This is jacked up!

[jello_jeep]

Ok guys, I am gathering the tools required to jack up the bus for work. My question is, do you ever jack both ends up to do work? Or is it best to only jack up one end, and leave one set of wheels/brakes on the deck to keep things from moving whilst you are doing your evil deeds underneath it?

I am getting a pair of the air/pump jacks from Northern, and also got 4 jack stands (12 ton each).

Didn't know if it was cool to jack up one end, put the stands under, and jack up the other end?

Not sure, so I am querying the elders on this one.:confused:

Thanks in advance

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Warren,

I think what you are doing determines what you jack up. If you are only working on one end jacking up the whole coach seems unnecessary. I have a pit so I rarely lift the coach, but I also make sure I have supports under all four body support points if I am putting myself in a position where I would get hurt if the coach dropped.

If you are doing suspension work you can raise one end at a time, but you need a bullet proof support. For example, under ordinary circumstances I raise the coach up as high as it will go on the air bags, and then put hydraulic jacks under the support points. For the coach to drop the air bags have to drop, and the jack has to fail.

If I am working on the suspension however, I either have two jacks under each support point, or something that will not fail such as blocking or stands of sufficient capacity.

When I worked on my barn floor, especially to lube the chassis I raised the whole thing and supported it at four points. That way once I had the grease gun in hand I could go from one end to the other.

Harry uses railroad ties when he has to get under it. The key is to not rely on anything that can allow the coach to drop if you will be getting under it or in between pinch points.

[garyde]

My concern would be, that if you are not on level ground, or the coach is weighted toward the front or back, the coach might slip off all four Jacks or supports. Best to use Railroad ties or something like.
also, if you are tugging ,pulling, etc. , you do not want to have those jacks fall over. Gary

[dalej]

Warren, let me tell you about the poor mans aproach to this whole thing of working under a bus.

First of all when the bus gets backed into our bus barn, I air the bus up from road ride height and place 4, 3 and 1/2 inch.dia. x 1/4 inch wall thickness x 14inches high pieces of pipe under the support points. I just let the air leave the system on it own.

If I have to get under the bus, its already raised. If I need to remove a wheel there is hardly any weight on the wheels so a small jack works fine.

[dalej]

When we had a service on our bus in 2002 in Fort Worth, TX word in the shop was that all service managers had to go visit Jon's shop before setting up their shop. So I have a feeling Jon is just being modest about his pit...I think he has a jack system, don't you?

[jello_jeep]

Jon is the PIT BOSS for sure, I don't think he has red jacks like that though, I bet he has polished stainless, with inlaid titainium LED ropelighting, spelling out is name, in "hay in the manger gold" :)

On the serious side, thanks for all the input guys... Makes this much easier! :D

[truk4u]

Jeep,
I made ramps out of 4 X 4's and 2 X 10's with an additional support half way on the ramps. I then place bottle jacks at the support points. If you aren't doing bag work, then pump up the suspension before putting the bottle jacks under and you have tons of room to slide around. Like Dale, this is the poor man's lift.

[truk4u]

Another thought I had:eek:

As an alternative to what the Pit Boss has, I thought about pouring concrete ramps the entire length of my garage so that when the bus is parked, it's always 8" off the ground and I could just slide under anytime I wanted. I would make the ramps wide enough to have plenty of width for the duals and turn up the edges to keep from running off when I get to be Lew and Harry's age.:D

Or, would there be a source for aluminum ramps made heavy enough to support the bus without breaking your back moving them around?:rolleyes:

[Jon Wehrenberg]

The picture Dale posted is typical of what the Prevost service centers have. The set-up shown has some advantages. First and foremost however is the fact you can regulate the height of the bus. If you are working in the top of the wheel area trying to service the air dryer or a Norgren valve, you can lower the bus so those items are easy to reach.

That height adjustment makes it nice when you are working on other things such as on Cruise Airs behind the front bumper.

But I'm almost certain that a pit is the best compromise. If you have to change air bags (which I just did on my bus) the rear wheels have to come off, and I still have to work from under the bus. Try that with those floor jacks.

Tom has an excellent idea if a pit is not practical. I used some heavy duty ramps we produced in the shop and sold through Sporty's Preferred Living catalog (the ramps are out of production) to gain height underneath. With 8" of lift you can go the entire length of the bus on a creeper, and you can sit up or kneel in the areas between the wheels where all the work takes place.

Dale also has the right idea for a fail safe support. Use the air bags for maximum height, and just let it settle until there is a little weight on the "posts" and you can do anything without fear of the coach falling. You cannot however safely remove all the wheels unless the supports have a broad base and are reinforced to handle side loads.

[Orren Zook]

Another thought I had:eek:

Or, would there be a source for aluminum ramps made heavy enough to support the bus without breaking your back moving them around?:rolleyes:


Bee Line in Bettendorf IA makes a steel ramp for their frame machine that would carry the weight of a Prevost, many times there are used ramps available at a decent price when frame shops upgrade equipment.