Jack Stand Procedures

[noserider]

I'm going to purchase some jack stands to use when servicing my MH. I have never used them on a coach before. My plan is to air up the coach, put down the levelers raising the chassis to where I have working room, place the jack stands under the frame rails (total of 4) and then slightly lower the levelers to put some weight on the jack stands. Seem reasonable? I will be using jack stands that are decent quality that far exceed the weight of my axles/coach. Anything I'm overlooking? Any wood blocks needed or helpful with the stands?

[krivanj]

That is how I would do it, but what do I know?

[Cooperhawk]

Not sure about your coach but when I turn on the jacks on ours it bleeds the air down automatically. I would just put the jacks down.

[Pigman1]

That's what I do and I've been doing my own maintenance for over 10 years. On our coach the first thing that happens when we go to auto-level is the air bags drop. I can manually extend the jacks without the air dumping, and when I'm placing jack stands that's what I do.

As far as wood with the jack stands, it really depends on your rig. When I'm all the way up on the leveling jacks my jack stands are about 6" too short to allow the stands to position on the frame rails. I've made cribs out of 2 x 4's that are nailed together. Very stable and very strong. Some support areas on your RV frame may require that you put a 1 x 2 or 2 x 2 piece to keep the top foot from crushing cables or hydraulic lines, but this all depends on your particular rig.

[noserider]

Originally Posted by Cooperhawk

Not sure about your coach but when I turn on the jacks on ours it bleeds the air down automatically. I would just put the jacks down.

No auto air dump on mine when jacks are deployed. I was just using the air bags as a 3rd line of defense in case my jacks stands failed when my levelers gave out. I like lots of backups when 26000 pounds could make mashed potatoes out of me.

[MSHappyCampers]

Originally Posted by noserider

I'm going to purchase some jack stands to use when servicing my MH. I have never used them on a coach before. My plan is to air up the coach, put down the levelers raising the chassis to where I have working room, place the jack stands under the frame rails (total of 4) and then slightly lower the levelers to put some weight on the jack stands. Seem reasonable? I will be using jack stands that are decent quality that far exceed the weight of my axles/coach. Anything I'm overlooking? Any wood blocks needed or helpful with the stands?

Sounds like a good plan to me!

[Dutch Star Don]

"noserider"......I do it a little differently. I made wood ramps, the typical 2"x 6" or 8" stacked three tall. I run all of the tires up on the ramps. This gives me an additional 6" of space. I leave my coach aired up. If I have a failure and I lose air, I still have enough room so I don't get crushed. If I need more working room, I throw some blocks under the jacks and get a little more lift.

The pros are, the wood is cheaper and it doesn't get in your way while trying to move around under the coach. The cons, it takes a little more room to store them.

[FleetMan]

Rather than use jack stands, I made six ramps, 2x12s, four high for an additional six inches of clearance and drive the MH up on them. No concerns for anything coming down on me and plenty of room to roll around on a creeper, even have clearance to pass under both front and rear axles.

Don, you beat me to it by a ew minutes.

[noserider]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

"noserider"......I do it a little differently. I made wood ramps, the typical 2"x 6" or 8" stacked three tall. I run all of the tires up on the ramps. This gives me an additional 6" of space. I leave my coach aired up. If I have a failure and I lose air, I still have enough room so I don't get crushed. If I need more working room, I throw some blocks under the jacks and get a little more lift.

The pros are, the wood is cheaper and it doesn't get in your way while trying to move around under the coach. The cons, it takes a little more room to store them.

I like the ramp idea. Do you or Fleet have any pics you could share? Any pics with MH on the ramps? I like not having the jack stands in the way. I also am usually alone when working on the coach since I keep it in storage so I would need ramps I could navigate alone.

[FleetMan]

nose rider, go to the top of the page, click on 'photos' then member galleries, then the letter 'f' and go to the bottom, select second page, find FleetMan, click on the picture and you should see two pictures of my MH ramps.

[noserider]

Originally Posted by FleetMan

nose rider, go to the top of the page, click on 'photos' then member galleries, then the letter 'f' and go to the bottom, select second page, find FleetMan, click on the picture and you should see two pictures of my MH ramps.

Ok. Looks good. I'm going to give that some thought. Any trouble navigating up the ramp and stopping at the top working alone. I see you have a small lip at the top to help the stop point.

[FleetMan]

Originally Posted by noserider

Ok. Looks good. I'm going to give that some thought. Any trouble navigating up the ramp and stopping at the top working alone. I see you have a small lip at the top to help the stop point.

As I pull up onto the ramps, very cautiously - one foot on the brake and the other on the throttle - you can feel the coach as it climbs up on each tapered board. #4 is the top of the ramp, inch forward just a bit when you feel you are on top, visually check how close you are to the stop block and adjust as necessary. Having DW or someone else as a spotter really helps. Once the brakes are set, you are good to go, it isn't going to go anywhere. Getting the ramps lined up properly before driving up on them is important so you get the full tire tread on the ramp. With each one made exactly the same and positioned against the tires before the ascent, each tire will be in the same relative position on the top ramp section when you are done. Hope this helps. Those ramps are bulky but they do the job for me.

[Pigman1]

Ramps are a good idea too, but how do you pull wheels to check brakes, bearings, and lube the 'S' cams? Still need jack stands.

[noserider]

To be honest...for me I will pick what items I feel I will replace/service myself and leave others for a Truck shop. Pulling the wheels will be for the truck shop unless I end up building a coach garage down the line and equipping it with some tools needed for that task.