jacks

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Be careful what you wish for Whippy. It might not work out as expected.

Hi. A couple of points on this. I have the ordinary scissor jack that came with the camper. It really groans and requires lots of effort to lift the camper-I tried it on the drive at home. I also have a 3 ton hydraulic jack but it unnerves me to use it- it sits uncomfortably on the jacking point, and as you jack it up the jack is 'sucked' in as it raises the camper. Try it if you have a hydraulic trolley-jack and see what I mean. Basically as the riser goes up it loses length for height, and the trolley jack moves in further under the camper. I was going to lock the wheels but I realised this would have the effect of forcing the trolley jack to pull away from the camper jacking point! So I now have a 6 ton hydraulic jack, and I got a friend to put a metal Nipple on top of it to sit in the jacking point. Works well, but if I get a puncture the camper will be a couple of inches lower, so I expect I will have to drive the puncture side of the camper up on to a leveller to get the necessary clearance to get the lowered jack in place. I am not looking forward to the exercise on a motorway.
Regarding calling the AA, I believe they will not lift anything over 3.5 tonnes.?? Any views on this. I am in the AA for many years.
Getting the spare wheel of the carrier takes about 8 minutes. I had to oil the carrier bolts before I could lower the carrier, so now I check it every now and then.
Frank

Does anyone know what the Dolmen policy says about punctures as the breakdown cover afaik doesn't have any restrictions

My Motorhome is 5 tonne and a sizzor jack was the jack that came with her to use for changing wheels I did not try or even think about using it to lift my Motorhome with. I bought a 10 ton bottle jack and made a few extra bits to sit unto the front and rear chassis legs that fits on the top of the bottle jack so that the jack will sit still when the weight of the van is on it Thankfully I have not had to use it yet but I have the confidence to know that it works well when required . My spare wheel is held on the rear panel under a cover so there are no seized bolts to worry about either . I think a bottle jack would be the proper jack to use but always remember to use your handbrake or wheel chocks to keep the vehicle from moving while it's off the ground .

How big is that Jack? Do you tow it behind the Motorhome ?

Sounds like you have a multistory motorhome, did you buy that one at 2million then jack

It must be because they don't have the faith in one floor so they out a second one in just in case

10 t trolley jack is a monster and you wouldn't lift it on your own either!

But don't forget, jack has a higher power on call

Do you know the make & model of your jack Jack?? ( ) it sounds very good. I don't like our 10T bottle jack from a stability point of view. It's only got a 4" square base and a small 1.5" round pad on the top of the ram. Something like your 10T trolley jack may be a better solution...

Michelinmans adapters also sound like a great idea for anyone that uses a bottlejack -