last night but they probably wont get to it until tomorrow. what are the chances i can get the dealer i bought it from (not same as the one thats doing work now) to pick up the cost under warranty? my one year warranty runs out in August.


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