Camco Curved Trailer Aid with Chock & Pad, 44436

Here's a tool that earns its spot in the storage bay the first time you need it. The Camco Curved Trailer Aid turns a roadside tire change on a tandem axle trailer into a quick job, and you don't need a jack to do it. You pull the good tire up onto the curved ramp, which lifts the flat tire clear off the ground, and then you swap it. That's the whole trick.

If you've ever tried to jack up a loaded trailer on soft shoulder gravel, you already know why this exists. A bottle jack on uneven ground is slow and sketchy. This ramp uses the trailer's own weight and the tandem axle setup to do the lifting for you. Drive the mounted tire on the same side forward or back until it climbs the ramp, and the flat lifts up to 6-1/2 inches off the pavement. That's plenty of room to pull the wheel and get the spare on.

It works on tandem axle trailers of all kinds. Travel trailers, fifth wheels, boat trailers, utility and equipment haulers. The capacity is rated at 20,000 pounds, and it handles tires up to 32 inches in diameter, so it covers just about every dual-axle rig you're likely to tow. The one thing it won't do is help a single-axle trailer, since the trick depends on having a second tire on the same side to roll up the ramp. Measure your axle spacing before you count on it, because very close-coupled axles can be too tight.

Camco built this one with a curved profile and a plastic honeycomb design. The curve makes it easier to drive onto than a straight-wall block, and the honeycomb structure keeps the weight down while still carrying the load. There's a molded carry handle, so it's easy to grab and stow. It's light enough to keep in the truck bed or the trailer's front storage without a second thought.

The kit isn't just the ramp. You get a wheel chock and a rubber base pad in the box too. The chock goes behind the opposite tire to keep the trailer from rolling while you work, and the base pad sits under the ramp to help it grip the surface. That combination matters. Anytime you're lifting a loaded trailer, keeping it from moving is the difference between a routine job and a bad afternoon. We always tell folks to chock first, then drive up the ramp, never the other way around.

A few real-world notes from people who use these. Drive onto the curved ramp slowly and steadily. If you gun it, the ramp can kick out from under the tire, especially on wet pavement or loose gravel. On a sloped shoulder, a lot of owners set a rubber mat or the included base pad under the ramp for extra grip. And the 6-1/2 inch lift is measured at the top of the ramp, so on taller tires you'll want to confirm you've got enough clearance to slide the flat off before you commit.

Who's this for? Anybody who tows a tandem axle trailer and would rather not wrestle a jack on the side of the highway. It lives in the storage bay until the day you need it, and on that day it pays for itself. First-time trailer owners find it dead simple. Seasoned haulers keep one around because it's faster than the jack they used to carry.

In use, the whole unit stands 10 inches tall, 19 inches wide, and 5-3/4 inches deep, so it stores flat and doesn't eat up much room. Keep it where you can reach it without unloading the whole bay. When that tire goes flat 40 miles from the nearest shop, you'll be glad it's within arm's reach.