Bus Supports / Stands

[Petervs]

Here is a skeleton view of the bus shell I found on a Prevost site some time ago. Gives an idea of what we are lifting.

As for the handle on the side of Jon's design, I was thinking it should be placed near the bottom so you could reach under the bus with a long handle and pull the stands out without them tipping over.

My color preference would be gray first, white, black last.

[rbeecher]

I'm going to have to re-check mine. There's been a couple of posts about "behind" the tag, yet I didn't find a good place behind my tag. It could be that the 40 ft is different in this regard.

Ray

I'll check mine this weekend, I'm pretty sure I have a diagram in one of the manuals that came with the bus that are specific as to location of the lift points.

Richard Beecher
02 MARATHON XLII 45
96 Vogue XL 40 for sale

[Petervs]

Hello Jon,

Went back to the bus today to check the manual for the lifting points. Boy, what a poor explanation I found. There was only one small side view of the coach with an arrow pointing up just in front of the front wheel, and another arrow pointing up just behind the tag wheel. No specifics at all.

There was another similar picture showing where to jack each axle in case you want to swap a tire, 6 points in all there.

I also examined under my coach again, and noticed I made a serious error in my measurements the other day. In the rear, I measured a jack point on a truss connected to the axle assembly, this location remains fixed when raising and lowering the coach on the air bags. It would be a great spot to jack up the rear axle though.

So my dimension was wrong and I would have to join the rest of the group in whatever length you come up with, around 12 to 13 inches or whatever for the rear suports.

Thanks again for doing this fine service for the POG group.

[tdelorme]

OK, Jon, I was having a problem with the 13.5" rear measurement because I was checking the "jacking point" not the support point. In the front, they are the same. Not so in the rear. I have found the proper support point for the rear and 13.5" will work fine. The 14.5 for the fronts is good also. Actually, 13.75 & 14.75 would be better, but a fully loaded coach might present a problem. So, the 40' and 45' will be the same. Any color works for me.
Here is what screwed me up.

[MangoMike]

Mel Torme,

Just so everyone is clear. The diagram represents the placement for raising the axles, not supporting the frame. I've made that mistake.

Mike

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Mike is correct Ted...

The stands are intended for supporting the shell. With the bus supported that way it can be stored with air in the suspension dumped like Dale does, It will allow you to work beneath it with no possiblility of the shell dropping down, and it still allows you to raise or lower the axles with much smaller jacks if you want to work on wheels or brakes or even air bags.

[BrianE]

Jon: The stands are intended for supporting the shell. With the bus supported that way it can be stored with air in the suspension dumped like Dale does, It will allow you to work beneath it with no possiblility of the shell dropping down, and it still allows you to raise or lower the axles with much smaller jacks if you want to work on wheels or brakes or even air bags.

Just to put the last nail in the coffin: tdelorme's Maintenance Manual page depicts the axle jacking points which MUST be used when jacking a wheel off the ground. The attached Maintenance Manual page is the previous page in the manual and it depicts the points under which Jon's new stands will be used after the bus has been raised to the full height of the leveling system.

[garyde]

Great illlustration Brian. That is much better than what is in my manual which just shows a elevation drawing ,side view, with arrows.

[gmcbuffalo]

This has actually been a good informative thread. All this time I have been running the bus up on ramps thinking I was safe. Even though the bus was high and would not bottom out on the floor it could still drop and give me a good knock'en. I have also been using the the rear axles support to hold the bus up. Bad again.

Thanks to whomever started this.

GregM

[Jon Wehrenberg]

This will probably help make more folks aware of relative risk.

Since I have a pit I can work on the bus whether it is up, down or at ride height. Theoretically I do not have to block the bus up in the air. If anyone ever watches a grease monkey at a truck stop you will never see him block a bus or truck when he lubes it. He has some degree of risk.

The risk of an air bag failing catastrophically is slim. But when my bus is going to get worked on from the underside, I raise it fully and support it under the body support points because sometimes I am putting my arms or body between pinch points such as between an axle and the underside of the body. I don't care how small the risk. I do not want to take a chance of getting crushed.

Greg is right about ramps providing space so the bus cannot crush you, but that only applies if you never put yourself or any part of your body between the underside of the shell and any suspension member such as an axle, subframe, radius rod, etc.