glider trailer Q

what kind of jack do you carry along for when you need to change a flat
tire? I have a good spare tire but no jack.

any nuggets of knowledge about changing trailer tires by the side of the
road?

thanks,
Ken

"Ken Ward" wrote in message
...
what kind of jack do you carry along for when you need to change a flat
tire? I have a good spare tire but no jack.

Your car jack may do just fine, but odds are that your lug wrench won't
fit. For a lug wrench, buy yourself a star wrench at any auto parts store and
mount it somewhere on the trailer out of the way. If your car jack (probably
scissors type) is not up to the job, hydraulic bottle jacks are amazingly cheap,
or visit any junkyard.

Vaughn

Vaughn Simon wrote:
"Ken Ward" wrote in message
...
what kind of jack do you carry along for when you need to change a flat
tire? I have a good spare tire but no jack.

Your car jack may do just fine, but odds are that your lug wrench won't
fit. For a lug wrench, buy yourself a star wrench at any auto parts store and
mount it somewhere on the trailer out of the way. If your car jack (probably
scissors type) is not up to the job, hydraulic bottle jacks are amazingly cheap,
or visit any junkyard.

Be absolutely certain the jack will do the job when the tire is flat. A
bottle jack will not work on many trailers with a flat tire, though they
might work fine when the tire is full of air. The axle and trailer side
may be too close to the ground. My trailer needs a scissors jack - got
one for $2 at a yard sale.

--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA

www.motorglider.org - Download "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane
Operation"

some auto parts suppliers may have a crescent shaped "lifter" of sorts, I
cannot remember the name right now.. but you put the "short side" under the
axel and then roll forward about 1/3rd the revolution, the increasing
diameter of the "tool" lifts the axel enough to remove the tire..

this may not work with trailers whose axel is close to the bed,
personally I keep a small floor jack in my truck (Ranger), I have used and
do not trust scissor jacks or small bottle jacks to lift my truck when on a
sloping shoulder that may be soft.

BT

"Eric Greenwell" wrote in message
news:XLnIg.34637$NF3.8285@trnddc05...
Vaughn Simon wrote:
"Ken Ward" wrote in message
...
what kind of jack do you carry along for when you need to change a flat
tire? I have a good spare tire but no jack.

Your car jack may do just fine, but odds are that your lug wrench
won't fit. For a lug wrench, buy yourself a star wrench at any auto
parts store and mount it somewhere on the trailer out of the way. If
your car jack (probably scissors type) is not up to the job, hydraulic
bottle jacks are amazingly cheap, or visit any junkyard.

Be absolutely certain the jack will do the job when the tire is flat. A
bottle jack will not work on many trailers with a flat tire, though they
might work fine when the tire is full of air. The axle and trailer side
may be too close to the ground. My trailer needs a scissors jack - got one
for $2 at a yard sale.

--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA

www.motorglider.org - Download "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane
Operation"

When I was in the army as a medic (truck) driver we had a similar
problem when changing tires. The travel of the jack was not long enough
to raise the axle to such a heigth that the spare tire woukld fit. So
what you did was take the spare tire (or the wooden benches that were
inside these trucks) drive on top of it, screw the jack upto it's
heightest under the axle and then start pumping the jack. You could do
the same with the trailer. It's a bit of a strange way but hey you are
in an emergency!

Diederik
Eric Greenwell schreef:


Be absolutely certain the jack will do the job when the tire is flat. A
bottle jack will not work on many trailers with a flat tire, though they
might work fine when the tire is full of air. The axle and trailer side
may be too close to the ground. My trailer needs a scissors jack - got
one for $2 at a yard sale.

I have a small telecsopic hydraulic jack in my trailer. It has maybe 15 cm
of travel, so I also have a small block of wood onto which I put the jack to
make sure that I won't have "dead travel". Works well, is simple and small.
In case I have to add a second bock of wood, I also carry a small stand
which comes in handy when I have to adjust the brakes - I don't like to rob
underneath a trailor hoping that those hydraulic seals won't break down :-)

wrote in message
ups.com...
When I was in the army as a medic (truck) driver we had a similar
problem when changing tires. The travel of the jack was not long enough
to raise the axle to such a heigth that the spare tire woukld fit. So
what you did was take the spare tire (or the wooden benches that were
inside these trucks) drive on top of it, screw the jack upto it's
heightest under the axle and then start pumping the jack. You could do
the same with the trailer. It's a bit of a strange way but hey you are
in an emergency!

Diederik
Eric Greenwell schreef:


Be absolutely certain the jack will do the job when the tire is flat. A
bottle jack will not work on many trailers with a flat tire, though they
might work fine when the tire is full of air. The axle and trailer side
may be too close to the ground. My trailer needs a scissors jack - got
one for $2 at a yard sale.

On the hydraulic bottle jacks I have used, the top of the ram screws out to
extend upward, usually enough to eliminate the need for most other blocks.

John

"Bert Willing" wrote in message
...
I have a small telecsopic hydraulic jack in my trailer. It has maybe 15 cm
of travel, so I also have a small block of wood onto which I put the jack
to make sure that I won't have "dead travel". Works well, is simple and
small. In case I have to add a second bock of wood, I also carry a small
stand which comes in handy when I have to adjust the brakes - I don't like
to rob underneath a trailor hoping that those hydraulic seals won't break
down :-)

wrote in message
ups.com...
When I was in the army as a medic (truck) driver we had a similar
problem when changing tires. The travel of the jack was not long enough
to raise the axle to such a heigth that the spare tire woukld fit. So
what you did was take the spare tire (or the wooden benches that were
inside these trucks) drive on top of it, screw the jack upto it's
heightest under the axle and then start pumping the jack. You could do
the same with the trailer. It's a bit of a strange way but hey you are
in an emergency!

Diederik
Eric Greenwell schreef:


Be absolutely certain the jack will do the job when the tire is flat. A
bottle jack will not work on many trailers with a flat tire, though they
might work fine when the tire is full of air. The axle and trailer side
may be too close to the ground. My trailer needs a scissors jack - got
one for $2 at a yard sale.

"Ken Ward"
any nuggets of knowledge about changing trailer tires by the side of the
road?
thanks,
Ken

The big problem for me was that the !$%! spindle on the trailer axle with
the lug studs. It would rotate so the holes wouldn't line upevery time I
lifted the spare wheel in an attempt to mount it. Any attempt to rotate
very heavy wheel would nudge the spindle so it stayed out of alignment.
There's no way to hold the wheel in mid-air with one arm while reaching
around to spin the spindle into alignment with the other hand.

The solution was the ultimate handyman fix...duct tape. I taped the spindle
so it wouldn't turn until I got the wheel on the studs.

In addition to duct tape, a good jack and lug wrench, have a good supply of
bottled water. This is a sweaty job.

Bill D

Ken Ward wrote:
what kind of jack do you carry along for when you need to change a flat
tire? I have a good spare tire but no jack.

any nuggets of knowledge about changing trailer tires by the side of the
road?

Make sure that a mechanic with an air wrench has not over-tightened the
lug nuts such that you won't be able to get them off. (This goes for
your tow vehicle as well.) Guess why I mention this. My "strong-arm"
teenage son was able to break the lug-nut wrench, but the nuts stayed
tight.

-Doug

Ken Ward wrote:
what kind of jack do you carry along for when you need to change a flat
tire? I have a good spare tire but no jack.

any nuggets of knowledge about changing trailer tires by the side of the
road?

thanks,
Ken
Try to avoid the whole experience...