Lifting rear of coach

[GDeen]

Not trying to hijack the thread, but does a bike lift seriously stress the structure of the shell on a Prevost. Obviously I understand hanging 1/2 a ton at the fartherest point outward on the chassis is significant but I guess I had assumed if the fiberglass units could handle it certainly a Prevost could??

We have and electra glide and I seriously considered this as a good way to transport on a future coach while pulling the toad.

[dalej]

Although I have never had one, I have wanted one. But just looking at the way the bike hangs on for dear life, I keep mine in a trailer.

I do think that it works....but just don't like that much weight bouncing back there on the rear, A lot of the roads we travel on just are not that smooth, so it seems to just add to much stress on the bracket.

I think that if they can come up with one that has an assist wheel that spins 360 degrees, then it will be worth putting on. Somthing like cement trucks have for there tag, they can lift it when they want to. The air bag on it could handle 1000 pounds and travel enough to go thru dips and humps.

[garylstevens]

Dale here is one example I found for carrying that single heavy bike on the back, with out adding all of the extra weight to the back of the bus. Check out their website. http://www.motorcycle-carriers.net/m..._carriers.html

You would not be able to pull a toad too, but this might solve some of the problem of all that extra weight on the back of the bus.

[dalej]

EXACTLY.. that's what I'm talking about. Never seen that before, but would like to see it in person.

Thanks Gary

[ken&ellen]

Dale, I am with you....put it in the trailer. The lift, as discussed in earlier posts, can stress the chassis of a Prevost. Remember that rear of the back wheels is already a very heavy engine! The trailer protects the bike and allows for some storage. Ellen & I have a single axle motorcycle trailer, but are currently looking to move to a tandem axle unit to improve stability in the event of a blowout. The unit in the picture, while interesting, is relying on a very small tire rotating at very high RPM!!!! Ellen drives the Liberty with the trailer...no problem. We both practised with the trailer at the school yard prior to departure. Ken & Ellen

[grantracy]

Dale, I am with you....put it in the trailer. The lift, as discussed in earlier posts, can stress the chassis of a Prevost. Remember that rear of the back wheels is already a very heavy engine! The trailer protects the bike and allows for some storage. Ellen & I have a single axle motorcycle trailer, but are currently looking to move to a tandem axle unit to improve stability in the event of a blowout. The unit in the picture, while interesting, is relying on a very small tire rotating at very high RPM!!!! Ellen drives the Liberty with the trailer...no problem. We both practised with the trailer at the school yard prior to departure. Ken & Ellen

I probably misspoke when I said "she didnt want to deal with it" I meant she didnt want to deal with the possibility of having to back a trailer down in a tight situation. I am all for a trailer and admit the lift looks like it is out there,however I ran it by Vantare before installing and they didnt seem to think it was a problem. Jury is still definitely out on this one.For what its worth it is an XL

[GDeen]

Thanks for the info Tuga - will see what I can find on that discussion.

As to the trailer, I don't mind pulling one a bit. I do want a toad though and a trailer to pull the toad and bike would them be something I would have to deal with all the time when parking or "camping", and not sure I want the trouble of finding a place to dump it. Maybe that is less hassle than I am making it out to be.

[merle&louise]

Not trying to hijack the thread, but does a bike lift seriously stress the structure of the shell on a Prevost. Obviously I understand hanging 1/2 a ton at the fartherest point outward on the chassis is significant but I guess I had assumed if the fiberglass units could handle it certainly a Prevost could??

We have and electra glide and I seriously considered this as a good way to transport on a future coach while pulling the toad.

Gordon,

I remember a few months back a discussion on motorcycle lifts. I think that it was under Vehicles Other - Motorcycle lifts. Anyway, JPJ said that a lift should not be put on any Prevost except an XL. XLV and XL II's will not handle the load; rivets will pop etc. Maybe Jeff can elaborate further.

[Just Plain Jeff]

Elaborating....

A bike lift, if properly installed can go on a 40' XL. You don't want to put one on an H3-45 or an XLV due to the structure of the frame members and the engine mounts.

The 'right' way to install same is to pull the center bumper off the rear (duh) of the coach and have a plate welded to the two carrying frame members. From there, you build out the support brackets from the frame so that the weight is distributed properly from side to side (streetside to curbside).

We did this on our Angola by the guy who did the original OverBilt lifts (out of business) at his shop in New York. It was a big job, but he said that most of the problems he'd had were those with improper installation. His lift, BTW, was much lighter than a hydraulic lift as it had a 12v starter-type motor and cable system for lifting.

I don't have bit a moment right now, but if you use the search feature either here or over on Prevost-stuff, you will see there have been a couple of conversations about this over the years.

Lastly, Liberty has seen XLV coaches with rivets popping out of the rear from bike lifts that either weren't done right or on the wrong coach.

Hope this helps.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Gordon,

When Prevost created the 45' motorhome shell they cantilevered an additional 27" behind the tag and drive axles.

That doesn't seem like much because it is easy to think of the Prevost coach as being overbuilt because it is intended for millions of miles.

But if you look at the structure under the coach you will note the engine cradle and the frame supporting it hangs from the rear of the structure that carries the drive and tag axles. Some of the load can be seen as being shared with the truss frame and the upper structure of the shell.

Prevost has determined that the limits of that structure are 1000 pound vertical load at the ball hitch. The ball hitch typically is within 6 inches of the bumper. You are creating a long lever arm with the lift for the motorcycle and the weight of the lift plus the motor cycle probably exceeds the Prevost limit by a factor of for or five times if not more.

The first sign you are exceeding the limit is the air bags are not recovering to give you the road clearance. Further signs are going to be stress cracks first visible in the rear cap, and you are likely going to experience some structural failure.

To prove the actual impact of what you are doing, weigh the coach and each axle on a truck scales loaded with all the stuff you normally carry, full fuel and full fresh water with empty holding tanks.

Repeat the weighing process with the motorcycle lift and the bike on the coach. You will likely not a substantial reduction in front axle weight affecting both steering and braking (adversely), and a dramatic increase in tag and drive axle weights, probably exceeding their limits.