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Safe hitching up with broken jacks


nomula

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My old jacks won't raise the rv, but I need to hitch it to take to welder to install new jacks. How can I safely raise it up. Need to go about 8 in since I have a flatbed with recessed ball (have a 5th to goose converter on it). Blocking up a bottle jack seems unsafe.

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A bottle jack would work - I would just slide boards under the jacks as your raise it up so that it won't go anywhere if things start to move.

 

Will the old jacks extend if you take the weight off of them with a bottle jack?

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If bottle jacks is all I had, I would use them. As you go up, just keep extending the legs of the front jacks so that you won't fall more than a couple of inches at any time. If you run out of ability to extend legs, you can block under them as you go. Goes without saying that tires should be well chocked.

Everybody wanna hear the truth, but everybody tell a lie.  Everybody wanna go to Heaven, but nobody want to die.  Albert King

 

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Not sure if old jacks will move and hold until I get something else lifting it. I have small bottle jack, truck jacks, or floor jack. But it's 24" up to frame so seems like a lot of boards. Will one jack in center be ok if I can get old jacks to help? Its 19ft single axel. Tires blocked on both sides.

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Not sure if old jacks will move and hold until I get something else lifting it. I have small bottle jack, truck jacks, or floor jack. But it's 24" up to frame so seems like a lot of boards. Will one jack in center be ok if I can get old jacks to help? Its 19ft single axel. Tires blocked on both sides.

 

I would use a floor jack and a piece of 4x4 and see what happens. Chock everything tight and don't go crazy - lift it so that the jacks are just off the ground and see if it is gonna move on ya.

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Not sure if old jacks will move and hold until I get something else lifting it. I have small bottle jack, truck jacks, or floor jack. But it's 24" up to frame so seems like a lot of boards. Will one jack in center be ok if I can get old jacks to help? Its 19ft single axel. Tires blocked on both sides.

 

I meant to extend the bottom part of the front jacks, by pulling the pin and lowering it two inches as you use the bottle jack to raise the unit.

Everybody wanna hear the truth, but everybody tell a lie.  Everybody wanna go to Heaven, but nobody want to die.  Albert King

 

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This may sound stupid but desperate times call for desperate measures. Do you have or have access to an air compressor? If so can you deflate the rear tires of the truck a bit? It would buy you a few inches. I'm not talking flat but maybe half??

 

Can you figure out where the wheels will be when hooked up and dig out a rut to back into and under the hitch?

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One old jack worked and u-bolted on a harbor freight jack on other side.

 

Got it on the truck, but one tire flatter than I thought (tall grass) and derimmed when I pulled forward.!

 

Gave up for the day. Have it sitting on stabilizer.

 

So now should I swap out tires for 16" since I probably should buy new? Has 7.00-15 on it and will ride a little up hill even with 16s. Figured I might gain 1.5" is all.

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I don't understand why you need a welder?

 

All loading gear on a fiver are bolted on, using a large U-bolt secured with standard hex nuts.

 

There are weld joints on the support beam but these hold the vertical weight. They do not hold the jacks on. If they are broken, you'll need much more than a welder to repair them.

 

You should be able to put blocks under the unit. Then, manually raise the landing pads an inch or two. This will enable you to remove the jacks. Reverse the procedure to install the new ones. To manually raise the landing gear, they should have given you a crank. If you have no crank, use a power drill or a manual wrench.

 

Why do you need a welder?

- Ken

RVing since 1983. Now Full-timing.

5er: 2010 Dutchmen Grand Junction 340RL

PV: 2014 Dodge 3500 Diesel 4x4 SRW

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