Jacking up a caravan
Where is the best place to use a trolley jack to raise a caravan, I don't really want to buy a bottle/scissor jack with brackets, a trolley jack is more stable, but a modern caravan chassis won't take the weight
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The axle. Use a soft block of wood about 1" thick and it will distort enough to grip the axle.
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The axle is bolted to the chassis on a large "L" shaped bracket.The best place for a trolley jack is under this bracket.Access can be hindered because a mover or mud flaps are in the way!If a mover has been fitted in front of the wheels enter from the rear!
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I agree, so make sure you carry a strip of 25mm thick wood or such like, 1.25 times longer than the length of the jack.
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Far too often in life I come across situations where people make a bit of a rod for their own back. The couple who won't shop in Lidl 'because it's a cheap shop'. My elderly stepmother who refuses to have an email address even if she never uses it. And now we have a member who doesn't really want to buy a proprietary jacking system for their caravan. You can buy a Purpleline kit which includes chassis brackets and a their suitable bottle jack which will stand on a levelling board, if required, for under £85. What price an easy very workable roadside or field solution in an emergency.
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Probably because at £85 the jack system is way overpriced, you can buy a 'normal' bottle jack for £9.99 from quite a number of places. This makes the brackets £37.50 each and as it has been pointed out, you do not really need the brackets.
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I agree with both Jennyc & hortimech, but its all down to what the user feels confident to use.
althought I carry the supplied alko jack, if I had the need to change a wheel whilst on the road, I would use the services of mayday. It's part of the service I pay for and they are proficient in changing the wheels in a safe and timely manner.
fortunately, if I want to jack up a wheel on site to fit the wheel lock I can use the onboard E&P levelling system that my caravan has fitted.
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I can't find a three tier bottle jack (necessary for its height) for anywhere near £10. A 'normal' jack won't extend to 39cm. However, like hortimech we subscribe to a breakdown service, which would be our first choice for an emergency wheel change. But that's not what the OP asked about.
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Thank you for the advice, but no. Even if I had a jack I couldn't undo the wheel nuts, couldn't get the spare wheel out from underneath, wouldn't want to crouch on the hard shoulder of a motorway, and would need to buy a torque thing to fix the new wheel on. Green Flag membership cost me £49 and I let the man in the van do it all. All I carry is a mobile phone with his number plumbed in.
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I've looked at Machine Mart following your suggestion and having done so, feel that I should make you aware that Machine Mart's entry point offerings, while selling at under £10, are unsuitable for the OP's, or any one else's caravan jacking needs. The chassis height gain needed to raise a caravan from a deflated tyre, to a height where a replacement wheel can be fitted, is considerably greater than that offered by a £10 jack. I quoted a 390mm rise from the Kojack, which is a practical elevation, and indeed Machine Mart do sell three stage jacks which offer comparable functionality. Their prices for this sort of elevation start at £83.98. I think that there might be a lesson here, in the benefits of making purchases which really are fit for purchase, rather than just cheap.
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The good point about the Kojack is, the bracket bolted onto the chassis and the jack's saddle lock into each other for maximum safety. I have one and have used it several times, if only to swop wheels round. Also it takes up a lot less space than a trolley jack.
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Can't fit the jacking brackets to my caravan's chassis as that is where Elddis decided to fit a piece of timber to the floor for the mudflaps.
Lidl is the future of shopping
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I purchased a Kojack jack from Robinsons caravans,Chesterfield.These have the smaller brackets which coachman fit to thier vans.I had same problem piece of timber for mudflaps.I find this jack works a lot better than a trolly jack positive connection between jack and caravan and a lot smaller than a trolly jack.
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Probably very good advice for those who do not have motor movers ?
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To be honest I travel thousands of miles a year working and now a caravanner. Last thing I would want is to be lying on a lay by somewhere trying to change a car tyre let alone a caravan. Nuts are always tight given that we torque them regularly, the wheel is a nightmare to release especially when the van had dropped six inches on the flat side which also makes getting a jack into position difficult, Maybe 40mph wind or driving rain.
Best thing I have ever done was get a national breakdown membership, had one now for around 20yrs and boy have they got us out of a few scrapes. Vehicles transported to destination, back home or garage of choice no questions asked. Oh, and the caravan is free, no extra !!
I purchased a trolley jack when I got the caravan for the same reason then I woke up thinking why am I contemplating that ?? silly boy! Tyres, let them be flat, one phone call then put the kettle on simples
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When a trailer tyre is flat, get out the ramps/blocks and tow the wheel on that side up onto something. This will reduce the amount of lift required from the jack. Also, before going up with the jack is the safest time to remove the spare if stowed underneath as trailer is on blocks.
If one has a twin axle, even better. Stagger the blocks and go higher and one does not need a jack at all. Just remember to loosen the wheel nuts before the wheel departs the ground.
And as for checking the torque on wheel nuts on a regular basis - how many people are doing this without first releasing the nut/stud? Repeated torquing will overtighten.
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