leveling jacks?

[The Wanderer]

what is everyone using for leveling jacks on a budget?

i'm considering picking up some cheap 3500# drop leg trailer jacks and bolting/welding them to the bumpers at each corner. won't be the prettiest looking thing going down the road, but functional when you get where you're going.

i suppose i could make a trailer hitch type reciever for them so they can be removed when not in use.

[oldog12]

I think that's a pretty good idea as I was thinking of doing the same thing, just that I was planning on attaching them between all four wheel wells... Again, I was just planning, haven't gotten any real numbers or measurements or anything.... Just planning...

[eggman]

What about putting a short bottle jack between the rear springs and the frame?

[Elliot Naess]

.
Hmmm...

Maybe I just found a new use for my roof raising jacks?


After I complete the Great National Roof Raising Tour, of course.

[oldog12]

What about putting a short bottle jack between the rear springs and the frame?

...Sounds a little inconvenient to me....


.

[the_experience03]

Why not do like people did before you pushed one button that leveled the RV, popped the slides out, positioned the satellite dish, and made you a latte in your $500,000 rolling condo? What I mean by that is you could just bring some boards along drive on them to level it out. No, it isn't all that convenient, but it's free and it's worked for years.

I don't even bother leveling my bus. There just isn't any reason to. I can understand that you might need to if you have sensitive stuff like a propane fridge, but otherwise the human body is not all that sensitive to a 2 degrre or so incline.

[crazycal]

I don't think the 3500# jacks are strong enough. I have one on a trailer now and it's not very sturdy. The jacks to get are bulldog 10k or 12k with spring loaded drop legs. That's what I had on my dump trailer before some puke stole it. They are strong enough to lift the bus. They are also used on semi trailers. I think they make one that is a 2 speed with a granny low. You will never have to worry about those.

[lapeer20m]

i agree that driving on top of some boards is a great idea. It's simple and it works....I use that method to level my jacuzzi

[the_experience03]

There are even the high class oversized legos for those that want something more "refined" than wood scraps

[oldog12]

The jacks to get are bulldog 10k or 12k with spring loaded drop legs. That's what I had on my dump trailer before some puke stole it. Crying or Very sad Crying or Very sad Crying or Very sad They are strong enough to lift the bus. They are also used on semi trailers. I think they make one that is a 2 speed with a granny low. You will never have to worry about those.

I saw a couple of motorized drop legs on eBay... They wanted $250 for each leg... I thought that was a bit much...

[GoneCamping]

I've got a couple idea's on this, one is not TOO different than what's mentioned above...

First of all, a 30,000# bus takes some beef to lift it, so a 3500 jack probably isn't going to cut it. And the less you have to jack it the easier it will be to set-up. I would highly recommend 'pre-leveling' it by drying on wood, at least get it close!

After that, then the jacks would be used for fine tuning & stabilizing....can't have that bus a bouncing when you get busy...

Right now I have a pair of 30,000# bottle jacks...considering the whole bus weighs that much these may be overkill, but Harbor Frieght had them on sale for $59 each, and they plug into the air system...slide them in under the bus frame, plug into the air system, and hit the handle...let the air pressure to the work....

My other idea that comes closer to what is mentioned above, is to use ELECTRIC tongue jacks. I have one on the front of my trailer and has amazing lift capability. Now I suspect they won't be able to lift the bus real high, but if it's pre-leveled by driving onto some planks, then fine tuning with these would do the trick...I could even wire them up so that I could level right from the drivers seat... They only cost around $125 each....

Why let the rich guys have all the fun?

[oldog12]

...These are 50,000# Landing Jacks.... I'd be confident using something like those...


.

[captainkf]

What I have seen is using on rigs with air is setting jack stands under the rig in a secure place, estimate what is level. Then you let the air release from the bags (either slowly or with a valve) onto the stand and voila: level. Or for those with springs (like myself) I plan on 2 by 12 peices with jack stands to stop the squeaking that comes from the suspension everytime a large movement is made in the bus.

I would be concerned about jack stands on the coners for leveling. My concern is the tremendous torsional force and the posibility of twisting somthing. The leveling jacks used on comercial rv's are generally (not always) closer to the center of the vehicle to reduce the possibility of torqing somthing important (sorry about the spelling, it's been a long day).

Just my thoughts.

-Richard

[the_experience03]

I don't think it would matter how "busy" I got....my bus doesn't move.

One thing to remember about the weight...if there is still a wheel on the ground then the spring is still loaded and taking some of the force. I would imagine each individual spring in the back of my truck is taking about 5000 lbs of force and are squatted 3 inches or so from free arch. That would mean evry inch you compress that spring you take about 1700 lbs of force! That's a lot of help for a jack trying to level it out.

To be perfectly honest, my bus is stable without any jacks. What little bit it does move doesn't bother me at all. I either boondock it where it is just plain impossible to truly level the rig or I'm at a nice pull-through site where I don't need to level the bus because the site itself is so level. I just have never seen the need for anything else.

If I WERE looking to stabilize my rig and the board stacking method weren't enough, I would honestly consider rigging up outriggers like you see on cherry pickers, backhoes, tow trucks, etc. There are the hydraulic type like a backhoe that come down at an angle that could probably be rigged up fairly easily. There are also some that deploy either manually or hydraulically out parallel to the ground with vertical legs. Either of these would work better than just about any other method I can think of for stabilizing because they widen the footprint. They are also plenty strong and could possibly be rigged up cheap and easy if there is a wrecking yard near you. They are also AWFUL ambitious. Like I said...I don't think I need anything other than a few scrap blocks of wood.

[oldog12]

A wider footprint would be good... Just not convinced that its necessary ...Landing gear positioned behind the front wheels and in front of the rear wheels on the outside of the frame I think is totally sufficient to deal with all the expected torque or any other stress that I could normally expect... I can be wrong... But eye-balling it, it seems that it would work just fine...

[the_experience03]

Two landing gear legs are going to make things stable, but I fail to see how it would make things level. Wouldn't you need the left and right legs to operate independent of each other? Maybe I'm missing something here. Maybe you plan to put blocks of wood under one legs.

[oldog12]

... Yes, that was my idea exactly, four independent legs...

[Les Lampman]

These are the units I've seen most often mentioned on the road bus conversion forums:

http://www.quadraleveler.com/

[eggman]

Nice looking units. Seem to draw alot of juice, albeit for a short amount of time, then times it by 4.

......complete with hydraulic cylinder and pump, hoses, switch control box, wiring harness and 120 amp breaker, along with the industry standard tube-in-tube jack design........

[oldog12]

... Did you know that they want 3K for that bigfoot system !?! For less than 1K you can get four motorized Holland landing gear for all four corners...