Safely Jack Entire Trailer

manyman297

I need to do some bearing and brake maintenance/troubleshooting and it would be easier to have both wheels removed and brakes easily accessible. Is there anything I should be aware of in terms of safety? I’ve jacked one side up before but not the entire thing. Obviously the tongue jack needs to be stabile but is it safe for both wheels to be off the ground at the same time?

AnOldUR

Not an expert, but I don't see any difference between being on the wheels or having both sides on stands under the jack points. After jacking, I'd lower the stabilizers to prevent rocking as you would if you were on the wheels.

WayneW

I do just what you’re suggesting, using jack stands on both sides. If you use standard safety precautions there shouldn’t be a problem. It does make it easier to evenly adjust the brakes. Running the stabilizers down is a good idea. 

fstop32

@manyman297, that's exactly what I did when I had to overhaul my brakes.  I securely chocked the other wheel and because my camper is parked on an ever so slight incline I also tied the tongue jack down for extra safety.  I had 4 heavy duty jack stands and I used two per side, putting one under each wheel at the axle mounting bracket jack point right behind the drum and a second one close to it "just in case" (better safe than squished).  I also used some 6"x6" post chunks (lots of those on a farm) at a couple of places just to catch the camper should something happen.  I too lowered the stabilizers onto 6x6 blocks to help steady the camper if/when I needed to go inside it.  Those were good as stabilizers but I wouldn't trust them to catch the camper if it came off the jack stands (I haven't tested that theory yet 8^).   All that made for a very stable situation and it let me jack it up high enough to do my belly crawl under it to examine everything underneath.  I also didn't use the camper step to enter it, I used a stool.
Pic below shows where I caught the jack point and the 6x6's in the background.

(edit) I should clarify about "chocked the other wheel...", that's what I did when I was jacking and pulling the wheel on the other side.  After getting it on the jack stand and putting blocking I went to the chocked wheel and did the same thing.  I ended up with both wheels up on jack stands at the same time.

manyman297

Thanks for the tips!