Jacking up trailer

[danedubr]

I know that where to jack from this has been discussed before and I have an Imagine and usually just place the jack under the axle between the U-bolts for changing a tire.

But if I needed to jack the trailer up, for example to work on the suspension, and wanted to jack it up from the frame and then place jack stands, where would you put the jack or jack stands. I'm asking this because all of the bottom of the frame has the coroplast screwed to it. Do you just put a piece of wood over the coroplast? How do you prevent mashing the coroplast and damaging it?

[danedubr]

Answered my own question. Owners manual for Imagine said to jack up trailer as close as possible spring perch (I call them hangers) on frame. So I used a 6 ton jack with a 4 inch wood block centered on the frame. Coroplast compressed a little but was not damaged at all. I put the jack behind the rear axle and jacked up rear tire. A few more jacks of the handle actually lifted the front wheel also. I must have been over thinking it. On an Imagine, there is a square reinforcing tube welded to the I beam that the spring hangers are welded to. If you put the jack in front of the front wheel its hard to get the jack on the square tube because of propane line attachment on one side and plumbing stuff on the other side. I could get the jack behind the rear wheel much closer to the rear spring perch if I relocate one of the bolts for the coroplast and I might do that. So right now the plan is to jack up behind the rear spring perch for changing either rear or front tire. I noticed that even hardwood was cut into with the hydraulic jack so I made a hardwood block and screwed some mending plates from Lowes onto the block. I don't trust jacking from the axle between the U bolts because I am already having issues with bent axles so I don't trust the 2 3/8" Dexter axle tubes.

[danedubr]

Answered my own question ( I guess). Owners manual for Imagine said to jack up trailer as close as possible to spring perch on frame. From what I understand, the spring perch is the curved thing welded to the axle that the center of the springs attach to at the axle, so how can you get a jack on the frame? The springs are in the way. So the closest place on the frame would be behind or in front of a hanger. So I used a 6 ton jack with a 4 inch wood block centered on the frame. Coroplast compressed a little but was not damaged at all. I put the jack behind the rear axle hanger and jacked up rear tire. A few more jacks of the handle actually lifted the front wheel also. On an Imagine, there is a square reinforcing tube welded to the I beam that the hangers are welded to. If you put the jack in front of the front axle its hard to get the jack on the square tube because of propane line attachment on one side and plumbing stuff on the other side. I could get the jack behind the rear wheel much closer to the rear hanger if I relocate one of the bolts for the coroplast and I might do that. So right now the plan is to jack up behind the rear hanger for changing either rear or front tire. I noticed that even hardwood was cut into with the hydraulic jack ram so I made a hardwood block and screwed some metal mending plates from Lowes onto the block. I don't trust jacking from the axle between the U bolts because I am already having issues with bent axles so I don't trust the 2 3/8" Dexter axle tubes. I wish the manual would be clearer since it appears to be a contradiction on jacking up from the frame near the spring perch.

[danedubr]

See correction below. I can't delete a post.