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Old 02-14-2015, 04:39 PM   #1
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Tire jacks

I have a class c motorhome and i dont see a jack anywhere. What kind do i need to get that will handle a class c motorhome. Also do you really need hub caps on your tires? I find it is easier to get to the tire valves if they are not on.
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Old 02-14-2015, 06:47 PM   #2
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You don't really need it, but just buy a 20 ton hydraulic jack and you will be set. And no you do not need the hubcaps except for looks. Or you can get valve extenders, which is what I did, here is a link to what I got:
http://smile.amazon.com/Slime-20140-...valve+extender

Best of luck in your travels.
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Old 02-14-2015, 06:57 PM   #3
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Try and find a low profile jacks, they are shorter and easier to get under the axle, especially if you have a flat on a front tire.

I have the jack that came with my 06 Dually, when I sold my truck, I told the purchaser that He would need to find a jack because I kept the one that came with the truck.

You might luck up and find one at a salvage yard.
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Old 02-14-2015, 07:15 PM   #4
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I picked up a 12 ton bottle jack at Walmart. Jusk make sure you use a jackstand or blocks under the axle, before pulling the wheels.

Good luck
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Old 02-15-2015, 02:43 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bugsydog View Post
. . . Also do you really need hub caps on your tires? I find it is easier to get to the tire valves if they are not on.
Much safer to take them off and run without them (hubcaps) because then you can actually see and check the lug nuts regularly. Not sure which chassis you have but on the Ford Chassis (E-350 and E-450 specifically) the lug nuts on the rear dually's tend to work themselves loose (They are only put on with 140 ft/lbs). I carry a torque wrench in our unit and check the lugs every few days on a trip.
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Old 02-16-2015, 12:42 PM   #6
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If i leave the hub cap off wont the tire valve extenders flap around and come off?
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Old 02-16-2015, 01:50 PM   #7
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To get around the tire valves buy some dually tire valves that are solid metal that are long enough to reach the outside of the outer dually. They make it very easy to check/add air and do not have the tendency to leak like valve extensions.

Dually valve kits for Motor-homes, Busses and 6-wheeled chassis

You didn't say if your Class C has leveling jacks or not. If it does you can if pressed used them to jack up the coach. If not do as another poster said and go to Walmart/Northern Tools/Harbor Freight or some other place that sells bottle jacks and pick one up.

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Old 02-16-2015, 03:19 PM   #8
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Hubcaps off, extenders off.
Hubcaps on, extenders on.
Your choice.

My extenders go into brackets, that are bolted to the hubcap.

Properly tightened wheel lugs, on correct fitting wheels don`t get loose.

Good luck
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Old 02-16-2015, 08:33 PM   #9
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Quote:
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Properly tightened wheel lugs, on correct fitting wheels don`t get loose.
I'm curious what your personal experience or expertise is to make such a (imho) misguided (and potentially dangerous) blanket statement.

I gave some advice a couple of posts above yours with regard to the Ford E-350 and E-450 chassis speaking as someone who owned a bus company for 15 years and whose fleet included a dozen E-450 Mini-buses each doing between 50,000-100,000 miles each year. All of those units were equipped with Ford OEM factory rims tightened to factory specs (140-150 ft/lbs). When checked on a weekly basis we would very often find a loose lug nut or two. According to your statement this shouldn't occur.

When we purchased our 2011 Jayco Greyhawk 31 DS (comes on an E-450 chassis) this past summer in North Carolina one of the first things I did was take off the Aluminum wheel covers to check the lug nuts given the drive ahead of us back to the west coast. The unit was gently used with only 9,000 miles on it and under the wheel covers were Ford OEM Factory rims. When I checked, the fronts were fine but on each side of the rear wheels I found at least 4 "loose" lugs per side. On our trip home I checked the lug nuts every couple of days and very often got movement out of a lug or two.

Prior to purchasing our own RV, on a number of occasions we were fortunate to be given the use of my father-in-law's rig. The first time we used it, before leaving his house I popped off the wheel covers and handed them to him for safe keeping. When he asked why I would want to keep them off and I told him about wanting to check the lugs nuts every couple of days, he said that he was somewhat shocked to realize that in the 10+ years of ownership he had never personally checked the lug nuts. He said he assumed that the dealership did that for him when it was in for service. Before leaving his house we checked them together and pretty much every lug nut was loose on the rear of the coach along with a couple on each side of the fronts. He never put the wheel covers back on and his wife gave him a torque wrench the following Christmas.

I usually check the lug nuts in the morning before leaving a campground or RV park. Quite often I am asked by a fellow camper what and why I am doing it. When I tell them I am very often asked if I would mind giving them a hand to check their RV. I can't honestly ever remember not finding a loose lug nut or two (or many in a few cases).

Lug nuts can and do come loose on any style of vehicle. Dual rear wheels seem to be more susceptible in my experience and as previously mentioned the duals on Ford E-350 and E-450's especially.

As the owner of an RV it is a relatively easy and prudent thing to check on a regular basis from a safety perspective in my opinion.
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Old 02-16-2015, 08:45 PM   #10
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Had an E-350 Type C MH. Never had any problems with the lugs coming loose and have never seen it on the various forums I visit.
Usually the cause of needing to retorque them is overtorquing the nuts in the first place, that can permanently stretch the bolt and it will keep on stretching each time you try to retorque it.
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Old 02-17-2015, 01:04 AM   #11
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Worked on lots of E & F 350 and Superdutys with
duels. Wheels comming loose wasn`t an issue.

I am not a government regulation, kind of guy, but if E 350 and E450 wheels were getting loose, there would be stickers, saying "Check Lugs", all over, anything that that used them.

Just my experence
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Old 02-17-2015, 10:23 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by twinboat View Post
Worked on lots of E & F 350 and Superdutys with
duels. Wheels comming loose wasn`t an issue.

I am not a government regulation, kind of guy, but if E 350 and E450 wheels were getting loose, there would be stickers, saying "Check Lugs", all over, anything that that used them.

Just my experence
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Funny you brought that up. Previously being a Airstream TT owner that's almost word per word that they say in the owners manual when you first get one. To check the lug nuts each time you use the TT. Now owning a MH, I still follow that rule !
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Old 02-17-2015, 10:59 AM   #13
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I'm guessing it hasn't been more of an issue in the RV community because of the low miles that the majority of RV owners drive on a yearly basis. It does come up though in forums like this. Here's one with a lot of good advice about why checking lugs is important:

Good Sam Club Open Roads Forum: Retorque Lug Nuts After Tire Change?


In a Commercial application (Transport, delivery, courier, bus company etc.) it's just a given that you check lugs on a continuous basis. Loose lugs are so top of mind from a safety perspective that you even see companies running these type of things on the lugs to give the driver a visual clue that something is up :



To clarify though, when I'm using the word "loose" I'm personally not meaning something that you could turn by hand but rather a situation where you get reasonable movement out of the lug nut with a torque wrench.

The scenario that I cringe at with these Aluminum wheel covers is the guy that replaces all his tires at the end of the season and then forgets to take it in again the following year (after 200/300 miles driven) to have the lugs re-torqued. And because they are behind wheel covers which is a potentially "out of sight, out of mind" situation, there is a chance that they won't ever get checked again until there is a problem.
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Old 02-17-2015, 11:16 AM   #14
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If i leave the hub cap off wont the tire valve extenders flap around and come off?
Most extensions can attach to either the wheel cover or the rim itself. If you do go with extensions the metal ones are probably a little tougher than the rubber variety. Something like this is what is on our unit :

http://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Dualie...WF26BYNMDQB4SK

The photo's on the left of that page show how they clip on to the rim . . .
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