Sunday, July 3, 2011

Safely Jacking Up a Travel Trailer

I have a Keystone Zeppelin, 24-foot travel trailer with tandem axles. I would like to know the best way to get all four wheels off the ground at the same time to service wheels, besides rolling onto blocks to get one axle at a time. The axle owner's manual says not to jack on the axles. Where is the best place to jack and block for wheel service? David L. (Cumming, GA)

David, in my shop, if I couldn’t get the entire RV onto a hoist, I would only jack one side of the trailer at a time. Perform the service at each axle on that one side, then move to the other side. I would jack only on the main frame rail and allow the suspension to hang until both tires were clear of the shop floor. I would then lower that side onto appropriate, (read: weight capable), safety jack stands. Then simply repeat the process on the other side. For any RV being raised up with a floor jack, it’s much safer to always have at least two tires (or one side), safely on the ground at all times. Remember, safety first, the time element, second! 

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