Heavy-duty jack?

[scottydl]

For anyone DIY'ers out there, what kind of jack do you need to lift the average motorhome?  Is it just a matter of knowing your wheel & axle weights, and making sure the jack will support that?  I'm trying to get prepared for *some* DIY repairs on whatever MH I end up buying.  I'm thinking the jack I currently have (1 or 1.5 ton I think) and use for auto oil changes, etc. will not be good enough for a MH.  Same deal with my jack stands and ramps I'm guessing.

Edit: I just thought of something... would leveling jacks lift up a MH enough to crawl under if needed to perform basic maintenance?  How about removing/changing a tire?

 

[Alaskansnowbirds]

Edit: I just thought of something... would leveling jacks lift up a MH enough to crawl under if needed to perform basic maintenance?  How about removing/changing a tire?

Yes, they will lift the MH but DON'T EVER CRAWL UNDER ONE that's lifted that way!!! I used a leveling jack once to lift the RR when the tire man's jack broke. He didn't touch the tire though until he had a jack stand in place.

 

[Shayne]

I made it a policy to never jack up an RV and crawl under it.  Flat tires  Call a service truck.  Thats why you pay for the coverage in your insurance policy.  Plain stupid to anything else.  Learned that years ago

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The Leveler jacks will do fine, but you also want jack stands underneath for safety reasons.  A portable, automotive style "floor jack" can also be used but you need one with a capacity at least equal to te heaviest "corner" (wheel) weight on the rig, probaly something on the order of 6-10 tons. That is an expensive jack - not the typical Walmart model.

 

[scottydl]

Thanks for the verifications all; yes I do know not to crawl under a vehicle (of any size) that is lifted only by a jack.    I probably would let the tow man handle any roadside breakdowns, but I was thinking more of something in my driveway.  With the age/size of MH's I'm looking at, I'd only be dealing with 16" wheels and tires also... not those 22.5" monsters that some of you have. 

 

[Karl]

Was at Fleet and Farm just yesterday and looked at several bottle jacks. 8-ton cost $20, and doesn't take much space. Gives about a 7- 1/2" lift which is more than sufficient for tire work. Of course, jack stands are a must.

 

[Bob Zambenini]

While we are on this subject, I see these inflatable jacks that work on exhaust..

I realize they are not sufficient for a large RV but was wondering if anyone has actually used one and how they worked to change a car tire.

http://tinyurl.com/npxhe

Some go up to 8000 pounds. Of course there are bigger ones. I just saw photos of a B-1 aircraft that landed up gear up and they used big inflatables to raise it and then lower the landing gear and tow it off the runway.

Bob

 

[John From Detroit]

Well, when it comes to jacks, I have a 2-ton bottle jack (Good for the towed) 4-ton floor jack (likewise) 8 ton bottle jack (Can lift MH but man is it a lot of work) which will be for sale in Quartzsite if anyone wants it, and I'm getting

Harbor Freight Jack

Cause I often forget to put the flag pole base under the wheel and I think this one is gonig to be about 20 ton easier to use than my current 8 ton job.


Someone asked about those air-bag jacks that inflate under exhaust pressure.  "Of course they would not be enough to lift a big rig"

As a matter of fact those are a direct desendent of the air-bag recovery system that some heavy duty towing companies use to right overturned semi trucks, 40 ton is nothing to a proper air bag system.  I mean figure 1-2 psi times how many si (Square inches) = a lot of weight, a 1 foot square lifting surface at 2psi is 288 lbs of lift, a 2 foot square (4 square feet) is over half a ton

That said... i carry 150psi compressed air so I'm going to use that bottle jack above.

 

[Karl]

Bob,

The problems with an air bag jack is that you need a pretty large one (which takes a lot of storage space) and there is no single point of contact, which means you could possibly damage the various hoses, tubing, and other things mounted underneath. We've tried them at R.A. with less than desired results and a whole lot of work setting it up, positioning it correctly, and deflating/stowing it when done.