I may have missed it as I hastily read the owners manual. I have a yellow craftsman m/c jack. Where do I place it to raise the rear wheels? Are the cross members under the trunk strong enough to support the TG?

 

This past weekend I did a three hole oil change on my new Triglide. I found I was unable to jack the entire bike only using my standard mc jack. And so I first strategically placed the mc jack under the engine/tranny so as to allow access to the drain plugs. I placed a regular hydraulic floor jack to the rear and jack both together a little at a time. I placed a piece of scrap wood on top of the rear jack plate to keep from scratching the frame cross member.

 

The owners manual shows how to jack it up, it also says not to jack it up by the rearend.

 

You are right! It says never lift by the frame cross members. To lift the rear end, it says to put the front wheel in a wheel vise, Strap the front end down, and place jack to the rear across both lower frame tubes. (Or perhaps get you wife to sit on the front fender).

It also says you can jack one rear wheel at a time, jacking on the rear axle.

When you jack from the rear of the lower frame tubes under the tranny, although the bike is not balanced, not a significant amount of weigh is on the rear end. So in my ignorant opinion, I don't think it will hurt to gently raise the rear from the frame cross member or the rear axle, AFTER lifting from the lower fame. Heck you could lift it by hand and stick a couple of jack stands under the rear axle.

 

As stated by others, it's supposed to be real bad to raise the rear with those cross members. I thought about it too. But I listen to my elders.

I did some work a little while back to replace the mufflers and install a lift kit. I used a 1500 lb motorcycle jack, and a car jack and some ingenuity and it worked but boy was it sketchy.

Obviously, the Tri-Glide is not weight centered front to rear under the engine like most bikes. The butt is heavier and you can't get the jack far enough back to lift it even. Unless you have a super wide jack designed for Trikes. I do not.

What I had to do was place the jack as far to the rear as possible, and then I attached two tie down straps to the front cross member of the jack, the part that sits on the floor with the wheels, and with a tie down on each side I attached them to the floor board brackets. As I jacked up the trike the straps pulled tight and lifted the rear. I used a heavy duty car jack too to help a little along the way, and once I had it up, I used a jack stand under the reverse gear protection member.

Like I said, it was sketchy. But it worked in a pinch. Here are some photos.



Now, just this past weekend I did more work on the Trike (tuner, intake, header and had to remove the mufflers again) and since I wasn't removing the rear wheels this time it was suggested I use regular old car ramps. Mine are 8" tall and plastic. Designed to hold my diesel Ram (8k lbs), bought them at a auto parts place.

I drove it up and let me tell ya, I will never jack it up again for this kind of work (although I hope I never need to again).

I think a regular floor jack in the front would work to make it level and not only would it be more stable than before it would be a lot higher than I had it then. Now, of course, you can get a Pit Bull jack or a table lift. And I would buy a table lift in a heart beat if I had the cash but for basic oil changes and anything else requiring an eyeball view of the engine area, check out your auto parts place for car ramps. If need to remove a rear wheel, you will need to jack it up. I wonder if you could drive it up three? Then no need to jack up the front at all.

Good Luck,
Rob

 

Duplicate post

 

Nice write up & pics! Guess it's ramp investment time. If you were too use jack stands, would you place them under the rear axle? I take it the reverse motor is plenty strong enough to go up the ramps without protesting. Swapping out mufflers without jacking it up was a big pain. I'm in the same boat as you. Just waiting for my Jackpot headpipe to ship; and, am not looking forward to doing the mufflers the way I did them last time.

 

Delta,
Thanks. Yea, I would say the rear axle would be able to handle that. I bet there are others that can answer this better than me though. I have only done it twice. Had it up in the air that is.

And I drove forward. I doubt the reverse would handle it nor have the control you do feathering the clutch and throttle moving forward. My plastic ramps have rubber feet so they didn't slide on my glazed garage floor. If you have straight concrete no worries at all. I just pushed it down by hand. I bet two beefy bikers could push it up these ramps. The have a long ascent angle.

This is what I have: http://www.amazon.com/Blitz-11903-Rh.../dp/B000AMMN9O

But no way did I pay that much. Call an auto parts store. I went to Salvos here in Maryland. They have the 12k lb models for 46 bucks.

I am a pretty big (as in round) guy and with these ramps I was able to lay under my trike and rest my head on the ramps to work those blasted muffler hanger bolts. And I had just enough room to avoid my claws:



Which as you can see might get risky. LOL

I would love to try three ramps to see if it works. Might try it one day with a spotter just in case. If you roll off ramps you are taking off all the fenders. Keep that in mind. Another reason I like these plastic ramps, They have a huge tire stop on the fronts.

I use a short (from pool chemical supplies) plastic bucket that slides on my garage floor real nice to be just at the right height for my header work. Had to get on the floor for the floorboard and header carriage bolt but other than that. I think it's the perfect height. Any low mechanics stool on wheels would be just perfect.

Like I said in the beginning, I know there is someone out there with more experience than me in the area of where jack stands work best, if not here then try this site:

http://www.triketalk.com/forum/harley-trikes-6/

Best darn forum on the web for trikes. All trikes.

For me though, form now on, I am using ramps. Be safe Bro.
Rob

 

I place the jack stands on the swing arm vs an axle tube, don't know if it would hurt placing them under the axle tube or not.

 

msocko3,
Correct me if I am wrong but the tie-down loops are welded to the swing arm right? Is there where you put them? Just so I know for future reference.

Thanks,
Rob