Safely Crawling under a Spartan chassis

[tinsoldier]

Anyone have and idea how to safely jack up, support, and block a Spartan chassis to include positions of same? Would appreciate any assistance before I crawl under this beast.

[1doodadd]

I own a 42' 2000 Beaver Marquis with both air bag and hydraulic jack leveling systems on the coach. Before going under the coach I air up the bags to full height, and then install my 10 tons each jack stands, under the hydraulic jacks incase the air bags start to bleed off. The jack stands will carry the coach weight long enough to allow me to get the heck out of there

["007"]

Originally Posted by 1doodadd

I own a 42' 2000 Beaver Marquis with both air bag and hydraulic jack leveling systems on the coach. Before going under the coach I air up the bags to full height, and then install my 10 tons each jack stands, under the hydraulic jacks incase the air bags start to bleed off. The jack stands will carry the coach weight long enough to allow me to get the heck out of there

Very good advise use jack stands, we lost a friend years ago.
Thanks for the post.

[GaryKD]

Hi tinsoldier,
Do all my own maintenance. Jack stands of the proper weight rating is the way to go. They are heavy, difficult to maneuver and in the way. But they can save your life. Consider using them.

[Capt. Bill]

Why not just put the HWH jacks down & raise to as high as possible??

Happy Trails

[DrPhil]

...or air up and jacks down to just touching. Seems like that would be a nice level of redundancy - one air system and one hydraulic system.

[tom chelbana]

On our Essex I have some long 6x12 that I drive up on. Have enough if these long boards to have all 8 tires on them. It works well when looking for air leaks since if you have the coach raised up high the air bags will be deflated. Also have 6 6 ton jack stands when using jacks or 20 ton floor jack.

[Spk64]

I use ramps and jack stands. The hydraulic jacks on the chassis will also be down but those are only as a third safety. If you are working on the air system you need to have other means of support. Would not count on the leveling system jacks or air bags, they could fail for a variety of reasons. I have also been known to add blocks between rear axle and frame for another level of safety.

[TJ]

This is a case where "old school" is the best way. Purely mechanical supports of the appropriate weight rating and properly placed is the only safe way. Anything less is chancy. You will only drop 40,000 pounds on yourself once!

[ghaynes754]

I am am also interested in this topic but no one seems to be answering the question on where the jack points are on the bottom of the coach. So where are the jack points and where do you position the stands once you have the coach up?

[GaryKD]

Hi ghaynes754,
The best place to place the jack stands is chassis specific. However, the bottom line is the raised rails would provide the best surface to place the jack stands. Not to difficult in the rear. The front can be confining. In the front I place the stands on the chassis extension for the generator.

[jbikes1]

This is where all you guys with HWI hydraulic jacks should be wish you had my Attwood Electric jacks... likely the only time.