Tire Jack...In Order To Hit The Road...Jack!!!!

Om3 · May 2018

Where can the tire jack be found on a T@B 400???
Thanks!

Sharon_is_SAM · May 2018

Is it included? It is not included with the 320s.

Verna · May 2018

It is not included. I keep an 8 ton bottle Jack from Harbor Freight with me. Always remember—no jacks can be placed under the axle! Use the jack under the frame.

Tabaz · May 2018

Also make sure you have a lug wrench that fits the T@B's wheel lugs.

Om3 · May 2018

Thank you...just a thought...with the cost of a T@B 400 ... perhaps that is something that should be considered to be included!

ScottG · May 2018

I know it's a bit heavier, but can the 400 be lifted in the same manner as the 320 using the tongue jack and the rear stabilizers? If so, I highly recommend this approach, as it is much more stable than a single jack under the frame.

TerryV6 · May 2018

Scott, I like to print out procedure lists and info for our camper. On this topic, I've never really done so. I've seen it before in other discussions, but since you brought it up, let me see if I have this right.

1. Tire goes flat. (of course this has to be number 1)
2. Get out or make ready your spare tire and your lug wrenches.
3. Loosen lug nuts on flat tire.
4. Crank down the tongue jack.
5. Crank down stabilizers on the front and back of the flat tire side.
6. Remove flat and replace with a good tire. Hand tighten lugnuts.
7. Lower jack and stabilizers and tighten lugnuts with your lugwrench.

(Now that procedure seems to be for when the camper is not connected to the TV.)
I would assume with it connected, just the stabilizers would work? I do have a bottle jack and so could use this too. You mentioned just the rear stabilizer....or is it both back stabilizers and not the front one. (Scratches head vigorously)

1a. Do not get a flat.....

ScottG · May 2018

Not quite, @TerryV6. You can use the stabilizers to hold the camper up, but they should not be used for actual lifting. Try this--note that you do have to unhook the trailer to employ this method:

Safely detach trailer from T/V (if applicable).
Lower tongue as far as possible with tongue jack.
Lower both rear stabilizers until they make contact with the ground.
Raise the tongue with the tongue jack. With the rear of the camper supported by the stabilizers, the wheels should come up high enough to clear the ground.

Of course, as you said NOT getting a flat is always the best first line of defense, but I've found this approach also works well for greasing axles and other wheel maintenance tasks. I do advise using jack stands (and maybe even deploying the front stabilizers) for insurance if you are going to be working under the trailer.

I expect to be greasing the hubs this week so I'll try to take and post a photo of the T@B elevated in this manner.

In hindsight, I do realize that having to unhook the trailer probably negates the convenience of this method for a roadside repair, and in some cases might actually be less safe. In such instances, I'd probably first try my truck's scissors jack under the frame behind the wheel with the flat.

Back the OP... I'm not suggesting this would work for the 400 model. Check your manual (if available) or float the question directly to nuCamp.

TerryV6 · May 2018

My wife says we will call Good Sams.... ( problem solved)

Luckyj · May 2018

Perso, I would only lift one side of the trailer at a time. Keeping one tire on the ground and use the rear stab on the side I want to lift and the lifting power of the front tongue jack.

Tabaz · May 2018

Verna - I bought a bottle jack from Harbor Freight and carried it with me for a year. Decided to see if it actually worked one day and it was defective.

Sharon_is_SAM · May 2018

We tested ours this spring lubing the bearings. Good reminder for people to check it before travel.

Verna · May 2018

@Tabaz, I carried a scissor jack for two years and found it was too short to use on my Silver Shadow Teardrop when I had a tire blow. That’s when I got the bottle jack and mine got a workout!

Two new tires and a spare, take one off, take it to have the tire replaced and balanced, take off a tire, put the newly balanced tire in its place, do the next one, and finally put the new spare on the tongue. Tiring, but I got a lot of practice changing tires.

ScottG · May 2018

Luckyj said:

Perso, I would only lift one side of the trailer at a time. Keeping one tire on the ground and use the rear stab on the side I want to lift and the lifting power of the front tongue jack.

You could do this and still get the same stable "tripod effect" as using both rear stabilizers. However, tilting the trailer in this manner would likely put a little sideways force on the stabilizer, and I'm not sure it's well designed to handle that.

TerryV6 · May 2018

Anyone have a picture of where they place their bottle jack?

ScottG · May 2018

I don't have a photo, but here's the description from the original (2012) owner's manual:

• Elevate the camper by positioning jacks under the frame 12” to 20” behind the axle. Use the jack stands under the frame to support the camper any time it is elevated.

The manual also covers the tire changing procedure I described previously.

ScottG · May 2018

Here's the approximate jack location on the T@B frame. The photo is taken from behind the wheel. I suspect the reason they say 12-20" behind the axle is to get behind the oval cutout in the frame. I would not put my jack under that cutout.

Note that the bottom of the frame in this location is not perfectly horizontal, not is it very wide. I would use extra caution jacking here (especially with a bottle jack) to ensure the trailer doesn't slip off the jack, or the jack doesn't tip.

The second photo shows the trailer lifted with only the tongue jack and the rear stabilizers. It's a little hard to see in the shadows but the front stabilizers are retracted, and the wheels are off the ground. Both the rear stabilizers and the tongue jack are almost fully extended.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021717/uploads/editor/ir/z7gabu59bpep.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021717/uploads/editor/v5/kdo6vd1u28qo.jpg

TerryV6 · May 2018

"The manual also covers the tire changing procedure I described previously"

I have indeed read the whole manual at some point in the last couple of years... Plus, many other user manuals for the various and sundry items I have purchased for our "inexpensive" hobby. I'm only 66, and I learn a new thing every day. What can be frustrating is forgetting two others. Some of my questions only became questions as I read thru these discussions. Thus, like one of my nephews when he was 3 would say, How does that work?

TerryV6 · May 2018

Thanks Scott for the help. I will read more, thus have fewer questions.... <--- does that even work?

2nd grade teacher: Mrs VanDomelen, your boy Terry appears to have a low retention level. .. We might have to hold him back a year or two. I see though from his kindergarten records, he scored well in nap time.

Luckyj · May 2018

ScottG said:

Luckyj said:

Perso, I would only lift one side of the trailer at a time. Keeping one tire on the ground and use the rear stab on the side I want to lift and the lifting power of the front tongue jack.

You could do this and still get the same stable "tripod effect" as using both rear stabilizers. However, tilting the trailer in this manner would likely put a little sideways force on the stabilizer, and I'm not sure it's well designed to handle that.

In a flat tire sotuation, I dought that you will be on perfectly level ground. So you will be lifting with sideway force anyway on something that is not ment to normaly suport the load of the trailer. So just follow the direction and put the load on stabelizer. But you could only put less that a third on the only one you use, since the cg would go toward the tire on the ground.

but yep, go a head and follod direction. This is what is nice with a forum, we can exchange on ideas and than take our own decision.

ScottG · May 2018

You're too funny @TerryV6. No worries though--I had to go confirm that info in the manual myself, lest my own lack of retention leads me to say something totally false.

Actually I finding more and more that the problem isn't so much retaining memories of things that did happen, but rather clearly remembering things that didn't! :-)

ScottG · May 2018

Luckyj said:
...

In a flat tire sotuation, I dought that you will be on perfectly level ground. So you will be lifting with sideway force anyway on something that is not ment to normaly suport the load of the trailer. So just follow the direction and put the load on stabelizer. But you could only put less that a third on the only one you use, since the cg would go toward the tire on the ground.

but yep, go a head and follod direction. This is what is nice with a forum, we can exchange on ideas and than take our own decision.

No argument from me, Luckyj. If I were in a situation where I actually had to change a tire on the side of the road, I would choose the approach that seemed best given the particular situation. If I were on uneven ground I would probably opt for the security of leaving the trailer hooked to the tow vehicle and use a separate jack to lift the trailer frame. In the yard when I'm greasing bearings the tongue-jack-and-stabilizers method works great and gets both wheels off the ground. The stabilizers are more than adequate to support their part of the load in this application.

dsfdogs · May 2018

@TerryV6 I do have a picture from Creed at nuCamp about where to place the jack, for a 2018. I do have that "ledge" on mine, but it does not give me confidence to place a bottle jack there as it's narrow.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021717/uploads/editor/h4/eaay12kbub4a.png

BrianZ · May 2018

@dsfdogs, this photo appears to conflict with @ScottG's instructions to place the jack 12-20" behind the wheel. The circled area appears to be in front of the wheel.

ScottG · May 2018

@dfsdogs, that's interesting you were told this by the factory. I've eyeballed that location on my 2015 many times thinking it looked like a better jack point than the on the frame behind the wheel. It appears to be a part of the frame to which the axle is attached--or maybe part of the axle mounting assembly itself--though I haven't inspected it all that closely.

I should also note that the newer (2017) owner's manual makes no mention (at least that I can find) of how to jack the trailer or change the tire. I don't know if that's an oversight or something intentionally left out (perhaps for liability reasons).

On the newer models with the enclosed underbelly, it looks like jacking on the frame behind the axle could damage the plastic sheeting.

Verna · May 2018

There is actually a very small (to me) flat area on the axle next to the tire, (as I’ve been told) where some dealers tell you a jack can be placed without damaging the axle. This appears to be the area Creed has circled.

I have not agreed with using this small area because of the likelihood of owners ignoring the small flat area and using the axle itself for their jack.

Dalehelman · May 2018

The first thing I would do is move to a safe level solid location. Then proceed with the stabilizer tongue jack method. For me not carrying a jack is just one less thing to store.

dvgibson · May 2018

I have just been through the 2017 manual for the T@B 400 and did not find anything on how to change a flat. And as ScottG notes, the underbelly is enclosed, so where do you put a jack if needed? (The only time I have had to change a flat (blow out) on a camping trailer was on a very dark and lonely small gravel road late at night on the way to a campground to which we were way too late getting to in Oklahoma. I want to be prepared.)

BrianZ · May 2018

Hard to believe there is nothing in the newer models' manuals about something so basic & so essential as how to change a tire. 😟

dsfdogs · May 2018

@BrianZ and @ScottG, you are right, the picture from Creed is different, but the underbelly looks different too. That is why I asked him specifically for a picture with an arrow telling me exactly where to put a jack. After looking at pictures from others and crawling under the trailer, I couldn't figure it out. And yes, I too thought if I tried to use the frame it would smash the plastic sheeting, which looks like cardboard. And yes, the 2017 manual no longer suggests the "stabilizer" method. And, that video that showed putting the jack under stabilizer pad has been removed.

Since the manual is vague, I asked for clarification, and specifically asked which method they suggest. (It could be @Dalehelman they no longer recommend the stabilizer method as too many people did it wrong and ruined the stabilizers)?

Here is the verbiage I received, prior to receiving the picture diagram:
"For jacking up your trailer I always recommend mounting the jack at the strongest point of the frame – which is right behind the wheel because this is where the axle and the frame are connected.

This will be the strongest and safest place to mount your jack – there should also be a nice flat platform to mount your jack there as well."

I printed out the picture to have with me (to give the Good Sam tire changer person)!

Dalehelman · May 2018

@dsfdogs
It is still a very effective way to service brakes and tires if you know what you are doing.

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Tire Jack...In Order To Hit The Road...Jack!!!!

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