Caravan jack
Hiya folks.
Reading through the thread on tightening wheels nuts, it reminded me that I don’t have any means of ‘jacking up’ the axle to replace a wheel, should it ever be necessary. I know, I’m bad 😳 My B-I-L had an incident whilst on site which necessitated the replacement of a wheel. He used a trolley jack, but had trouble raising the axle high enough to replace the wheel (fully extended). I notice trolley jacks start at around £20 for a 2 ton. Whilst not wanting to spend too much, it still needs to do the job. So, I’m looking for a jack (trolley/screw?) that will raise the axle high enough, but not be too cumbersome, any recommendations please?
Comments
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The easy answer is to tow the caravan into such a position as to elevate the affected wheel - either onto a ramp or a kerb. That will increase the ground clearance under the axle thus allowing sufficient space for the trolley jack to be positioned under the axle to obtain greater elevation and space to reinstate a fully inflated tyre. Leave the ramp, block, or whatever in place when lowering the jack and then reverse off it. Otherwise you may not have space to remove the jack from under the axle.
Choice of jack is up to you. A bottle jack is possibly a better option as it requires less space to store it and, providing you’ve a decent pad (plank of wood etc) to sit under the jack, it can be used on soft ground.
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We have the Alko side lift jack, have not yet needed to use it in "anger"although have tried it and it seems stable but as with most jacks a piece of wood under the jack reduces the risk of sinking in soft ground, it is very easy to use without the need to get under the c/van to place it
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Hiya Fred, Ive got the AL-KO jack and I have still got to fix the brackets on the new van but thats easy peasey, well when the weather gets a bit more clement, but theres a few other brands around 'Kojack' they do a complete kit, then you have got bottle and trolley jacks, but jacking direct on the ALKO chassis is a no no, direct on the axle is ok, or the steel plate directly behind the wheel, but try that when the tyre is flat and your legs are sticking out inviting every one to dodge round em, to be honest go for the ALKO I mean they designed the blimming chassis so go with the German tech..
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The scissor ALKO jack that came with my twin axle van is not even as good as useless .... tried it on my drive, took some weight of the caravan & then put it back in its bag. It's now somewhere in the depths of my garage. Definitely not intended to lift 1.8 tons
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many many years ago I bought a Rolston 2t hydro jack to lift up my disco in the event of puncture etc, was ok jacking up the disco, problem was lifting the spare wheel of the rear door
used to let that nice AA man do the heavy work, but have used it to jack up my caravan just the once doing exactly as TW explained above. I take it out once a year just to check oil pressure is ok and that it works.1 -
be careful if you have a mover fitted it seriously impedes jacking from front of wheel, you will almost certainly have to jack from rear, so it is even more a good idea to get the spare wheel out if it is underslung on one of those ALKO get your legs run over cradles, before you think about jacking up, but this operation is also easier if you run van up on leveling ramp before trying to remove.
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Ok M M so you have rubbished the ALKO setup so come on mate what is your prefered aswer to being on the motorway getting dark pouring with rain your family just getting a little preturbed, and dont give me all that ring RAC, GREEN FLAG, or the other one, they too busy to attend at mo the OP asked for a bit of advice in helping him self, try to be a bit more possative..
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If we need to change a wheel it i am sure be when out on the road so thats what our breakdown service is for,,but our ALKO side jack is ,as tried, very capable of lifting our loaded C/van high enough to get at the spare and replace the faulty wheel, our spare is under the van and lowered on a cable from inside
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Hiya folks, thanks for all the replies. Following the suggestions, I’m liking the look of the ‘Kojack’. Having brackets fitted to the chassis seems a more elegant solution. I’m normally a bit wary of bottle jacks, because of the small footprint/contact area, but in this case the brackets give a positive location. Thanks again 👍
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I would agree with MMs opinion of the supplied Alko jack and it's ability to lift a fully loaded twin axle van, though ours is the side lift model. Ours is also somewhere in the garage and I use a 2 tonne trolley jack purchased many years back from Lidl.
I have used it frequently on site and in our driveway, however, if out on the road, I would also call on our breakdown service to come and change the wheel, and have done so once in 21 years.
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For quite a few years we used an AlKo side lift jack on at least two caravans. It was used quite a bit as I had a spare set of wheels for the winter when it was standing for a couple of months. It worked perfectly well for me albeit that they were single axle caravans.
David
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I’ve just had tyres on my caravan changed, at home on the drive. The tyre fitter didn’t need to use his jack as I just used the onboard hydraulic jacks to lift the wheels clear from the floor. He was quite impressed, but thought that the three grand price tag was a bit steep to be able to change a wheel!
Of course he’s not wrong, but it wasn’t purchased for wheel changing. Levelling is it purpose, wheel changing is just a bonus, so is the need not to carry a jack or crawl around on my knees.🙂
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