One For The More Experienced Motorhomers

[Bobby22]

I recently had cause to take my motorhome to have a rear tyre checked. the tyre fitter in his quest to remove the wheel with a trolley jack was struggling.

The jack lifted the van but the wheel wouldn't come clear of the wheel arch.

I've searched around for an answer but can't seem to get a definitive solution.

Has anyone got experience of this and a solution?

 

[DP+JAY]

Need to jack it under the chassis, not the axle.

 

[funflair]

I guess it was all jacked up on the axle spring mounts, sounds like it wants a lift on the chassis and let the axle drop a bit.

What van is it?.

 

[Tootles]

he tyre fitter in his quest to remove the wheel with a trolley jack was struggling.

He dosent sound very experienced..............................

 

[JeanLuc]

If it is a rear-wheel drive van, don't ever let anyone put a trolley jack under the centre differential housing - some 'tyre gorillas' do! This can cause the axle to bend and lead to all sorts of problems. I was advised of this by a Mercedes HGV fitter who warned me not to allow it on my Sprinter-based motorhome.

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[Bobby22]

His jack wouldn't reach the chassis and i guess even with a very big jack it would need to lift some height as the axle would hang on the suspension.

 

[Bobby22]

He dosent sound very experienced..............................

No he said he didn't get many m/h in.

 

[Tootles]

No he said he didn't get many m/h in.

Yes, but it's just the same with some vans.........I would take it elsewhere......

 

[JeanLuc]

His jack wouldn't reach the chassis and i guess even with a very big jack it would need to lift some height as the axle would hang on the suspension.

That's the idea - the suspension droops and the wheel falls clear of the arch. On a commercial vehicle, the jacking point may well be on the suspension spring mounting point where it joins the chassis.

 

[Bobby22]

If it is a rear-wheel drive van, don't ever let anyone put a trolley jack under the centre differential housing - some 'tyre gorillas' do! This can cause the axle to bend and lead to all sorts of problems. I was advised of this by a Mercedes HGV fitter who warned me not to allow it on my Sprinter-based motorhome.

Front wheel drive ducato .

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[Bobby22]

Yes, but it's just the same with some vans.........I would take it elsewhere......

Difficult when your in need of urgent inspection.......i had a nail in the tyre and didn't want any terminal damage.

 

[Tootles]

Difficult when your in need of urgent inspection.......i had a nail in the tyre and didn't want any terminal damage.

I don't know if you have an Alko chassis, but I have heard that jacking a van up on this can cause some serious damage??? Maybe Alko chassis owners can better advise?

 

[Bobby22]

I don't know if you have an Alko chassis, but I have heard that jacking a van up on this can cause some serious damage??? Maybe Alko chassis owners can better advise?

I have a 2013 Swift escape 664 as I have said I have read other internet posts but I can't seem to get a solution.

As has been posted here there could be severe damage done if someone tried to wing it and ended up &£@/)-? It.

 

[DP+JAY]

I don't know if you have an Alko chassis, but I have heard that jacking a van up on this can cause some serious damage??? Maybe Alko chassis owners can better advise?

A hefty piece of timber to spread the load is all that is needed.

 

[DP+JAY]

I have a 2013 Swift escape 664 as I have said I have read other internet posts but I can't seem to get a solution.

As has been posted here there could be severe damage done if someone tried to wing it and ended up &£@/)-? It.

As previously said by others, I suggest you find someone who knows what they are doing.

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[Bobby22]

As previously said by others, I suggest you find someone who knows what they are doing.

My tyre is now ok........i am keen to know the proper procedure for future reference. ( I would't want someone else chancing an unsafe lift)

 

[DP+JAY]

As said, a heafty piece of timber, (at least 4"x3"x 18" long)placed directly inder the swing arm mounting on an Alko chassis .Or the official jacking point, (usually just in front of,or at ,the front of rear spring hanger for other chassis.

 

[RowleyBirkinQC]

Silly question, as I've not looked at mine, but is there no reference to safe jacking points the vehicle documentation? If not, is it a question for the dealer / manufacturer?

 

[Chris]

Sorry can't help but I did get a blow out once in my old Burstner.

Took me about 20 minutes to find the jack, only to then discover the van didn't have a spare

 

[denisejoe]

On an alko chassis you need to jack up fram the chassis and allow the suspension to hang to grease the axle

Joe

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[dave newell]

A lot of motorhomes (many Swifts included) have wheel arches that overlap the upper part of the rear wheel making it difficult if not impossible to remove the wheel. I've recently had an Auto Sleeper in whose rear arches are narrower than the diameter of the tyre with only 1 inch clearance between tyre and arch at the lower extremities. I've worked on vans in the past where to remove both rear wheels took 40 minutes and that is using an 8 Tonne lift and jacking beam! Procedure for that particular van was to inflate air suspension to max 7 Bar, jack rear axle to max height, deflate AS on side not being removed, deflate tyre on wheel to be removed, remove wheel fixings and then tip the wheel off the hub pushing the bottom under and fighting to get the deflated tyre past the wheel arch. Refitting is (in the immortal words of the Haynes manual) "a simple reversal of removal procedure". Then you can do it all over again for the opposite side.

I seem to remember Swift ding a bit of a recall on rear wheel arches for this reason so it may well be worth contacting them or a Swift dealer.

D.

 

[Coolbeanz]

This thread is good timing for us. We have a tag axle Hymer and we are having the 4 rear tyres changed next week. The garage in Benidorm are coming out to our camper park and will take 2 wheels at a time and bring them back with the new tyres fitted and balanced. Does anyone know where the Hymer should be jacked up?

 

[JeanLuc]

Does anyone know where the Hymer should be jacked up?

Just looked at my Hymer manual (covers Merc and Fiat bases) and helpfully!!!! it says refer to the base vehicle manual for detailed information. In your case Kerry, I would have thought it would be in a separate Alko manual?

 

[Coolbeanz]

Just looked at my Hymer manual (covers Merc and Fiat bases) and helpfully!!!! it says refer to the base vehicle manual for detailed information. In your case Kerry, I would have thought it would be in a separate Alko manual?

Thanks Philip, will dig out our folder and do a little light reading over breakfast. Glad this post came up

 

[scotjimland]

I would have thought it would be in a separate Alko manual?

@Coolbeanz I have the Al-Ko chassis manual .. covers both tag and single axles

but (as expected) it's all in German.. but there is a drawing showing the jacking point on the chassis, it's on the side rail at the point where the cross member joins..

@JeanLuc
edit.. thanks Philip.. here is page 14 from the pdf .. somewhat different to the drawing in mine..

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[JeanLuc]

In case you have not got the Alko manual, I have just looked at their website and downloaded the current manual (which I realise may be a bit different to the one for your chassis but I guess the principle will be the same). It refers to jacking points on the chassis. If you have the bandwidth to download it, here is the link - see pages 14 and 15. http://www.al-ko.co.uk/edit/files/handbooks/amc-handbook.pdf
If you cannot download it, I'll try and cut and paste the relevant pages.

 

[Coolbeanz]

In case you have not got the Alko manual, I have just looked at their website and downloaded the current manual (which I realise may be a bit different to the one for your chassis but I guess the principle will be the same). It refers to jacking points on the chassis. If you have the bandwidth to download it, here is the link - see pages 14 and 15. http://www.al-ko.co.uk/edit/files/handbooks/amc-handbook.pdf
If you cannot download it, I'll try and cut and paste the relevant pages.

Brilliant, thanks. Just loaded it and having a read

 

[keith]

Cannot understand why anyone would jack up the axle to remove a wheel. Surly logic suggests by doing so you push the wheel further into the wheel arch?

 

[funflair]

Cannot understand why anyone would jack up the axle to remove a wheel. Surly logic suggests by doing so you push the wheel further into the wheel arch?

Easier to get the wheel off the floor as the suspension wont drop, I think in the OP case the guy only had a little trolley jack so possibly would not reach the chassis, OK if the wheel will come out but jack on spring hangers not straight onto axle.

 

[jaygee]

I invested in two 5 tonn bottle jacks, i would not trust one supplied with van,blocks of wood under jacking points and jack which allow suspension to drop.
Also good for when parked up on very uneven ground to level van.

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