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To jack or not to jack that is the question

R

Rubix

I have seen in our local caravan acessories shop a jack that comes with a bracket that you bolt to the caravan chassis and the jack then attaches to that bracket.

Does anyone have any experience with these ?

Our outfit has a Miro of 900 Kg and a MTLPM of 1200 Kg, and I tried lifting it with a scissor jack and it struggled. I have seen that some scissor jacks only have a max lift of 1000 Kg.

My only concern is that will jacking with this twist the chassis as it isn't lifting it under the axle. The chassis is not an ALKO (I think it is a BRP/BRM or something like that)
 
Hi Rubix,

I have an Alko jack on my BPW chassis, but the chasis was pre-drilled to take it. It works well and is now the second van i have had it on. Previously I used a sissor jack but it was rated for 2000kg, as you rightly say some have a much lower limit, especially those aimed at small cars. Jacking with a sissor jack should ususally be done on the chassis at the stengthening plate where the the axle is mounted, not on the axle tube itself.

Hope this helps.

Alan
 
We use a jack called Trail-A-Mate which also has brackets attached to the chassis but they come right out to the side of the caravan for extra safety.
 
Hi Rubix

Relative to an ordinary scissor type jack, the Kojack unit is heavy. Although it may be easy to use, can you justify the extra weight given how often you are likely to use it? The supplied Alko jack lifts our twin axle van easily. I can't see that it offers enough over standard items to justify buying it
 
hello Rubix,i use a telescopic bottle jack,rated at 2000kg.this came from an iveco daily.fully retracted its about 6" in total height.it fits perfectly under the trailing arms of the van next to the tyres.
 
Hi Seth,

Even at 6" it would not fit under my van with a flat tyre, once down on the rim it will not be much over 4" so for others considering this suggestion make sure you have enough space when the tyre is flat.
 
Hi Rubix,

I have a manual bottle jack that is standard with my Terrano, but I also carry a "bag" jack which is a big vinal bag that fixies via a long pipe onto the tail pipe of your car and is blown up by your exhaust gasses.

Peter
 
Hello Rubix,

The strength of a caravan (which is not much at the best of times) is created by the combination of the stiffness in the superstructure and the chassis. Lifting the chassis at any point other than the axle will stress the structure, and may cause permanent twisting.

You should consult the caravan manufacture about the use of the bracket system.

As for the durability of the jack: It is rated to 1000Kg, and provided it has been designed with good engineering principals, it should have a respectable safety margin.

Your caravan may weigh 1200Kg in total but as the jack would never be the sole point of lift, the jack will never see the whole weight of the caravan, because the other points of contact with ground will be taking a proportion of the load.

It is very unlikely in the extreme that a 1200Kg caravan would over load the 1000Kg jack.
 
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