Trailer Jack for non aluminum M trailer and Lug nut size

[Andy hipetrol]

Contemplating buying a used 26 M over 4 hours away from the house. Have read postings about blow outs of tires etc. The used 26 M has a spare tire, but does that mean it comes with a jack, what about a lug wrench.

If not I drive a Chevy Suburban will that jack and wrench work? .

[Bob McLellan]

I'd find a four-way and take it with me. Also if I had access to a floor jack I'd take that too, but, the car jack should work. Check the lugs before you start your trip home (check air pressure too)

[Andy hipetrol]

Thanks for the reply. Of course I do not have either a four way or a floor jack. I was just wondering what everybody else used. Sometimes you read these posts and you think tires are flying off the trailers. Which is kind of scary for a newbie.

[R Rae]

Harbor Freight used to sell a nice little (low profile) bottle jack for approx. $8 or so

I bought the next size up, for the Mac. and other needs, a few years ago, and still going strong.

[John Brosda]

Hi Andy, I own a 96 Suburban and 26X. Although I haven't had to actually use to change a blowout I know that I did check out the Burb's jack to see if it fit under the trailer axle and it did.

[Don T]

Hello,
The lugs on my GMC van are the same size as the macX trailer. For the price of a cross lug wrench it's worth being sure you have it covered.

John
Did you check to see if the GMC screw jack fit under the axle with the tire flat?

[LOUIS B HOLUB]

Andy, my suggestions are the following, since I learned the hard way.

As mentioned, a bottle jack works well, but dont forget having a piece of board (ie 2" X 6" about 8" long) to sit the jack on during use. I keep a lug wrench with a 2 1/2 ft. piece of pipe for a lug wrench breaker bar. (sometimes these are so tight, a normal lug wrench isnt enough.
Then, most important, torgue the lug nuts properly because loose lug bolts will shear off with no noise warnings during travel (I learned that the hard way 2 years back). However, we've never had any other trailering problems.

Happy Sailing !

[Andy hipetrol]

Louis thanks for your input I would not have thought about a cheater pipe being needed.

There are some quality brains working on this site. I would have probably checked my jack with a full tire also, not accounting for if it was blown out or totally flat.

But the bottom line for me is if I trailor the boat back to Austin. I need at the minimum a jack that works, a lug wrench, and a cheater pipe.

This site is truly the more minds thinking about a problem the better the solution.

Thanks for your replies.

[R Rae]

To avoid those nasty surprises whilst on the road, you should put on your LIST OF THINGS TO DO:..............Routinely, loosen and re-tighten your trailer wheel lugs at home, therefore minimising the horror of breaking a wheel lug halfway down Highway # 000.....................

This is made easier if you ANNUALLY apply a little anti-seize to the bolts.....

[Chip Hindes]

A four way lug wrench is good to have. I have one and also an 18" breaker bar and 3/4" deep well socket which I use on the trailer lugs at each stop until they no longer loosen between checks. I don't believe in loosening them periodically to avoid freezing them on. There's been some discussion on the advisability of using never-seez on lug nuts. I use it and also service my wheels every Spring. Over 14,000 miles of trailering and I've never had a lug nut freeze on or fall off or broken a stud.

Check your truck jack closely. The OEM screw jack for my Expedition worked fine with the tire pumped up normally (I checked), but when I got an actual flat the axle was so close to the road the jack wouldn't fit under it. I was able to make it work with some ingenuity (pulled the wheel up onto a curb for more clearance under the axle) but it wasn't the ideal situation.

Since then I've invested in a two speed scissor jack. Slides under with only an few inches clearance; works great on the trailer axle and other stuff as well. Worked great as a sustitute for the tongue jack when that got crunched in an accident two years ago.

[John Brosda]

Don good question, the jack on my Suburban is a screw-type scissor jack and in the full down position is a little over 4 inches tall. When I checked it out on my trailer I found I've got about 4.5 inches of clearance between the bottom of the axle and the the rim, so I think I'm good but it might get tight if I were to experience two blowouts. I think I'd also have other problems to worry about.

One additional note, I think I heard somewhere (probably on this board) that the M trailers are using a larger diameter tire and rim, if so I'm guessing there may be even more clearance. Andy was asking about an M so someone else will have to confirm that.

[Divecoz]

I don't recall anyone mentioning blow outs on M's . They( M's) do have a 15" versus a 14" rim and tire.
I too recall guys talking about blowing tires on X's but they made X's for quite a while and even one winter of sitting in the grass dirt mud could really shorten the tire life. If when you get there the tires look like there dead tell the owner he needs to cut $100 from the price. Then do not pocket the money go right over to Discount Tire or Tire Kingdom or wherever and have to two tires replaced.

[Craig LaForce]

Ditto on the 2 speed scissors jack. For the road, I think they are the best for most things. I used mine to replace both hubs this year at the marina and the excellent height range coupled with the ability to standoff a few feet turning the crank was very handy.
I just used a 4way cross wrench and wished I had a breaker bar and cheater. Had to put a foot on 1 side of the wrench while pulling on the other to turn the nuts. Maybe never sieze is a good idea after all, since I ended up putting a nice bend into the 4way wrench as well as almost breaking the studs in the process. (on Edit after reading Kmclmores post, I would like to retract my never sieze comment). Over stretching the bolt is bad news. Might also speed up stress corrosion cracking failure of the studs to over stretch them.

For trailering any distance I now carry the jack, the wrench, some liquid wrench spray lube, a spare hub and bearing assembly-pregreased, as well as a couple spare bearings, grease gun, a bag of bearing grease, spare tire/wheel, tire gauge of course, wheel chocks, a couple warning triangles, a coupler lock and some chain and screw links, a small lock for the hitch pin, a pad to kneel on, and a cooler full of drinks, lots of paper towels hand cleaner stuff. Also spare trailer bulbs, a light bar with the 3 red lights that I strap to the outboard lower unit and plug into the boat's 12v accessory plug. plus the 99cent plug in light diagnostic led thing, and a converter from my truck's circle plug to the 4 flat connector of the trailer.
also of course the normal pretty complete set of tools I normally carry on the vehicle (water pump and needle nose pliers socket set, screwdriver, small sledge hammer, small prybar. 12V tire inflator (make sure those tires are at full rated pressure).

Oh yea , and a big honkin wrench they sell specifically to tighten the nut under the trailer ball. Especially if the hitch ball is new. Had one come off and trailered from NJ to OK with no nut!! yikes.

Sounds like a lot when you write it all down.

[Catigale]

[quote]Had one come off and trailered from NJ to OK with no nut!! yikes. [/quote
]
YIKES!!




Good time to reiterate that you should do the Hindes Walkaround procedure every hour when trailering any distance. Check for

Lights operational?
Anything loose and dragging?
Lugnuts tight (you can sharpie them and look for moving marks or give each one a feel with a wrench)
Wheels and hubs warm, but not hot, to the touch?
Tire pressures my 14 inch tires run a 50 psi cold, after one hour at highway speed in summer they stabilise at 60 psi
Rattle the hitch and listen for looseness and funkiness?

[kmclemore]

This is made easier if you ANNUALLY apply a little anti-seize to the bolts.....

Don't even get me started on anti-sieze. If you want to prevent rust on the nuts, paint spray a little oil on them or paint them once they're tightened, but for God's sake, don't use anti-sieze when tightening them. It's a sure way to over-stress the already marginal wheel studs and increase the risk of, as Louis noted, "lug bolts [shearing] off with no noise warnings during travel".

Chip and I differ on this point, and I won't get into a debate here (it's been done before, in fact several times), but I think you'll find it hard to locate any trailer manufacturer or other manufacturer-related websites that heartily recommend using anti-sieze on their lug nuts. Anti-sieze lubricant allows torquing nuts to much higher stud tensile loads than would normally occur on a dry nut & stud, and therefore results in exceeding the recommended load on the stud. Torque'em dry, folks.