Jacking/Blocking & Brake Adjustment

[frozen]

For tire or bearing service, why fuss with jacks and wondering where to put them when it's so easy to raise one wheel off the ground by pulling its mate up on blocks. Of course that means working on one at a time.

[Scotty]

The pull up on blocks effort works on TTs and 5ers with the two axles close together. I even purchased a Andersen jack block for this purpose when I purchased my Hemi. The Hemi has the extended length axles (roughly 17" between wheels) or what it ever they call it. Pulling up on blocks does nothing to lift other wheel. Oh well, so much for that idea.

[MrT]

Okay, today was the day to tackle the job. I learned some good stuff that confirmed what some of you said... In particular, the unit will shift a bit under jacking motions and stresses. I would have been foolish at minimum to try and lift all 4 wheels at once. Someone also suggested keeping the trailer hitched to the TV while performing the maintenance. I agree that would have provided more security, but wasn't practical for me as the truck was needed to trot the wheels to the store. Oh, and if you haven't tried it, you should drag a floor jack around in crushed stone sometime. Anyway, we are now sporting a new set of Goodyear Marathons which were manufactured about 90 days ago.

[fonzie]

Good feedback....

[MrT]

Originally Posted by frozen

For tire or bearing service, why fuss with jacks and wondering where to put them when it's so easy to raise one wheel off the ground by pulling its mate up on blocks. Of course that means working on one at a time.

In an ideal world, I agree! Someone else talked about doing one at a time as well. Problem is... I needed to throw the wheel/tire in the bed, and drive to the tire dealer. That means four trips instead of two. To be transparent, this was a pretty physical day, so perhaps a little more driving would have been a nice trade for elbow grease.

[MrT]

Originally Posted by ColoradoRick

Thanks for this thread...I'll, also, be doing this in a few months when I will be replacing my tires with Maxxis. (I thought about towing it to the Discount Tire folks and let them jack it up but, to be honest, I'm not comfortable with that.)

I'll, also, just do one side at and time and, while it's up, go ahead and lube my axles.

Rick, I generally use Discount Tire in the greater Grand Rapids, MI area with very good results over many years. Problem is... my preferred store has an impossibly steep drive (what were they thinking), that really precludes any trailer work. Other local stores have better lots, but they weren't interested in providing Good Marathons. Weird.

Ancecdotally, I have a Belle Tire (another Midwest chain) very near my home and I used them for a failed tire replacement. Their tech was about to jack under my torsion axle tube when I said "stop" (or something equivalent), and touched the handle of his floor jack. In retrospect, that was my mistake, but the guy went ballistic. We sorted it out, but I won't go back.

Good karma on your upcoming maintenance. Be safe!