Jacking up a caravan safely

[Steve Mc]

Hi everyone,

I need to get my caravan tyres replaced. To do this I need to jack up my caravan to take the wheels off. I have a trolley jack and two axle stands. My caravan is a single axle, two berth, year 2000 Abbey 216. The problem is the caravan is in storage and the ground is very soft, there is nothing underneath the caravan to locate the trolley jack into. My last attempt resulted in the axle stands slowly sinking into the soft ground as I lifted the caravan up to get the axle stands out, as the trolley jack does not lift up in a straight upward only mottion. Thankfully no damage was done. Should I locate the axle stands under the axle itself or the chassis members that run from front to back and should I fit the trolley jack beneath the axle or the chassis?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[Robtel]

Hi Steve,

What about using pieces of wood underneath the trolley jack and axle stands to help spread the load.

I use a length of wood under my own trolley jack when on some gravel or grass pitches although they wouldn't appear to be as soft ground as your storage area

Robert

 

[JTQ]

Faced with a similar problem I had to couple up and tow onto hard ground, then jack up with the van still coupled. Used a friends car to take wheels to the tyre depot.

A bit of a *** but safety was my top priority.

 

[TD42]

using a trolley jack,If you have not got ALKO jacking points then only jack under the axle if you do not you are likely to damage or twist the chassis. A couple of 12"squares of 8 ply for under the axle stands should prevent them sinking in & a length of scaffold board will allow the trolley jack to lift in a vertical movement

only use the axle stands & trolley jack under the axle , use the van steadys only to do just that& not support any weight

 

[xtrailman]

I prefer to jack on the chassis at the tube end with bottle jack or trolley jack. In the past i have supported the van over winter on the larger type breeze blocks interfaced with wood abd rubber sheet to stop any damage to the galvanising.

A block a each end of the axle.

Also i would lower the corner steadies and as suggested use wood packers underneath, or again breese blocks.

 

[Steve Mc]

Thanks for your advice. I have now jacked one side up and fitted an axle stand underneath the axle, on the inside of the chassis. I started to jack the other side up but I felt that it was too unstable with both wheels off the ground, meaning the handbrake would not help to stabilise the van and I was concerned that because of the way in which the trolley jack lifts, that it could pull the van off the axle stand.

I had to lift the van worryingly high to get the axle stand under, it wasn't helped by the wheels being in a rut in the soft ground and I was uncomfortable lying under the van trying to get the axle stand stood on the piece of wood, underneath the axle even with the wheel under the chassis to support the van if the jack failed.

Tomorrow I'll do the other side, then it's off to Low Wood Club Site on Friday.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[GrahamSouthBrum]

I have only had to replace one tyre on the van that was damaged.

I towed the van to a tyre depot and by leaving the van attached to the car for stability let them jack the van up

 

[hgv dave]

i have a set of winter wheels for my van..........i jack up the van with a trolly jack using a sheet of old plywood i keep in the shed just for that job and then lower the winter wheels on 2 pieces of wood i keep for the winter wheels to spread the load of the van

just a thought,have you thought about buying an air jack? its a bag that uses car exhaust gases to inflate the bag,you might need to use car mats to protect the bag from the underside of the van but i belive it might be a solution to your problems

hgv dave

 

[otherclive]

I fully agree with the advice that you have been given but I also place chocks or blocks araound the nosewheel to ensure that if the van should start to rotate/move it is restricted by the lack of nosewheel movement. Bit like keeping the van hitched to the car.