Jacking up the trailer to change the tire
 

So I hooked the boat up today to take it to Tommy's to get it dewinterized. Well I made it about 50ft before I realized the right rear tire on the trailer was completely flat. Weird thing was it wasn't flat sitting on the driveway. Well I turn around and get out my air compressor to fill it up. The valve stem was broken where it meets the rim. So now I need to jack up the trailer and get a new tire put on the rim.

So my question is what is the best way to jack up the trailer? I have never had to jack one up before. Should I go buy a floor jack? Should I use the jack for my truck? I am leaning towards the floor jack right now as they are just a good thing to have around. Is there anywhere special I need to place the jack? Thanks for any help you guys can provide!

I used a standard floor jack when I would raise my single axle trailer. There was a flat bar that went across the 2 wheel under the trailer. I never had any issues. I had to lift my trailer every time I took the boat out. The boat and trailer were on skates for easier movement in my garage.

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Last time I had a flat, my standard jack wouldn't raise the trailer high enough to get the spare on...luckily I had some blocks of wood in the back of the truck to put under it...just food for thought.

luckily it is in front of my house right now so I can grab some wood if necessary. Then I guess keep that wood in the truck in case we get a flat while towing. I am glad this happened at the house and not on the highway in the middle of nowhere. I never really thought about having to jack up the trailer for a flat and how I would do it.

If you are ever in a pinch, with your double axle trailer, you can ride the other axle wheel up on a curb in an emergency to get access to the flat tire. They make some custom "ramps" for getting tandem axle trailers off the ground, but it is good to have a plan. I use my truck telescoping jack for mine, but try and jack it up on the backing plates for the u-bolts (if you have them) for torsion axles you want to get as close to the wheel as you can, you don't want to jack it up on the axle itself if you don't have to.

You can use a scissor style jack with a screw crank. Pick one up at an auto wreckers for next to nothing. A hydraulic bottle jack works well.
Driving the other tire up on a ramp works if it's a tandem.

for a tandem axle trailer, the easiest way is a "trailer aid" Its basically a ramp you pull the good trailer tier onto. Lifts the bad tire so you can remove it.


http://www.jeffersequine.com/ssc/pro...VA&pf_id=13268

http://www.jeffersequine.com/ssc/ass...0Aid-black.jpg

Chris - That is a GREAT idea. Thanks for sharing that!

It is tandem axle trailer. That trailer aid looks badazz. Wonder if I can get one locally.

Okay found that trailer aid on amazon and it was eligible for prime shipping. Should be here first part of next week. Thanks for the replies everyone!!!

Just as an FYI, Trailer aid's do work with some trailers and not for others. Because I have torsion axles (no leaf springs) the axle absorbed the lift the Trailer Aid provided and I wasn't able to get the other tire off. We ultimately used a curb, but it may or may not work with your trailer set up. Since you already bought one, try it before you need it.

I think I paid like $20 for one of these at the local hardware store. Works great on the MC & Extreme trailers I've used it on.

http://www.cascadedepot.com/catalog/...railerJack.JPG

Might be worthwhile to learn what the dealer is doing to "dewinterize" it too. Probably just putting the hoses back on & tightening them up.

I havent ran into that probelm myself but it is something to consider. My Mom is big into horses and thats why we always had one around. Its a PITA to jack up a trailer loaded w/ 4 horses using a scissor or bottle type jack. The Trailer Aid makes it a breeze. Now we use it on all of our dual axle trailers, but they are all leaf spring setups.

Like Keller said, the jack from your truck and a good block of wood will work in a pinch.

A floor jack or a ramp is nicer to have though

I keep a 15 ton bottle jack under the back seat of my truck. Works great for the truck or any trailer in the event of a flat tire. Much faster than the scissors jack and quite possibly safer. Worth taking a look at since it's so versatile.

My bottle jack would not fit under the trailer axle and other points were too high. I picked up a second jace, a scissor jack that is easy to store. Most people don't recognize the impending problem until they have their first flat and attempt to use the car jack. Also, the proper lug wrench can be an issues.