Lifting one side of 3 axle 5 wheel

[moppie14]

When lifting one side of fith wheel trailer to change tire or lube wet bolts when using manual mode what position are the front landing jacks in. what is best method to do this properly?

[Capt Jim]

The front jacks will adjust to the tip of the trailer. I have done this many times for tire changes and service. BUT...if you plan to reach or be under the trailer, use jack stands for safety. I prefer to be hitched to the truck to prevent any chance of movement. There are those who will say not to do this, but the leveling jacks are capable of lifting more than three times the trailer's weight (based on Lippert's spec for their lift cylinders).

Safe Travels.

Jim

[JCR GD]

No problems here either. I do ground the jacks on the opposite side so the weight isn't all transferred to the springs on the other side.

[Second Chance]

... I prefer to be hitched to the truck to prevent any chance of movement...Jim

Leaving the trailer on the truck with my PullRite OE hitch would damage the hitch head and jaw latching mechanism. I learned this early on when I tried to manually level front-to-back for one-nighters. The upward and twisting forces of the pin flange on the jaw latching mechanism bent and eventually broke parts and the hitch had to be repaired.

Rob

[Capt Jim]

Leaving the trailer on the truck with my PullRite OE hitch would damage the hitch head and jaw latching mechanism. I learned this early on when I tried to manually level front-to-back for one-nighters. The upward and twisting forces of the pin flange on the jaw latching mechanism bent and eventually broke parts and the hitch had to be repaired.

Rob

Sorry to hear you had that problem, Rob. I too, have a PullRite (20k, fixed) and for five years I have used the Hyd. jacks for service and a tire change and
have several times done minor leveling when staying hooked up for a one-righter. No problems so far, but I take your point. Exceeding the normal free play in the hitch head can certainly damage the jaw mechanism. I should have mentioned that in my original reply.

Safe Travels.

Jim

[Overtaxed]

Sorry to hear you had that problem, Rob. I too, have a PullRite (20k, fixed) and for five years I have used the Hyd. jacks for service and a tire change and
have several times done minor leveling when staying hooked up for a one-righter. No problems so far, but I take your point. Exceeding the normal free play in the hitch head can certainly damage the jaw mechanism. I should have mentioned that in my original reply.

Safe Travels.

Jim

Good reason to have a Goosebox. I'm sure it's possible to overextend a ball connection too, but you'd have to really work at it, I'm not sure the trailer wouldn't flip over first.

[D2Reid]

While I have a good deal of trust in my 5th wheel frame I don't have enough trust to twist it. So I keep it as level as humanly possible. When working on wheels etc. I lift the whole thing as evenly as possible.

I place 4x4 blocks under each jack, take it off the truck. Then using manual mode I lift the trailer alternating the controls so each one lifts the trailer a little bit at a time until they are fully extended. This doesn't always lift the RV wheels off the ground, but it does take 90% of the weight off. Since blocking the wheels would become ineffective at this stage I don't do it. I make sure I am on level ground. Then the jack stands go under for safety. Then I raise the individual wheel that I am working on just enough to get the tire off.

These 5th wheel trailer systems are not as robust as most trailer systems. IMHO you can't be horsing them around very much.