Lubing and Oil Changes

[Redridge]

Nice thread... How about some DIY pics. Would love to see where some of these things are. I know its in the manual, but they're kinda generic.

[jones47172]

Originally Posted by J Walker

I don't have HWH and I believe mine is Lippert. I can manually or automatically extend the levelers but retraction has one button and it is automatic. My last MH had HWH with only manual. I never had a problem with it. It was no frills but I had complete control.

I have not tried this but the Lippert manual says:

NOTE - When in the MANUAL mode, if the RETRACT button is pushed the jacks will only retract as long as the RETRACT button is depressed. In AUTOMATIC mode, the RETRACT button need only be pressed once and released for the jacks to fully retract.

[Big_Boy]

Originally Posted by SDCOToyhaul

Sounds like you have gotten good advise on the change procedure. I also have a question concerning oil change on my Ram truck. When traveling, I find it difficult to get to some Ram dealerships not to mention then having to park the 5'er and disconnect. I have always changed oil and all PM myself but wonder, if a person had a large drain pan, spill mat, and such, do RV parks frown on someone changing their oil and filter? Probably would drain after parking and while setting up and then about another 5 minutes to install plug, filter and new oil. Has anyone done that? Would then attempt to dispose of old oil at a larger truck shop that does maintenance. I use a 0 W 40 Synthetic motor oil that usually isn't available at most places.

I'm new to the DP type of RV. But...we towed our big travel trailer with a Ford Excursion. On two (2) of our long trips, I changed oil right in the campground with no issues (and without spilling a drop of oil). Some things that helped me to do this:

1) I had a Fumoto drain valve on the PowerStroke pan. This allowed me to open/close the valve and drain right into 1 gallon jugs placed underneath drain valve. Much more controlled flow rate as well. I just carried the 4 gallon jugs of used oil in the trailer until we got home--then took it to be recycled.

2) The Excursion engine block (and truck frame) was high enough to crawl right under it without jack stands or doing anything to draw attention to my efforts.

3) Ford Powerstroke 6.0L or 6.4L filters are 'top loading' and automatically drain down through the sump. In fact, you loosen the filter before draining used oil out of sump. After you have drained all oil, the filter is relatively 'dry' and you can pull it out of fixed housing at top of engine without a mess.

When I looked at the drain plug location on the bottom of the 6.7L Cummins, I am wondering if it is wise to put a Fumoto valve down there. The Fumoto extends downward about 3/4" and is a brass valve. I imagine it might be possible to hit something with it and have the valve shear off of the drain pan. That, of course, would lead to loss of the engine.

Do any of you all have Fumoto drain valves on your oil pans?

[dpinvidic]

+1 on the Fumoto valve. For my cummins ISL9, I had about 20 quarts of oil coming out of the oil pan. Had to stack the oil drain pans and move one when it was almost full so there was no overflow. Then I was able to install the Fumoto Valve.

REMEMBER to prefill your oil filter, mine held 4 qts. You will likely need a heavy duty oil filter wrench (4 3/4" minimum diameter).
One trick that I always do is use a ice pick and poke a hole in the bottom of the filter and let it drain. Then stick a piece of duct tape over the hole. Now when you unscrew the filter, it is empty, and no spillage.

The easiest thing is 2x10 boards stacked & glued & screwed 3 high. one stack for each rear tire. Roll the coach up on them and block the front wheels.
Wear rubber gloves.

You will save a lot of $$$ by doing it yourself.

Dan

[dpinvidic]

Originally Posted by Don Voyage

OIL
.
I usually place a couple of concrete blocks under rear tires as a safety factor.

Don

Boy, that is risky.....concrete blocks should never be used like this....they are in fact pretty weak....hit one with a hammer to see how easy it breaks.

Dan

[StevieD]

Use solid concrete blocks

[Don Voyage]

Originally Posted by dpinvidic

Boy, that is risky.....concrete blocks should never be used like this....they are in fact pretty weak....hit one with a hammer to see how easy it breaks.

Dan

Blocks are solid with a couple of 2x8's on top of that too!

[J Walker]

I have a question for those who use jack stands. Where do you place them? With my previous MH and I am sure with the Palazzo the height is great enough that placing them under the frame requires a lot of jack extension. I have 12 ton jack stands which seems to be enough, but since each one has a capacity of half of that it makes me wonder if the load might be uneven and too much might be borne by one jack which does not have the capacity for the whole load.
I appreciate all the replies to my original post. As is supposed to be the case I learned several things that I was not aware of with my first MH with air bags. I am not going to ever work in a situation where I am depending on levelers or air bags to keep me safe. It will be jack stands for me.

[Safetysteve5]

Just my two cents but driving the coach up on just 6 inch high ramps gives me room to work underneath. The smallest clearance is the outer edge of the body work. Once past that there is room under the frame and suspension and the added 6 inches just makes it better. Most areas I can get to even on a creeper. Since getting under the coach is a critical safety issue you have to be comfortable with the method you choose. I have built ramps out of stacked 2 x 10's and use four ramps for the rear. I don't like leaving one set of the rear wheels unsupported plus four ramps distributes the load. For me this is the most comfortable set up. Your mileage may vary.

[Big_Boy]

Originally Posted by Safetysteve5

Just my two cents but driving the coach up on just 6 inch high ramps gives me room to work underneath. The smallest clearance is the outer edge of the body work. Once past that there is room under the frame and suspension and the added 6 inches just makes it better. Most areas I can get to even on a creeper. Since getting under the coach is a critical safety issue you have to be comfortable with the method you choose. I have built ramps out of stacked 2 x 10's and use four ramps for the rear. I don't like leaving one set of the rear wheels unsupported plus four ramps distributes the load. For me this is the most comfortable set up. Your mileage may vary.

I agree. I've used this technique for years for low clearance sports cars. My BMW 330i is so low to the ground that using two (2) 2x6 boards still only allows me to get my arms under the pan for oil changes.

Do you drive up both front and rear axles simultaneously? Or do you do the rear axle only? On my car, I drive up on both axles to keep the car level. This allows the oil to drain completely.

I keep "Marco" (our 33.3 Palazzo) inside in a storage building that is just long enough (at 38') and high enough (door opening is exactly 12' 0"). I don't think I could raise "Marco" inside this building. I'll have to find a level pad somewhere (maybe a camp ground) for oil changes.

Also, my philosophy is to double oil change frequency from manufacturers recommendations. In a relative sense, oil and filters are inexpensive insurance. I will probably change oil and oil filter at 7,500 mile intervals.

[Safetysteve5]

I usually only work under the front or the rear separately. No reason, however, that you couldn't drive all four corners up on ramps at the same time.

[J Walker]

Originally Posted by Safetysteve5

Attachment 88397

I usually only work under the front or the rear separately. No reason, however, that you couldn't drive all four corners up on ramps at the same time.

Question If you work with the ramps under the wheels do you have the air bags inflated? I believe you would have to have them inflated. Do you use jack stands to insure that the air bags don't accidentally deflate? The oldest and wisest heads always say to use jack stands or wood blocks as a precaution. On my previous MH I worked under it using levels only but finally started using jack stands.