Jacking the Pop-up

[Old Goat]

Austinado, I was'nt aware that some foriegn cars are still using lug bolts instead of stud and nuts. Do you know if the shoulders on these lug bolts [where bolt surface meets the rim surface] is tapered or flat? I think a flat surface would be much better than a tapered one and capable of more torque without damaging the rim and less likely to loosen .... What say you? Thanks for the tip...

OG

[aw738]

Austinado, I was'nt aware that some foriegn cars are still using lug bolts instead of stud and nuts. Do you know if the shoulders on these lug bolts [where bolt surface meets the rim surface] is tapered or flat? I think a flat surface would be much better than a tapered one and capable of more torque without damaging the rim and less likely to loosen .... What say you? Thanks for the tip...

OG

The lug nuts on campers and most automobiles are tapered just like the bolts are.

[cpaharley]

Rick,  I have a photogallery  with pictures addressing:

1. Safety considerations
2. Tools needed
3. Tire changing process

My recomendation is to practice changing the tire in your drive way.  That way you'll know you have all the right tools and some experience under your belt.

Hope this helps.

Ruide

see //www.hyperlitetrailers.com- I seriously considered the Baja but chose the hyperlite- you have some very good detailed pictures, several I was aware of, but some new,  one- the hitch lock issue is one I was not aware of.

[austinado16]

Old Goat, add Mercedes to the afformentioned list.....forgot about there's.

These auto manufacturers all use "hubcentric" wheels which fit precisely onto the machined center hub of the brake rotor or drum.  The exception being early VW's that used the big wide bolt pattern wheels, which obviously were not hub centric, but still used lug bolts.

Either way, the lug bolts have sort of a ball like curve to them where they engage the wheel.

However, some wheels in the aftermarket use a tapered lug bolt, and have tapered lug bolt holes to match.

There's never a problem with these wheels or lugnuts and we're talking about cars with a 200,000-400,000mi (and sometimes more) life span.

And I'm still in agreement that lug nuts and lug bolts can be hand tightened w/o the use of a torque wrench....I do it all the time.  One caveat, I've been spinning wrenches for about 30 years.  I'm not saying a person needs that kind of experience in order to safely tighten lug nuts/bolts.

[ScouterMom]

On my other, smaller starcraft camper, I had my Cub Scout Den change and "rotate" the tires so they could learn how to change a tire for one of their Activity pins.  It was really easy with a small bottle jack and some jack stands.  

On my current starcraft, the only difficulty lies in larger wheels that are at least 12" or more back under the camper box - so they are difficult to reach to undo the lug nuts and you do have to get the camper up pretty high to have room to get them out.  Easy enough in my nice, level driveway - but I was glad last summer when I DID blow a tire - 2 hrs form home at 11pm on a 65 Mph 4 lane highway, that it was on the VAN - not the camper!

I don't know much about torque wrenches - power or otherwise.  But I do know that in the tire shop at the store where I work, the mechanics all 'hand torque' every tire  they mount before the vehicle leaves the shop.  I DO see them use air guns while the cars are up on the racks, but they also test them by hand on the ground before driving the car out of the shop - I think to make sure people CAN remove them if they need to.  They also advise having the tires & nuts checked a few days after installation.

It's handy for me, working there - I just tow my camper to work with me the day before I leave on a trip, and the guys check ALL my tires for me!

;-)  Laura

[He Ruide]

see //www.hyperlitetrailers.com- I seriously considered the Baja but chose the hyperlite- you have some very good detailed pictures, several I was aware of, but some new,  one- the hitch lock issue is one I was not aware of.

Thanks Cpaharley.  I'm not sure how prevelant the issue of the hitch lock is but I know some Fleetwood E3 owners are not aware of it even though Fleetwood did put a warning sheet in the manual.

I'm sorry for highjacking the thread but I guess I don't feel too back since we are no longer talking about jacking up a PUP but whether you torque or not torque lug nuts.

BTW I agree with Laura that you should always check your lug nuts after coming back from the shop.  I still remember one case where if I did not have a can of Fix a flat I would still be on the road trying to remove the lug nuts.

Now I actually find this thread interesting from a quality assurance point of view.  

Is thighening by hand just as good as torquing with a wrench that may have  +/- 5 pounds difference than indicated?

Is kicking the tires just as good as measuring the pressure with a good tire gauge?

Is looking at the how much your TV squats just as good as weighing your PUP at a truck scale?

Yes I agree that most folks don't have a torgue wrench, don't check their tire pressure and have not weighed their PUP....but that doesn't make it right.

End of rant.

Ruide

[garana]

Just one more word of caution on some campers, like Jaycos, the tire must be deflated in order to remove and replace the wheel!  :eyecrazy: On my

[He Ruide]

Just one more word of caution on some campers, like Jaycos, the tire must be deflated in order to remove and replace the wheel!  :eyecrazy: On my

[garana]

Garana,  That is very strange.  Are you jacking up against the frame or axle?  If you are using the axle, I suggest that you try using the frame and see if that solves your problem.

Rudie

No, the only place a jack works on this model Jayco is on the frame. This Jayco 1207 has a torsion axle suspension, no springs.

It's just a poor design. It's the only thing I don't like about this camper. The box needs about 3 extra inches to have good riding height.