Changing a Tire on your dual axle MFI trailer

[Ronnie]

Here is a pic of the bottle jack I bought to replace the trailer aide, I already tested fitted it and found that is the perfect width and height to place between the tire and under the leaf spring joint. I had a bad ass time changing that tire in March and ended up using both the the wedge and a small bottle jack to make it happen, don't ever want to come up short like that again.

 

[jawsf16]

The scissor jack that came with my F150 is perfect for the boat too...

 

[Raphael]

I like it!

 

[maboat]

I was thinking more along the lines of a blowout on the road. I'm not convinced my truck jack would work, which begs the question, maybe I just need a better jack for my truck. I've put my trailer completely on jack stands before and you need a really high floor jack to get everything up in the air. There is a lot of flex in the springs of each trailer axle.

I don't understand the problem. If you have a blowout, you only need to jack up one wheel. You don't need to jack up the whole side. Same as with your truck. You don't need to jack up the whole side just to change one tire. Your truck jack should be just fine. What am I missing here?

 

[Ronnie]

The wheels on the trailer are very close together (notice that a single fender covers both of them) compared to a tow vehicle. Each axle has its own leaf spring but they are linked at the center between the wheels. As a result when one wheel is lifted the other one comes up, although not as much, as well. Since The trailer rails are relatively high. A standard jack may not be tall enough. So assuming it is not, what is the best alternative?

The trailer aid elevates the good tire and suspends the flat one a few inches off the ground. The one I had slipped and was a little too low. It looks like the bottle jack will work well for me if i use the point the leafs springs meet at as my jack point. This point is a lot lower than the bottom of the rail but higher than the bottom of a leaf spring. A floor jack would work but can be a lot to carry around.

 

[txav8r]

I don't think those lifts will work. You better try it out. I know for a fact that 3 inches of lift with 2 2x6's won't work. I made a ramp for Danny and Cheryl to take with them when they bought my boat. I started with 4 2x6's and added another one...it wasn't enough and that is a 7.5" lift!!! Your going to have to jack the axle your changing the tire on, because they are not fixed axles...they are on springs and somewhat independent.

 

[cybuch]

The last blow out I had was on the freeway and I used my stock truck jack, no problem. Even uses the stock tire iron. Its a 2007 Chevy Silverado 2500HD.

 

[robbo3]

I use a hydraulic bottle jack. It's small and portable.

 

[maboat]

The wheels on the trailer are very close together (notice that a single fender covers both of them) compared to a tow vehicle. Each axle has its own leaf spring but they are linked at the center between the wheels. As a result when one wheel is lifted the other one comes up, although not as much, as well. Since The trailer rails are relatively high. A standard jack may not be tall enough. So assuming it is not, what is the best alternative?

I still think you're doing this the hard way. You don't have to jack up the whole frame, only the one axle with the flat. Put the jack under the axle, not the frame. Yes, I know the leafs are linked at the center with an equalizer, but it pivots and you CAN lift one axle enough to change a tire without lifting the adjacent wheel off the ground.

The last blow out I had was on the freeway and I used my stock truck jack, no problem. Even uses the stock tire iron. Its a 2007 Chevy Silverado 2500HD.

Exactly! Done this several times myself. No special jacks needed.

 

[txav8r]

The last blow out I had was on the freeway and I used my stock truck jack, no problem. Even uses the stock tire iron. Its a 2007 Chevy Silverado 2500HD.

@cybuch My stock truck jack on my Silverado 1500 wouldn't even come close to reaching the axle to lift it and give me any extension on the crank. You must have a much different jack or your '05 is a much different trailer. And my stock tire iron isn't 3/4", and that is the lug nut size on my '08 MFI trailer. Well, used to be mine. Got some pics of it?

 

[maboat]

@cybuch My stock truck jack on my Silverado 1500 wouldn't even come close to reaching the axle to lift it and give me any extension on the crank.

There must be something weird going on here because I don't see how that is even possible.

The trailer wheels are 14" and certainly your truck wheels are bigger than that. Which means the truck axle is higher above the ground than the trailer axle. If the truck jack can reach the truck axle, then it certainly should reach the trailer axle which is closer to the ground. What am I missing here?

 

[cybuch]

@cybuch My stock truck jack on my Silverado 1500 wouldn't even come close to reaching the axle to lift it and give me any extension on the crank. You must have a much different jack or your '05 is a much different trailer. And my stock tire iron isn't 3/4", and that is the lug nut size on my '08 MFI trailer. Well, used to be mine. Got some pics of it?

You are correct. My trailer isn't a MFI, I had to have once custom built after my MFI was totaled. I had them build it a little lower so I could fit in shorter places. I will snap some pix next time I am in the garage and have a few minutes

 

[GTBRMC]

I use my Durango's stock scissor jack, which I had carefully driveway tested to ensure it would work when needed.

On 4th of July weekend 2012, I had a blowout right at the Marquette interchange in Milwaukee on a very rare 100 F day.

Jack worked perfectly, but tire iron and just-in-case socket set did not...not enough leverage. So, I left the wife & kids with the boat, unhitched, and found a X handle tire iron that did the trick.

Lesson: when you test your backup plan, test the whole plan, not just the part that concerns you.

Also, I replaced my awful stock bias ply tires with Goodyear Marathon radials...should have done that from the start.

 

[jetboater4life]

I use my Durango's stock scissor jack, which I had carefully driveway tested to ensure it would work when needed.

On 4th of July weekend 2012, I had a blowout right at the Marquette interchange in Milwaukee on a very rare 100 F day.

Jack worked perfectly, but tire iron and just-in-case socket set did not...not enough leverage. So, I left the wife & kids with the boat, unhitched, and found a X handle tire iron that did the trick.

Lesson: when you test your backup plan, test the whole plan, not just the part that concerns you.

Also, I replaced my awful stock bias ply tires with Goodyear Marathon radials...should have done that from the start.

Tires are on my list of upgrades this spring, the insides of my bias plys are bare. I'm surprised one didn't blow on me last year. I will follow through with the entire plan when I get the tools in place.

 

[Ronnie]

I did my test today but forgot to verify that the SUV bottle jack won't work. As I recall, it was too short when I tried last time but I didn't try putting it under the leaf spring/axle point. I have X handle tire iron already as a result of a similar situation to Derick. Also included are pics of my trailer aid. As seen in the pics the wheels are off the ground enough to spin freely so the trailer aid should be high enough to lift the good tire off the ground. Again, I recommend the black (taller one) just to be sure. I plan to carry the bottle jack and X handle tire iron in the boat. Time permitting, I'll buy and install bolts in the trailer aid as well as put hydro turf on the top and bottom of it in an effort to save it. The beauty of the trailer aid is that when it works it is easy to use, just drive up it and down it, in theory.

 

[Gym]

Good thread @jetboater4life . You got me thinking so I just ordered this http://tweetys.com/andersen-manufacturing-3620-rapid-jack.aspx?gclid=CIrOt77t4L0CFUpnOgodBV0AHA Will give you a 6 inch lift only weighs 6 pounds and free shipping. It will fit in my SUV's rear storage compartment with no problem. It's easy enough for my wife to use while I take beer inventory.

 

[Ronnie]

Nice find Gym, it's even cheaper than what I paid for the yellow trailer aid at camping world USA. I think the black one is $10 more at $60. My only concern would be whether it is tall enough. For reference my yellow on is 5.5" tall where the good tire sits in it. It did work but but was easier to get the bad tire off than it was to get the spare on. So I had to deflate the spare tire a little to mount it on the trailer while using the trailer aid.

One possible alternative to using a jack or trailer aid is to park the good tire on top of a curb, at some point the bad tire should be suspended high enough to remove it.

 

[Gym]

Yeah @Ronnie I see what you're saying. I picked up on that from @jetboater4life's initial post showing the two different heights. They claim this one gives a 6 7/8 inch lift but that's probably just before the tipping point. It also will lock your trailer jack wheel to keep you from rolling or give your boat a little more tilt on the trailer to drain water if you're hosing the deck down. Unfortunately, I have a dual wheel jack so I can't use this feature. Here's a couple of demo vids. If you can find a coupon for Tweety's.com you will get it cheaper than I did.

https://www.etrailer.com/Wheel-Chocks/Andersen/AM3620.html

 

[Rigger]

I've got a 20 year old 6 ton bottle jack I throw in for all road trips. I've used it on the MFI and Shorelander trailers.

 

[007]

I do have a bottle jack I throw in the truck sometimes on long road trips. Only flat I have had on the road was behind my Avalanche. The stock scissor jack worked great. Now, what didn't work was the stock lug wrench. Luckily I had my socket set. I have since started carrying a multi socket lug wrench.