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Old 10-24-2016, 11:26 PM   #21
Mini-Skoolie
 
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bought 2-50gal and 1-40 gal from these guys!!!

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Old 10-24-2016, 11:46 PM   #22
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Those pictures of the bus with the 55 gallon tanks mounted. He had lever jacks built and bolted on as well. There a great idea do we know if they worked? If not i was thinking of buying 4 of these and building them into levers and using bus air to operate them.

20T Ton 40,000lb Air and Hydraulic Bottle Jack Heavy Duty Auto Truck Repair Lift | eBay
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Old 10-24-2016, 11:50 PM   #23
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They do have spring retracts on them so even if a guy had to reach under and flip them down or make a cable to pull them down from the horizontal position to a vertical position it would be better than nothing.

Just like a F1 BUS roll in the pits hit the air jacks get 100 gallons of fuel use the bathroom make a sandwich maybe shower and have fresh set of rubber installed. Your back on the road in no time.
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Old 10-25-2016, 12:01 AM   #24
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Originally Posted by Geo Jeff View Post
Those pictures of the bus with the 55 gallon tanks mounted. He had lever jacks built and bolted on as well. There a great idea do we know if they worked? If not i was thinking of buying 4 of these and building them into levers and using bus air to operate them.

20T Ton 40,000lb Air and Hydraulic Bottle Jack Heavy Duty Auto Truck Repair Lift | eBay
It's been a while since I've looked through his thread, but I think he used screw jacks and built little access doors to run them with a cordless drill.

I'm pretty sure he said they worked really well. It's a long read, but that thread has a tremendous amount of good info and pictures on everything he did. Well worth the time to go through it.
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Old 10-25-2016, 12:16 AM   #25
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The y looked like bulldog trailer tongue jacks. They were rated at 7k lbs but i never saw he said the worked when he was done. i was hoping to see a picture. At 7k lbs that's enough to level the suspension two or 3 inches and still leave a lot of load on the bus wheels. I was wondering if they lifted it up off the ground for a tire change but that might be asking to much and the wrong tool.

its designed to lift the concession stand or mobile office to level. here is the one he uses at 7k lbs. so at say 10k lbs you can lift the whole bus. great price and for welding to frame of trailer.

7,000 lb Weld On Bulldog Type Square Dropleg Trailer Tongue Jack Topwind TW-SALE | eBay
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Old 10-25-2016, 12:17 AM   #26
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Originally Posted by Geo Jeff View Post
They do have spring retracts on them so even if a guy had to reach under and flip them down or make a cable to pull them down from the horizontal position to a vertical position it would be better than nothing.

Just like a F1 BUS roll in the pits hit the air jacks get 100 gallons of fuel use the bathroom make a sandwich maybe shower and have fresh set of rubber installed. Your back on the road in no time.
Just thought about the logistics of those jacks you linked to, and they won't work. They don't function upside down because oil doesn't get to the pump. So you'd have to mount them upright with the top of the piston attached to the underside of the bus. When it's time to raise them, the springs damned sure aren't going to pick the jacks up.

They're nice jacks though. I have a couple I use all the time.

And that's a funny image of an F1 style service in a truck stop.
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Old 10-25-2016, 12:21 AM   #27
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Originally Posted by Geo Jeff View Post
The y looked like bulldog trailer tongue jacks. They were rated at 7k lbs but i never saw he said the worked when he was done. i was hoping to see a picture. At 7k lbs that's enough to level the suspension two or 3 inches and still leave a lot of load on the bus wheels. I was wondering if they lifted it up off the ground for a tire change but that might be asking to much and the wrong tool.

its designed to lift the concession stand or mobile office to level. here is the one he uses at 7k lbs. so at say 10k lbs you can lift the whole bus. great price and for welding to frame of trailer.

7,000 lb Weld On Bulldog Type Square Dropleg Trailer Tongue Jack Topwind TW-SALE | eBay
Yeah, I'll probably mount something like those for leveling and then just carry one air over hydraulic jack in case I need to change a tire.
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Old 10-25-2016, 12:28 AM   #28
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Jacks

Looking the rating of this jack and the cost i could actually see these on the out side of the bus hooked into the frame like the trailer hitch and similar set up on the front if your were installing a hitch.

I can also see these mounted under neath like the photos.

Did he just shorten them so he did not have to reach under and un-pin and rotate the jack like most trailers do?
How nice would it be to just get out of the bus with a flat or emergency work and crank the bus up by hand. On my RV the hydraulic jacks are 9k$ for a set of 4.
Bulldog - Heavy Duty Weld-On 2-Speed Tandem Landing Gear Jack 90000 Capacity | eBay
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Old 10-25-2016, 12:28 AM   #29
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bought 2-50gal and 1-40 gal from these guys!!!

Class A Customs Elkhart Indiana - RV Parts - Accessories - and More
The irony..... the 100 gallon tank has only 3/8 inch fittings while the smaller tanks have 1/2 inch fittings. WTH?

I guess I would just have to void my warranty because I need the half inch fitting (1/2 to 3/4 PEX adapter would work, ID of the fitting is almost identical at both ends).

OR..... three of the 33 gallon tanks, plumbed together, for 99 gallon capacity.

Still weighing options.....
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Old 10-25-2016, 12:37 AM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rameses View Post
Just thought about the logistics of those jacks you linked to, and they won't work. They don't function upside down because oil doesn't get to the pump. So you'd have to mount them upright with the top of the piston attached to the underside of the bus. When it's time to raise them, the springs damned sure aren't going to pick the jacks up.

They're nice jacks though. I have a couple I use all the time.

And that's a funny image of an F1 style service in a truck stop.
Good catch on that idea. Once i get the bus rolled over to use them I have no idea how I'll reach the tire to mount and unmount them with out a big ladder.

I think these bulldog jacks have more merit now that i have read up on them a bit.
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Old 10-25-2016, 12:47 AM   #31
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Did he just shorten them so he did not have to reach under and un-pin and rotate the jack like most trailers do?
Drop leg.

Check out page 13 of his thread.
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Old 11-16-2016, 03:27 PM   #32
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This is exactly what I meant. Being a rear engine bus I have the full width of the body to work with... the space is definitely there, it's just GETTING them underneath that's gonna be the trick.

I don't have a rivet gun/rivets but I do have drills and bits, sawzall, angle grinder, various saws and pad sander for wood, and other things that may be useful for conversion. With the possible exception of a rivet gun and a bottle jack rated for the bus weight I shouldn't have to buy any more tools.
A late post on this thread but instead of jacking up the bus or taking sides off, find some soft dirt area, dig a strategic hole in the ground.
Park bus over said hole.
Slide tank into hole and lift up into position.
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Old 11-16-2016, 04:16 PM   #33
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Sound theory but I don't think the storage lot will much appreciate me digging holes in their ground.....
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Old 11-21-2016, 04:35 PM   #34
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Y

The cheapest place I've found for tanks is a place called RV & Van Surplus.
I hate to say it, but I personally would not order from RV and Van Surplus. I ordered tanks from them and heard nothing back after two weeks so I called to inquire. I was told they "didnt come in on the truck" and that they should be on the next load and go out within a week. After a month of silence I called again and was told they were on backorder. No one ever bothered to tell me. Meanwhile I sold my house and moved into the bus full time with no water storage. Fortunately I found two 46 gallon tanks on Amazon and they came within a week of ordering. I hate to go to Amazon over a small company, but...
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Old 11-21-2016, 05:05 PM   #35
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It's like anything else I suppose..... like the power panel I was trying to get and kept running into dead ends. Finally ended up getting a house-style load center and a 50 amp breaker to backfeed it through (the 100 amp main is a different type of breaker and they don't make a 50 amp variant in that type that I'm aware of).

I refuse to pay upwards of $500 per tank plus shipping, and used tanks just aren't to be had around here that I can find. Would prefer to avoid multiple smaller tanks but that may be my only option as well. I'm gonna need them soon. I still haven't moved into my bus yet but it won't be long.
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Old 11-21-2016, 05:17 PM   #36
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It took a couple of months of consistent searching, but I found a new, unused black tank the perfect size on Ebay for a fraction of what I would have paid elsewhere including shipping. The total for a heavy duty ABS, 44 gallon was about $150 bucks. There was/is a guy who buys up stock and resells it.
I am only using mine for gray but hey...a tank is a tank.
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Old 11-21-2016, 06:07 PM   #37
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Grey and black tanks are usually the same, or nearly the same, design.... if you found a new one for cheap you're doing good. Not sure it's gonna be big enough though, unless you're using it as a weekender rig. You'll be dumping every couple of days fulltiming, unless you're expanding an existing system.
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