Hello, I need to lift my caravan to change wheels to parking wheels. What jack would you recommend - bottle, trolley or scissor?

Kry scissor. Jy gaan sukkel om bottle jack onder in te kry met parking wheels

Dankie!

Only a trolley jack. A bottle and scissor jacks may not have the stability to be safe. A bottle won't fit an a scissor is only rated at about 750 kg.

I do use scissor jacks to lift my 500 Kg caravan, but I first peg the jockey wheel down. Otherwise it will twist off. The first couple of turns are quite difficult. 

KD wrote:

Only a trolley jack. A bottle and scissor jacks may not have the stability to be safe. A bottle won't fit an a scissor is only rated at about 750 kg.

I do use scissor jacks to lift my 500 Kg caravan, but I first peg the jockey wheel down. Otherwise it will twist off. The first couple of turns are quite difficult. 

Thanks! I had a look at the trolley jacks and the minimum height is 135mm for a 2 ton jack. I did manage to get a Autogear scissor 2 ton jack with minimum height of 100mm which will just-just fit underneath the axle with parking wheels on - based on calculations. 

Andries in old posts relating to mechanized jacks permanently attached, the guys attached an angle iron to the top of the frame to give themselves additional space to place the jack.

For another thread click below.

"Click here for link"

I use a trolley jack as it is much easier to use than a scissor jack.  But obviously it depends on whether you have enough height for the trolley jack.  I need more height which I obtain by using wooden blocks between die jack and the caravan's chassis.

I forgot to say, like with a car, DO NOT WORK ON THE VEHICLE IF IT IS ONLY SUPPORTED BY A JACK.  Secure it with a tripod too.

The late Willem Brits had a very interesting thread on the matter.

Unfortunately some pics are not showing.

Link to thread

In my "research" for the jacks I saw a couple of posts where the jacks are also used to level caravans. Do you do that while hitched or how do you keep the caravan from running of the jack?

You have to unhitch to do front to back leveling! (With your jockey).

Handbrake on and chocks behind the wheel?

You have to immobilise the jockey wheel, otherwise it will twist the caravan off the jack. I do this with a bracket that I place under the jockey wheel which is then pegged to the ground.

The hand brake is not much help as the caravan will role backwards off the scissor jacks. 

Apart from the leveling of the axle,  the caravan has a lot less "bounce" in it while camping and when not in use the jacks take the load off the suspension. 

KD wrote:

You have to immobilise the jockey wheel, otherwise it will twist the caravan off the jack. I do this with a bracket that I place under the jockey wheel which is then pegged to the ground.

The hand brake is not much help as the caravan will role backwards off the scissor jacks. 

Apart from the leveling of the axle,  the caravan has a lot less "bounce" in it while camping and when not in use the jacks take the load off the suspension. 

Interesting.

If the van is level (front to back) with steadies down, there is no gravitational reason for the van to move. No forces moving it 'backward' nor 'forward'.

Having only experience with double axle I understand what you mean by twisting, but have never experienced and considered it.

And then there is Murphy's Law!

It's not how level the caravan is. It's how level and hard the ground is. As Andries wants to change wheels he will not always put the steadies down. That man Murphy will be waiting. I still feel a trolley jack is the safest. 

I think Andries has asked 2 questions, the second relating to leveling at campsite, using a jack instead of 'ramps'.

Andries wrote:

In my "research" for the jacks I saw a couple of posts where the jacks are also used to level caravans. Do you do that while hitched or how do you keep the caravan from running of the jack?

As with everything, safetly first ie secure van etc.

Jo Jo.. Wie verstaan nie wat nie ? die man wil net wiele omruil nie die karavaan waterpas kry nie

captiva wrote:

Jo Jo.. Wie verstaan nie wat nie ? die man wil net wiele omruil nie die karavaan waterpas kry nie

His second question, which I quoted above, he asks about using jacks to level a caravan, with a specific question as to whether the van should be hitched or not.

Thank you for all the advice. Both my questions were answered. 

Sorry i did not read fully

KD wrote:

Only a trolley jack. A bottle and scissor jacks may not have the stability to be safe. A bottle won't fit an a scissor is only rated at about 750 kg.

I do use scissor jacks to lift my 500 Kg caravan, but I first peg the jockey wheel down. Otherwise it will twist off. The first couple of turns are quite difficult. 

Maybe you get different quality scissor jacks. Both, my Ranger and Hilux is standard equipped with scissor jacks and weights much more than a caravan